I had the same experience when I joined, not too long ago: Not very inviting
I solved this by blocking each and any negative Andy, troll, screeching spam poster or anyone else with a low signal to noise ratio. I do the same with several threads, if it turns into a ■■■■ show I’ll just mute that thread so I never have to see it again so the negative vibes won’t affect me. It’s an ongoing process.
It’s fine and even good to disagree and have a strong discussion but I’m in no way going to let negative folks affect my chill. If something turns into a back and forth I’ll just stop bothering or posting, once I stated my views on something I’ll leave it at that and if they’re so eager to get the last reply in then I wish them GL with that.
But no, an insult is very clearly defined : it’s a negative term that you associate to someone.
Does not need to be intentional.
What we can argue about is “what is negative”. And then it’s very clear : if I disagree with you and make personal attacks that convey a judgement, then it’s an insult. (you can make personal attacks that are not insulting, for example claiming that your need to argue about the topic comes from reason X or Y)
The moment a person makes a personal attack in a discussion (or an insult), then he acknowledges he has lost the discussion, because he admits he has no argument on the topic and needs to go off topic.
So yes, insults (and personal attacks) prevent by definition a discussion. Unless of course the topic is about insults ^^ . Also this assumes the topic was still a discussion : if you start insulting me or making personal attack, you already admitted defeat and thus I can insult you back since I already won the discussion.
Different people, different goals but to me it’s not about “winning” a discussion. It’s about exchanging information, views and perhaps come to a consensus.
Indeed for most people, but not for the people who start insulting.
For those people, it’s only about making aggressive assessment about people with a different opinion.
Yes, that’s also called harassment.
Some people may think it makes a better man of themselves to start insulting other. Some people may believe it’s funny.
Fact is, some people are insulting whenever someone disagrees with them. and/or making personal attacks.
Not sure if you were referencing my exchange with @tutucox_Khamsi or not. Probably not.
Anyway, the post I made that sparked the “hugs” response, was basically a parody of an exchange between some individuals in the thread it was posted in. Tutucox gave me that response, which I in no way interpreted as an insult, just pure banter and light humor. Some people don’t take these forums too serious…
That being said, I have absolutely no idea what is going on in this behemoth of a thread and I just jumped in, cause I saw my name in an image.
