Thread Closed
*Peeks out from under his hat*
It is human nature to want to be recognized. We all do it in our own way, personalized by specific learned behaviors. We may not want to be famous (though, there is strong evidence that a large chunk of the populace secretly does) but, we do want to be recognized in some way. It is perfectly natural and normal. That being said, the internet allows the less self-assured to find that recognition anonymously which leads to these behaviors we're speaking of.
There's another important factor here as well, humans learn from each other. In olden times, this was evidenced by how towns developed dialects and communal moralities. The internet has effectively connected the entire world together and now everyone learns behaviors from everyone else. In that sort of massive environment, especially so in the context that the internet is still a frontier with very lax supervision, terribad behaviors will grow like weeds. As long as someone is doing it, someone else will assume that it's okay. Monkey see, Monkey do.
However.....
On this particular subject, it concerns me greatly that we can make such statements as "If you do X (X being something we don't like) then you don't belong here. Exclusion is in no way a means of positive change, it's simply avoiding the issue. I'd like to think that we want to be better than that, it's the impression I've gotten from discussions about the recent negativity and RPing.
There was a phrase going round the net a while back and I'm sure it's still in use today in some respect, but it exemplifies what I'm talking about here. "Go die in a fire"
Widely used as a means of expressing hate for another human being, this always made me sad to see because I cannot believe that we, an enlightened people, could condone actually saying to someone "I hope you die violently and painfully." over things like differences of opinion, political affiliation, and worse yet, recreational hobbies (See: Gaming).Â
Back to the subject at hand.
A blog is defined as a website or web page owned or operated by a single individual or small group and is typically written in an informal or conversational style.
It's not public forum, per se. While the blog IS available for the public to see, it is essentially (and originally) a form of diary where ones thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, and individual interests can be chronicled. There's no filter in a diary, there's also no actual malice in a diary because it's just a bunch of text. In certain instances, the writer might act on something they said in their blog but the keyword here is -might-. We are not the Thought Police. We have no right to dictate an individual's feelings, ideas, or inner most workings and I, for one, am appalled by the idea that we are.
Judge not, lest ye be judged thyself.
Which brings me to the final point I'd like to make, because this post is long enough as is. Why go looking for trouble? This is kiddie drama. Who cares what Person B said in their blog or tumblr or facebook or skyped to a friend. They're upset, they're using a social acceptable outlet to release stress. Don't like it? Don't look. Have a heaping plate of self-esteem because we're all awesome people and what one person or a small group of people in the vacuum of netspace has to say doesn't actually mean squat unless you let it. I've been actually -attacked-, my business has been the subject of Doxxing, false, fraudulent reviews were posted that dropped my star rating from 5 to 1.5, I had pictures of my family stolen from my facebook by someone I thought was my friend and re-posted to public forums where they were openly criticized.
But at the end of the day, it's the internet. My business didn't go belly up, my information was secured, and I have enough self-respect to see that what a bunch of "super-cool" nicknames had to say didn't actually matter at all. I love my family and they love me. Life goes on, it's going to be okay.
Cheers
-Black Hat
It is human nature to want to be recognized. We all do it in our own way, personalized by specific learned behaviors. We may not want to be famous (though, there is strong evidence that a large chunk of the populace secretly does) but, we do want to be recognized in some way. It is perfectly natural and normal. That being said, the internet allows the less self-assured to find that recognition anonymously which leads to these behaviors we're speaking of.
There's another important factor here as well, humans learn from each other. In olden times, this was evidenced by how towns developed dialects and communal moralities. The internet has effectively connected the entire world together and now everyone learns behaviors from everyone else. In that sort of massive environment, especially so in the context that the internet is still a frontier with very lax supervision, terribad behaviors will grow like weeds. As long as someone is doing it, someone else will assume that it's okay. Monkey see, Monkey do.
However.....
On this particular subject, it concerns me greatly that we can make such statements as "If you do X (X being something we don't like) then you don't belong here. Exclusion is in no way a means of positive change, it's simply avoiding the issue. I'd like to think that we want to be better than that, it's the impression I've gotten from discussions about the recent negativity and RPing.
There was a phrase going round the net a while back and I'm sure it's still in use today in some respect, but it exemplifies what I'm talking about here. "Go die in a fire"
Widely used as a means of expressing hate for another human being, this always made me sad to see because I cannot believe that we, an enlightened people, could condone actually saying to someone "I hope you die violently and painfully." over things like differences of opinion, political affiliation, and worse yet, recreational hobbies (See: Gaming).Â
![[Image: photo.jpg]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7XsWxGWOWgU/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/BwXGDVqxfXk/photo.jpg)
Back to the subject at hand.
A blog is defined as a website or web page owned or operated by a single individual or small group and is typically written in an informal or conversational style.
It's not public forum, per se. While the blog IS available for the public to see, it is essentially (and originally) a form of diary where ones thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, and individual interests can be chronicled. There's no filter in a diary, there's also no actual malice in a diary because it's just a bunch of text. In certain instances, the writer might act on something they said in their blog but the keyword here is -might-. We are not the Thought Police. We have no right to dictate an individual's feelings, ideas, or inner most workings and I, for one, am appalled by the idea that we are.
Judge not, lest ye be judged thyself.
Which brings me to the final point I'd like to make, because this post is long enough as is. Why go looking for trouble? This is kiddie drama. Who cares what Person B said in their blog or tumblr or facebook or skyped to a friend. They're upset, they're using a social acceptable outlet to release stress. Don't like it? Don't look. Have a heaping plate of self-esteem because we're all awesome people and what one person or a small group of people in the vacuum of netspace has to say doesn't actually mean squat unless you let it. I've been actually -attacked-, my business has been the subject of Doxxing, false, fraudulent reviews were posted that dropped my star rating from 5 to 1.5, I had pictures of my family stolen from my facebook by someone I thought was my friend and re-posted to public forums where they were openly criticized.
But at the end of the day, it's the internet. My business didn't go belly up, my information was secured, and I have enough self-respect to see that what a bunch of "super-cool" nicknames had to say didn't actually matter at all. I love my family and they love me. Life goes on, it's going to be okay.
Cheers
-Black Hat
What a colossal waste of time and energy.