Brugs,friends and bumps

As one of the 90% Dave was talking about,and being new to computers,websites and forum decorum,I was interested in what the 'bump' stuff was. My question seems to have unleashed a torrent of feelings and points of view. Personally I see no wrong in any of the comments made other than my question might have been better placed in a different forum, such as this one. If my actions have offended ANYONE, I most sincerely apologise.My feeling is that when something I am interested in poses a statement or question for which I have no knowledge of, I will ask for clarification. Has been and will be. I saw no anger,politics or any discourtesy mentioned in the entire thread, but an exchange of postings that did not, in reality,relate to brugmansias, but tended towards explaining some of the grayer areas of forums.The part of DG that fascinates me more than anything else is the variety of forums. In each of these forums there seems to be a "resident expert" or two who are willing to share their knowledge with anyone who asks.Before the Seed forum I didn't know what a Brug seed looked like,much less how one could make it grow.In the few weeks since then with help from several bruggers I now have 10 happily growing plants.In the future I'll attempt to post questions in an area more suitable to their content.Thank you again,Dave,for providing this wonderfully diverse and friendly website.

To answer what I think is your question, here's the lowdown on bumping.

Bumping a thread is a perfectly legitimate way to bring it to the forefront for more input. For example, if I have offered some plants or seeds, and still have several offers available, I may "bump" the thread to see if there are any new takers who might be interested.

If I have a plant to ID, and several days have past without any input, I can bump it back up in the hopes that someone will see my picture and help put a name to it.

The problem comes when this ability is abused. Just as it's annoying to have someone constantly interrupt the conversation just to disrupt things or keep themselves in the center of attention, it's rude and discourteous to bump a thread in order to knock someone else's thread off the page. When several people participate in this activity, by some sort of tacit agreement, they are effectively keeping one or more other people from "conversing" via the discussion forums. Just as it would be rude for everyone to talk over one person anytime that person opened their mouth. (Frankly, it's the type of bad behavior that normally ceases by the time a person leaves junior high school.)

Why don't we prevent "bumping"? Because when used properly it serves a good purpose. It's a bit like banning driving just because a few people are reckless and rude - instead, we put in some limits and consequences, and enforce them in a dignified and quiet manner whenever possible.

Terry, You answered what I think is my question.Thank you.This is a great site and with such an international group of experts and novices.