Gameboy70
Member
Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018 |
quote:
Originally posted by agraham999
Once I started writing I decided to start participating in these groups and I eventually started doing it across the web...but I keep noticing the same stuff. Many people don't respect anyone's opinion. PC users say Mac users are fanatics, but PC users are just as fanatical about their products. The whole argument over Mac vs PC is all chicken and egg...it means nothing. Same with a lot of these hardware software issues. You prefer what you prefer. But I am not discussing that issue
It helps to look at the form rather than the specific content. Mac/PC, Palm/PPC, open-source/proprietary -- it's irrelevant; what matters is the meta-pattern: X sucks/Y rules. Once you recognize that strain of "discussion," you find yourself skipping it more: after all, it's usually no more than white noise.
quote:
I wonder why it is that people on discussion boards feel they can be rude, insulting, degrading and unpleasant. You can't even have a good debate half the time without one person calling another an idiot. It seems to me that with the anonymity of the web, many people have a certain bravado that they wouldn't normally have in person. I have met very few people in my life that were as rude in a live discussion as in some forums. I am six foot, 240 pounds...I doubt that many people would give me any trouble or be disrespectful in public. I certainly respect the opinions of other people in forums all over the web. So why is it we've lost our civility? It is computers?  Is it staring and dealing with computer frustrations that make us take it out on each other?
In many cases, it might be something as simple as being unable to add the verbal and nonverbal inflections we take for granted in face-to-face communication. But that's no excuse: rude is rude. I find myself paying less attention to meaningless messages and more attention to meaningful ones. It's no coincidence that obnoxious posts almost always have nothing to say. If you can't be right, be loud.
quote:
Seriously...why is it that you can't write anything that doesn't get completely dissed even if the fact of the matter is...we are all just discussing our opinions? I generally try not to predict the future...but I do like to discuss technology and debate things. However, none of us are in any position to post our opinions and predictions as anything other than that. When I write an op/ed piece, it is just that, an opinion.
You're a professional writer with standards and scruples to abide by that, for better or worse, the general public does not, even on the level of, say, correct grammar and spelling. For non-writers, almost anything goes. The New York Times publishes very few letters to the editor: publication is a privilege. On a discussion board, it's perceived as a right. If people don't have to think twice to see their opinions published, they often won't think once.
quote:
The simple fact that people can get so irate about technology is ludicrous. It isn't food...it isn't religion, it isn't even politics. Nobody is debating your right to have an iPaq or a Palm. So why do we often see so much frustration? What a waste of time. Is it so hard to say to someone, I agree or I disagree...without saying their idea is stupid?
People get irate by having their judgement called into question; the subject matter is irrelevant. When that happens, their self-esteem -- not the issue -- is at stake. At that point, the best strategy is to calmly stand your ground, like Beethoven: "Does Abrechtsberger forbid parallel fifths? Well I allow them!"
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04-13-2001 07:58 PM
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