The Rude Truth
I've noticed something occasionally in forum posts that has always frustrated me. Today, I made the mistake of posting to said forum trying to shed light on the issue. And I was immediately branded a troll. I really should have seen it coming, to be quite frank. And in retrospect, the person I was replying to was showing no interest in debating the points other people were making. He was one of those "if I cling to my argument long and hard enough, it will become right" types of arguers.
An artist was venting frustration over an issue that I don't need to go into here. Another poster, who I spoke about before, made his comment that was in stark opposition to what the artist had said, and did so by calling the artist an asshole and told him to "move the fuck on," (along with other choice and forceful words). When another commenter stated that he was being rude, the response was that he wasn't being rude, he was being honest.
And that is what got my gall. Since when did "being honest" (which is often times, actually "expressing your opinion") give rise to this idea that being polite is no longer necessary? Yes, you can express a contrary opinion. My issue was not at all with what he said in response to the artist, but the way in which it was said!
But he, in his opinion, was honest. And apparently to a large segment of the internet community, honest means having carte blanch to be rude.
As I said to him in my follow-up response to him...
Expressing an idea opposite to that of the original poster... that is expressing an honest opinion.
Calling the original poster an asshole... that was rude.
Thus, you were both honest AND rude.
Boom, instant troll status!
I am afraid logical and polite debate is finding fewer and fewer places in which it is welcome in our Internet world.
(AFTERTHOUGHT: Some might argue that I shouldn't have said anything, that pointing out that somebody is being rude is, in itself, being rude. I would disagree (though concede that it could be done rudely if you're not careful). If nobody speaks up and tries to call out rudeness when rudeness occurs, then through our silence we condone it. And when nobody speaks up against rudeness, then many people in our society will use rudeness more freely. I believe, and this is pure opinion, that this is one of the reasons why Internet culture is so bad.)
An artist was venting frustration over an issue that I don't need to go into here. Another poster, who I spoke about before, made his comment that was in stark opposition to what the artist had said, and did so by calling the artist an asshole and told him to "move the fuck on," (along with other choice and forceful words). When another commenter stated that he was being rude, the response was that he wasn't being rude, he was being honest.
And that is what got my gall. Since when did "being honest" (which is often times, actually "expressing your opinion") give rise to this idea that being polite is no longer necessary? Yes, you can express a contrary opinion. My issue was not at all with what he said in response to the artist, but the way in which it was said!
But he, in his opinion, was honest. And apparently to a large segment of the internet community, honest means having carte blanch to be rude.
As I said to him in my follow-up response to him...
Expressing an idea opposite to that of the original poster... that is expressing an honest opinion.
Calling the original poster an asshole... that was rude.
Thus, you were both honest AND rude.
Boom, instant troll status!
I am afraid logical and polite debate is finding fewer and fewer places in which it is welcome in our Internet world.
(AFTERTHOUGHT: Some might argue that I shouldn't have said anything, that pointing out that somebody is being rude is, in itself, being rude. I would disagree (though concede that it could be done rudely if you're not careful). If nobody speaks up and tries to call out rudeness when rudeness occurs, then through our silence we condone it. And when nobody speaks up against rudeness, then many people in our society will use rudeness more freely. I believe, and this is pure opinion, that this is one of the reasons why Internet culture is so bad.)