The Ignore Feature--Another Perspective

I don't use the Ignore feature. This is for a couple of reasons.

First, I'm very interested in what people have to post, even if they act poorly. Choosing the Ignore function interferes with that.

Second, there's another way to handle it. Over the years I've tried to learn to stay out of flame wars with certain posters. It's hard--when you get hit you want to hit back. But instead, I started taking the advice of a moderator who suggested reporting the offending post instead of responding to the flame (and flamer).

I recently participated in such an exchange. A poster decided to harass and attack me unilaterally. Rather than respond in-kind, I reported the post. (I did respond, but not with a personal attack like the one I received.) Admonished by a moderator, the poster did it again. So, again, I just reported the post. The thread was edited and the offending posts were removed.

In this way, I won't miss out on potentially valuable information from someone, and the moderators are in a better position to manage the tenor of certain discussions. Win-win.

(I won't mention names or details. The matter is settled, and I'm not trying to re-open it. But a moderator posted something on using the Ignore function, then locked the thread. I have an additional perspective on the matter, so I posted this.)