And one other thought...
While writing threads works for me and I encourage others to try it as well, I know it doesn't work for everyone. Writing threads comes with a lot more flack than just being a regular poster, so in some cases, you have to weigh which one is the lesser evil.
I remember one guy who claimed I was calling both him and God racist. I certainly don't believe I did either. I told him what I always tell people like that -- report my posts saying such things to the mods. Well, this had the other people in the thread scouring my posts and saying they couldn't find where I'd said anything like that either. I told everyone, "If you ever see me posting something inappropriate, report it to the mods immediately." (I did the same thing when I had another guy claiming I was defending homosexuality.)
The guy who said I was calling him and God racist then made a really big deal about how he was putting me on Ignore.
Well, guess who showed up as the very first person to reply to my next thread. And the next. And the one after that.
My threads were about completely unrelated topics. I wasn't even talking about him or any of my interactions with him. Threads calling people out by name (unless it's some sort of praise,) are rightfully immediately taken down. I'm blessed to have enough other things to write about, I can just put up another string of threads like nothing happened.
I was simply moving on. But there he was. Every. Single. Time. And every time, he was telling me what he thought I was doing wrong. But what about his big spectacle of putting me on Ignore?
It was like a moment from The Princess Bride: "I don't think you think that word ("Ignore"!) means what you think it means."
What I've found is that this forum is like a maze, with many turns and corridors and wings. When you write new threads, you're creating new corridors and wings and expanding the maze to all sorts of new places. The people who constantly badger you will try to follow at first. But many often get banned (usually they're generally stirring up trouble all over the forum, not just harassing one person) or, the people who actually want to hear the discussion will start telling them to pipe down and behave or get out.
Eventually, they give up and move on to different threads.
I also encourage people who don't like my threads or posts to put me on Ignore. We're all different, and I totally understand that there are many I won't appeal to -- that's perfectly normal!!
Though I do have to admit, with some of the more contentious users over the years -- having them put me on Ignore felt like I had made it to the Big Boss Level of a video game and certainly wasn't exactly a heartbreak.
I realize writing new threads might not work in say the Bible Discussion Forum, but so far, I've had a 100% success rate (meaning, they eventually left me alone) -- and that's why I've managed to stay here so long.
I just wanted to share these experiences in case it might help anyone else going through the same things.
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