Name:	copperline -	Reply
Subject:	Use of Alias on the forum
Date:	7/3/2012 1:27:28 PM

i wonder how the conversation on this forum would change if you had to post name, address and other identifying information whenever you slam somebody.  The anonymity of this forum doesn’t appear to be helping us exchange ideas so much as allowing us to be hostile without the inhibiting fear of personal reprisal.  Maybe the anonymity isn’t just allowing us to be more verbally aggressive, could it be actually encouraging it?    Put another way…  the same anonymity that allows a pedophile to pose as an on-line friend allows us to degrade and insult each other here, don’t you think? 

is forum anonymity simply a protection of free speech, or is it bringing out the worse in us?

Name:	MAJ USA RET -	Reply
Subject:	Use of Alias on the forum
Date:	7/3/2012 2:51:02 PM

Okay:  Here's what you need to know about me:  www.mrandolphmason.com

Now, we'll have yours... right?

Name:	copperline -	Reply
Subject:	Nope, the Right is always Wrong....
Date:	7/5/2012 9:22:58 AM

Really, i have to think that the use of alias isn’t good for us and doesn’t improve the civility…. it seems to me that it promotes some pretty aggressive & derogatory exchanges here.   After all, some of these threads read like what you would hear just before a fight breaks out in a bar.  Friends?   Holy S----. 

Without the benefit of body language, it’s easy to mistake a dose of kidding from an intentional insult….  On a forum, choice of words matter even more.    A couple of years ago, some of the banter between ‘friends’ escalated to posts that read “i know who you are and where you live”.  

Being insulted for beliefs & values doesn’t inspire me to share my home address, my instincts tell me i should protect myself from people who attack each other & may want to take it to the next level.  

it's pretty ironic that the same anonymity that protects us may also be promoting what we feel we need to be protected from, wouldn't you say?

Name:	copperline -	Reply
Subject:	Summary
Date:	7/5/2012 7:58:19 PM

Summarizing here, it looks like some of you thought this thread might be a challenge and responded by posting your names….  (i think my intentions were misunderstood, but this is not too surprising  because so much of the tone in the forum is so confrontational).   Others seem to think i was making too much of the matter, or that the aggressive language was harmless, or that the anonymous communication of anger was good for us because it creates an outlet for hostilities that might be acted on in a direct (and physical) way.     There was a suggestion that anonymously expressed hostility was more honest, which could be a good thing but also makes it more likely that conversations would become aggressive, which could be a reasonable price to pay for more truthfulness.    

Ecstacypoint connected the dots & got right to the heart of why i brought it up,  i was thinking that the Forum is reflecting a larger problem in the ‘body politic’ and about how our culture may be changed by the ways we find to communicate with each other.   if we can understand what’s going on…. to have a more objective, insightful view of our own behavior at this level, we might see the bigger issues differently. 

iMO, rather than become more aware of the world & each other, we seem to be becoming more irritated and intolerant, even threatened.  And the anonymity cloak makes it possible to be incredibly dismissive of each other in ways that verbal conversation would not, which triggers more anger in the people we are trying to communicate with.   What was supposed to be a conversation about politics turns into a competition with where people either win or lose, no middle ground.    i don’t think that’s a good outcome nor a positive development in our culture.  

Ecstacypoint’s reference to ‘cyberbulling’ reminded me that i wouldn’t tolerate my kids talking to each other this way. 

Really, MartiniMan?  Violence is the province of Liberals and peaceful co-existence the watch-word of Conservatives?   Hmmm…  do you really believe these generalizations or are you just kidding?   Not being able to look you in the eye, i can’t tell. 

Name:	copperline -	Reply
Subject:	Interesting
Date:	7/6/2012 2:26:47 AM

OK, MM, let’s break this down.   First, you begin with a description of me that’s derisive and suggests i have really craven character …. including a very visceral image that i slither like a snake.     The habit i have of posting irregularly is redefined as running away from a fight, suggesting that i am cowardly & fear that i will be humiliated.    Finally, what few personal details i gave just now were quickly picked up, & characterized as lying.     Everybody knows that calling a man a liar is traditionally the final insult before coming to blows…. We all know that’s one the most vile & basic of challenges to honor, character & manhood… it’s a time when you either defend yourself or be disgraced as a coward. 

So that post contained a set of seriously hostile messages strongly suggesting you are trying to goad me into a fight.    Have i  just been called out to the alley behind the bar?

With that good command of language, your post was really uncensored & intentionally insulting…. telling me that you despised & loathed me.     But you don’t have any idea who i am.   

Just a reminder:   this thread is about whether anonymity is supporting and encouraging verbal aggression.  

i’m a stranger to you & someone you will never have to see.   is that why you feel so comfortable talking like that?    Now that you’ve started writing specific & personalized attempts to nail me with insults, what kind of reaction are you hoping to get?

Name:	copperline -	Reply
Subject:	Censorship?
Date:	7/6/2012 8:59:35 PM

Censorship?  No.  A little self-control and humility would do.  

My part of this thread ends here.   What started out as an effort to generate discussion about whether the forum has, perhaps like the larger public political discussion, become so full of insults & derogatory attacks that it is accomplishing nothing…. And has ended with more insults and character assaults.     To my surprise, there aren’t enough people left reading this who feel strongly that aggression is a bad thing.    i really hope they are out there… but aren’t motivated to post any opinions.      

For the Conservative movement, a willingness to allow blatant hostility within your ranks to go unchallenged is a huge flaw and impedes your success because it tends to solidify the opposition and undermine attractive features of Compassionate Conservatism.       i still like to think that negotiation, compromise and tolerance are important parts of a Democracy, but it’s not clear that this is what Conservatism is about now.  

Sadly for all of us, a small core of really hostile & self-assured have come to dominate the discussion board.  i think this chases off new-comers, discourages discussion and the creative uses of a forum.   i’ve been living around this lake all my life, and this is not the spirit of the life i want to have here…. i see the forum as a great tool and can’t help but be disappointed in how we are talking to, and about, each other sometimes.     

it’s not possible to talk about the polarizing effects of hostility with someone who sees not harm in it, and everyone else has left the room.  

There is still one big question left unanswered though.   How would it change the discussion if there was an accurate name, home address, business affiliations, phone number… even a picture… with every post?