Bring back the 'Puppies and Rainbows'

People who spend time and energy answering forum posts do so because they enjoy helping others. Artificially shortening responses (which would usually involve leaving out important information) doesn't seem like it would help anyone.

If someone is being rude you can just report them, ignore the post, and move on.

You are certainly free to continue your quest for more puppies and rainbows here, but I don't think telling people to stop trying to be thorough when answering questions is the right way to do that, there's no reason they can't coexist. If you see a long informative post you don't want to read, don't read it.

Thank you, FromScratchSF, for the beautiful pic. And yes, you are one that always answers very nice. I always look forward to you helping on this forum.

Unfortunately condescension and rudeness are in the eye of the beholder and can be read in to a post that may not have had that intent due to the impersonal nature of this medium.

When I defend people, it's because others have posted personal attacks against them instead of addressing the topic being discussed. If people stop posting personal attacks, there would be no need to defend anyone.

I love puppies, rainbows AND unicorns...but I they're not always the answer I'm looking for if I wish to learn.

I'd rather have someone be honest about something than be told a lie for the sake of harmony. Who benefits when that happens? Sure there are ways to tell someone something without dashing their dreams, but seriously...there have been people on here who have wanted opinions on their cakes (that someone else is paying for) and I've seen 'rainbow' answers when they didn't deserve it. Now...would I say 'hey your cake looks like my aunt sat on it' ? No. But I wouldn't lie and say what a great job they did. If they're wanting an opinion I'd give it honestly but with some constructive ideas to improve. Something like 'you've obviously worked hard on this but I see some areas of improvement such as....yada yada yada.' Believe it or not there are those that would take that as an 'attack'.

I see posted cake photos that scream for constructive criticism...like mentioning that a ribbon around the base of the cake board would have finished off the look...or that they need to work on smoothing their buttercream--here's a youtube link to a really good tutorial But if someone is not asking for an opinion then I feel compelled to keep my mouth shut and comment on the positive aspects of the cake only. Then I wonder if that is fair to the person who posted it..maybe they would appreciate some real feedback. I know I do.

Honesty ain't always pretty...but it's important if you really want to improve your skills. I think the problem here is that when someone is--shall we say--'blunt' with their answer, then someone else feels the need to respond to that poster instead of letting it go and answering the OP instead. Keeping comments focused on the original question would help stop a lot of the puppy stomping. IMO!

Agree with you totally Danielle.....although it does not necessarily mean it has to be puppies and rainbows......

No one is saying you have to pat people on the head and say 'oh wow that cake is the best I have ever seen'.....there is a way to say things nicely and without being rude... Do you tell your friend who asks for the opinion 'does my bum look big in this' (as she excitedly tries on her new dress) "holy cow woman, you need to get that big arse of yours to the gym ASAP...and take the rest of that body with you"..... I doubt it....it would more likely be "I love the colour but I really think a different style would suit you better".... No lying (or sugar coating for that matter)....but no rudeness either.

No one starts off an expert but you will get better with practise and knowledge. I for one have learnt heaps off this site in such a short time....there are some really nice people on here that will go out of their way to help a 'newbie'. That being said there are people on here who are just rude and use a lot of the threads to constantly tell us how important and successful their businesses are (not sure how considering the amount of time they are on here) - who cares....the thread was nothing to do with that....but it always seems to come back to that.....

I also vote for more 'puppies and rainbows' - don't mind a bit of 'Rain' with that rainbow but 'cyclones and storms' are not really called for...... Thats my two cents for what it s worth

It takes two people to start an argument. If someone posts something you don't agree with (note: this is not the same thing as posting something "inappropriate") you can either post why you disagree with it (in which case you may end up having to defend your position), or ignore it. Same story if you don't want to hear about others talking about their businesses, you are free to skip over those posts.

It seems a little restrictive to ask people not to post their opinions on a public forum except in response to direct questions just because you don't want to read them. Some of the most interesting and informative threads I've seen on CC resulted from back-and-forth discussions that focused on a topic tangentially related to the original thread.

I'm not sure I understand...it sounds like you want people to stop being "rude and condescending", but as I mentioned above rudeness and condescension can be read into posts that were written without that intent, so I don't see how people can avoid the possibility of someone subjectively reading it into their posts unless they walk on eggshells.

Are we also supposed to avoid talking about our businesses because others might be envious (or whatever reason it is upsetting)? Or is it only OK to talk about businesses that have failed? Or can people bring up their businesses only in certain situations, and if so who judges which situations are appropriate?

As for people posting off-topic just to be "rude and condescending", that rarely happens in my experience, since if someone posts something OT they usually have a point to make. In fact I've found that the worst posts are usually people responding with insults and personal attacks.to negativity they've read into someone else's post.

It sounds like you are asking for a lot of accommodation from this community, and frankly I think you are going to be disappointed. If the relatively tame discourse here is upsetting to you and you can't ignore the small minority of offending posts, you may be better off participating in smaller communities on Facebook, creating your own forum or blog so you can control and moderate the content, and/or sticking to browsing pictures here.

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Thanks. No... that's an internet picture. My cat was black with gold eyes. She would have never allowed a lime on her head!