Dr. Henry Louis Gates Arrested

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by agzg

Oh no, dear, I'm fully aware that my posting style and offhand remarks affect the views people have about me as a username. But you don't see me going around saying "wahhhh people are just disagreeing with me to disagree with me because it's me."

Stop playing the fucking victim. It was never cute.

It seems to me that you participate in a great many threads that don't devolve into personal attacks. I don't see that happening with Deepimpact. Every longish thread I've see DI becomes at least partially about DI's interactions with other users.

I think it's normal for an occasional interaction to be about "why are you being a jerk to me?" but the majority of the threads you're in shouldn't involve that issue.

[UGAalum94]

I think as Bush's terms went on, Republicans were just as likely to be criticizing him as Democrats. This early in his first term, yeah, I think people assumed that his critics were Dems.

I think we're still at the stage that if the election were held again tomorrow, even the folks disappointed in Obama right now would vote the same way, assuming they voted for him in the first place.

He doesn't really have to be good for people to vote for him, he just has to appear to be better than the other major party candidate.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I think as Bush's terms went on, Republicans were just as likely to be criticizing him as Democrats. This early in his first term, yeah, I think people assumed that his critics were Dems.

I think we're still at the stage that if the election were held again tomorrow, even the folks disappointed in Obama right now would vote the same way, assuming they voted for him in the first place.

He doesn't really have to be good for people to vote for him, he just has to appear to be better than the other major party candidate.

I think that last part is true in any election - in many cases, you're voting for the "least bad" of the candidates. That's how I ended up voting in the last election - I didn't think any of the third party candidates were credible or worth my vote, and I liked McCain more than Obama. It wasn't that I was such a big McCain supporter - I just liked him more than Obama.

As for the Bush/Obama thing - I agree that, as you got to the end of Bush's term, it was hard to find anyone that was happy with his term. Lots of Republicans were just ready to get someone else in office.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

It seems to me that you participate in a great many threads that don't devolve into personal attacks. I don't see that happening with Deepimpact. Every longish thread I've see DI becomes at least partially about DI's interactions with other users.

I think it's normal for an occasional interaction to be about "why are you being a jerk to me?" but the majority of the threads you're in shouldn't involve that issue.

Yes but I've participated in a great many more threads than DI has, and have posted here a lot longer. There's something to be said to learning the tendencies of other posters, if only for the simple help at knowing who to engage in what way.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by agzg

Yes but I've participated in a great many more threads than DI has, and have posted here a lot longer. There's something to be said to learning the tendencies of other posters, if only for the simple help at knowing who to engage in what way.

Yep, and sometimes people do really dislike particular other users and their posts as an ongoing pattern. However, if you're verbally scatter shooting lots of people's unstated beliefs in a thread that's probably not it.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by agzg

Yes but I've participated in a great many more threads than DI has, and have posted here a lot longer. There's something to be said to learning the tendencies of other posters, if only for the simple help at knowing who to engage in what way.

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Yep, and sometimes people do really dislike particular other users and their posts as an ongoing pattern. However, if you're verbally scatter shooting lots of people's unstated beliefs in a thread that's probably not it.

In my opinion it's important to draw the line between knowing how people are likely to post, and making the assumption that it says something about them as a person. Even if someone has thousands of posts, in reality you know nothing about the person who is posting - you don't know their background, their experiences, and their core values.

Where posters make a big mistake is where they go from "I don't agree with your posts" to "I don't like you," or "I think you're a racist/bigot/whatever."

As I've always said, I know two people on this site personally (both of whom I like as people) - one (KSigRC) has been a good friend for almost 10 years, and one (nme525) I met a few times in Boston. Other than that, I don't know anyone on here, and I won't presume to make assumptions about who they are and what core values they hold dear. I don't think that would be at all fair, or smart - at the end of the day, it's posting on a website, and it's really not that important.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

In my opinion it's important to draw the line between knowing how people are likely to post, and making the assumption that it says something about them as a person. Even if someone has thousands of posts, in reality you know nothing about the person who is posting - you don't know their background, their experiences, and their core values.

Where posters make a big mistake is where they go from "I don't agree with your posts" to "I don't like you," or "I think you're a racist/bigot/whatever."

As I've always said, I know two people on this site personally (both of whom I like as people) - one (KSigRC) has been a good friend for almost 10 years, and one (nme525) I met a few times in Boston. Other than that, I don't know anyone on here, and I won't presume to make assumptions about who they are and what core values they hold dear. I don't think that would be at all fair, or smart - at the end of the day, it's posting on a website, and it's really not that important.

I think how you consistently post does say something about you as a person, but I agree that we can't know whether that matches up well with the person in real life.

I think when I find myself dwelling about something on the internet, it has much more to do with my own opinions and behavior, and I think that might be important.

There are users here that I feel positive about and users here I feel negatively about, but they are greatly eclipsed in number by the users that I simply find entertaining or interesting. It doesn't, in any of the cases, have anything to do with their particular political positions although it has a great deal to do with how they express themselves and as far as the most negative ones, the frequency with which they seem to attack or insult vs. posts that attempt reasoned or even good faith emotional give and take in this forum or helpful activity in other forums.