Potshots...The Untold Story!!!

**Alex** · February 10th, 2003, 09:02 PM

I think I've finally unearthed what it is about forums that cause the most trouble.

The dreaded potshot.

Defining what a potshot is, is difficult. Many times, a cognizant comment can be interwined within the potshot. This tends to make the potshot that much more of an irritant. Attempting to untangle the potshot from the comment is next to impossible.

A potshot involves the following; from a hidden, burrowed position, the potshotter scopes out the intended target, rises for a better view, takes aim, and fires, attempting to kill the target, all in one post.

Buckshot potshots can be just as annoying, or damaging. Fire as many insults as possible, all within one post, again, following the modus of the potshotter.

The worst kind of potshotter is from the idiot that isn't even a regular to a forum. This type of potshotter lurks, absorbs, and perhaps has even benefited by reading previous posts made by the soon to be victim, but fires away as if this person's past contributions mean absolutely nothing.

Potshotting, I believe, causes most of the unsavory turmoil that occurs on discussion forums.

It's taken me over two years to identify the action by a specific name. [img]confused.gif[/img]

Potshots. [img]graemlins/thumbs_down.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wilted.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/broken_heart.gif[/img]

**Ivana** · February 10th, 2003, 09:11 PM

I get the 'shots'. Why 'pot'?

**Alex** · February 11th, 2003, 12:39 AM

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "pot shot" as...

"A shot aimed to kill", "without regard for sporting rules". "A random shot".

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Yes indeed.

I think it's time we give this term a place in the internet forum community.

Calling someone a Potshotter would be the worst kind of insult to give to another poster, and, if the term has been correctly applied, it should be easily proveable by simply posting the "offending" comment and using the criteria I described in the previous topic post about what constitutes a Potshotter.

What's interesting to me is that when I look at the list of what I considered devious, manipulative, or simply "unfair" posts (and after posting 8,000 times, there have been a couple tossed my way), they ALL fit the above pattern.

I just never had a name for them.

I'm not clumping all anti-posts as being potshots, but the ones I have complained about DEFINITELY fit this description of Potshotting.

**Alex** · February 11th, 2003, 12:53 AM

I believe if whenever I had a "complaint", I could have simply said, I think this was a "potshot", and the term potshot was known to be a bad term, I could have saved many long winded discertations.

Oh well.

**Alex** · February 11th, 2003, 12:56 AM

Now, lets play a game.

Name a forum where potshots are a way of life.

The answer would be...THE!

Right, they inhale potshots.

But now, lets say, an informational type of forum has members that occasionally blurt out potshots...

such as the Medical Procedures Forum..., clearly, a potshot on such a forum would and could have far reaching consequences to a person's standing on that forum, as compared to the forum "THE".

A potshot on one forum and you are a hero, on another forum, a zero.