Nobody ever wins an online argument. But the hostile banter always produces some losers. The first casualty is civil discourse. When anonymous bullies shout down anyone trying to share interesting or insightful information everyone in the community suffers. The second casualty is of course the intended victims of the online attack. When negative comments cross the line into malicious, personal attacks, lives and livelihoods can be changed forever.
Sadly, we can't stop online bullies. We may catch a few red handed from time to time but as sure as the sun rises, more will follow. The key to fighting the good fight rests not in trading blows with the ill-mannered but rather in denying them the attention they so desperately crave. If you think you can change them by trying to understand them, you will quickly be disappointed. As the recent debates surely prove, engaging them with rational, reasonable argument only makes them more determined, more obnoxious and more shrill.
The most powerful tool in your kit comes when you sign into this message board. Once you're logged in, you can eliminate the bullies from all future conversations at any time by simply:
1) clicking on the name of an offending poster.
A menu will drop down offering you the option to:
2) "ADD (basher name) to my IGNORE list".
The next best defense is contributing substance to the conversation. When childish banter threatens to take over a topic, simply start a new thread. Pose a question or comment that invites dialog and stimulates a positive discussion. And don't forget, you can always respond to someone who's already contributed something useful the discussion. But adding a worthwhile comment to a divisive thread is literally like casting pearls before swine.
The most powerful tool available to you is a critical thinking. The following links provide good detail and plenty of documentation about some bullies who've been disrupting the conversation here recently. You can bookmark this post or any of these links for future reference. When the conversation turns ugly (and it will from time to time) at least you'll have something worthwhile to read. You can even post these links directly into conversations when/where you deem it worthwhile.
Life's to short to spend it in an argument, particularly when you know the other side has no concept of fair play or standards of reasonable behavior. Busy days are ahead for me and this has been enough of a distraction.
Good Luck Trademark and thanks again for such a great show!
