I really think that an outsider can misinterpret and misjudge just how malicious or hurtful a remark is intended to be if it is between two (or three) people who have been exchanging messages for a few years.

About a year or two ago when I was getting regular abuse from O** and C****L**** on this forum, I was just grinning and giggling to myself each time they took a shot at me, and then I would gleefully compose my next rebuttal and probably bring their spousal relationships into it (along with their living situation and sexual orientation).

I know that human personalities are too complicated to be split into two boxes: Submissive Vs. Aggressive, but if you're observing abusive messages between two people, and if it seems that only one person is being aggressive, then it could very well be bullying. But if both people are composing vitriolic messages then it might just be satirical humour and fun -- call it "mental sparring", or "fuckery" maybe. Personally I don't think this kind of 'fuckery' can ever get out of hand, I just find it more and more funny as it escalates further and further. Other people think though that lines can be crossed.

You get some people around here who are similar to the stage comedian Frankie Boyle in that they just throw around insults indiscriminatingly in every direction -- I personally find it entertaining and funny, but if another person from a more timid background were to walk into the room then they might find it off-putting.

Seeing as how this is a forum to do with anabolic steroids, I think it's okay to expect people to have a thicker skin, than for instance if it were a kayaking enthusiasts' forum. I do think that there should be a higher threshold for what some people call 'flaming'.

I certainly don't think that there should be bullying here or anywhere for that matter, and also I don't think that messages exchanged should not drive new-comers away, but do I think we should be considered to be pretty thick-skinned.

With all the said... I've lived life long enough to know that bullying can sometimes be very subtle and sophisticated. I spent 10 weeks in a residential Catholic rehab and I observed one guy verbally bully and socially humiliate another guy pretty much every day. The guy on the receiving end of it would laugh as though it was all good fun, even saying that the pair were like Laurel & Hardy, but I was clued in enough to see that it was bullying. I reported it to the facilitators but I don't think anything was done about it.

I think the job of a moderator (or any kind of manager) can be difficult when trying to figure out if some behaviour is bullying or just fun, and in cases where they aren't 100% certain then maybe the best thing is just to tell the two (or three) people to quit for everyone's sake.