Contribute to civil discussion

[snopes]

A reader wrote this on a snopes.com message board way back in ’06: “I am so tired of people trying to defend general rudeness with ‘It’s a public forum, I can say whatever I want.’ Yes, I agree, they can say whatever they want but that doesn’t mean a) that they *should* say whatever they want, and/or b) that others automatically lose their right to get upset about the statements made, just because they are allowed to say them.”

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/n...117824563.html

[marrya]

Heh, and no-one's ever said anything like that here since?
2006? That's practically pre-electricty!

[And, FWIW, a testament to your good self and minions, that you've been keeping one small corner of the internet fairly civil all that while!]

[Chloe]

That's neat. The main site gets a lot of kudos for the amazing job it does; it's nice to also see the messageboard singled out as another internet place head and shoulders above the competition.

[Gutter Monkey]

Aw no, I read the thread title wrong and thought this was going to be a discussion about civit cats.

I was going to say some incredibly rude things about civit cats as well, so I'm doubly disappointed.


But yeah, the subtle but pervasive disconnect from reality that people seem to get when they spend a lot of time online often means that they stop considering the affect their words can have on others, and decent manners fly right out the window.

The joy of the internet is that it can serve up pretty much exactly what you want pretty much immediately, with almost zero effort required on the viewer's part. It will also bolster and pander to pretty much any point of view, be it on politics or sports or religion or race or whatever you set your mind to. That means it can be a safe little haven for people who find the real world just a little too challenging, but that can also often lead people into a mentality where their own point of view is unassailably right and any opposing point of view is obviously wrong and stupid. In fact, any opposing point of view actually threatens their safe little internet worldview so it has to be attacked and dragged down.

I can only see it getting worse, I'm afraid.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Gutter Monkey

Aw no, I read the thread title wrong and thought this was going to be a discussion about civit cats.

I was going to say some incredibly rude things about civit cats as well, so I'm doubly disappointed.

You misspelled "civet." I could say that more rudely, if it would make you feel better.

[candy from strangers]

Aw, Nocturnal Goddess! I've often wondered how she was doing, I enjoyed the nonsense battle we had howevermany years ago.

[I'mNotDedalus]

Huh, I haven't looked at the old boards in years. I mean, I wasn't in the thread cited in the OP, so nuts to that one. But, still. Fun!

(Kudos NocturnalGoddess! )

[Richard W]

Originally Posted by marrya

Heh, and no-one's ever said anything like that here since?

Well, of course not, after the huge flaming we gave the person who said that!

[snopes]

Here's the original post:

http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/u.../t/003274.html