Being flamed on the Internet
CockneyRebel
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Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 116,782
Location: In my little Olympic World of peace and love
Has anyone ever gotten flamed on the Internet? There was this one time that I was trying to meet some people online. One guy called me Miss Boring because he was intolerant of my differences. I should have written a message to him saying that my interests are my own and that he shouldn't have ostracized me for having them. There were a few other times that I was flamed as well, but it would take me too long to get into all of the details. If any of you have gotten flamed, how did you handle it?
Unortunately CR I have, many times. My penchant for being blunt gets me into hot water too often for comfort, but I refuse to change who I am, and it's a well documented AS trait for telling the truth even where it may not be accepted or appreciated.
I have learned one thing, if I am sure of my facts and know I telling the truth I refuse to apologise - however if I'm proven wrong then I stand up and take responsibiltiy by offering an immediate apology.
If however a person is being downright rude and critical it's a different matter and I won't stand around and waste my breath. I often ask if they have a certificate for their ego because one like that must surely have taken years to learn and copious amounts of exams to qualify, then leave the conversation.
Debs
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CockneyRebel, a good question.
I've been flamed a lot of times. A LOT. There are a lot of rude people out there who are, quite frankly, stupid and ignorant and could do much to better themselves and contribute more positively to society than stripping down the happiness of the human race. We're all connected, ya know. I used to take it very harshly and I was very, very sensitive about it. I still am, but a key with a lot of flamers is that they're out baiting to see what kind of reaction you'll give them. Trolling.
Sending back insults or most kinds of responses, in fact, will only bring back fire and ignite more flames. Ugh.
Thus, I treat their lowmindedness with a quick tap of the "ignore" or "ban" button, or I just don't read their messages or respond to them. This is, of course, if being polite first does not succeed. On message boards, I make use of a wide array of emoticons and when in doubt, I always, always state "Hi, I'm Torley and I'm autistic -- I have Asperger's Syndrome, so if you need any clarification about it, feel free to ask me about it, yo".
Thing is, the wonders those labels will do! People have been more kindly and understanding to me when I express my difficulty in understanding their communication, and things are better all around. They may be more inquisitive and less judgmental, like: "Are you like Rainman?" or "Asperger's? What's that?" and it opens a nice dialog. It's important to communicate these things, because otherwise some folks are quick to say something like "Are you stupid or slow or something?" or "You freak, what's your problem?" and that can hurt very much. I say it openly that I am autistic, I am eccentric, and I like to be friendly.
I agree, Debs, that is an honorable way to conduct conversation. And for the things that cannot be proven factually on a universal basis -- well, those are the personal truths within each of us.
Mich
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Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Gender: Female
Posts: 508
Location: Ohiuh (directly west of Pensyltucky)
Once at Nick.com, I wrote a message talking about how much I hated what NICKMyst did to the Books & Reading message board. It was released, only to see a brainwashed zombie named "justtoast" (okay, I was exaggerating a little) call me an "immature little baby" and two(?) other people agree with him, all of this nastiness to me to be also released! I HATE those people who slobber all over the moderators there! Shows how lame some NTs can act.
Even I am more mature than that justtoast guy! He's also not "just toast." He's more like rotten eggs, sour milk, and toast! If I'm an immature little baby, then HE'S even MORE immature! That guy has NO brains! Instead, he has a bunch of NICKMyst junk piled up where his brain's supposed to be! Doesn't he know Nick.com's supposed to be for more intelligent people than he! What a...I think I overdid it with the insults. And the comments. And the ridiculus metaphors. Maybe I'll just end this rant with my signature now.
Mich
Haha hey Mich at least you don't go to places like Gaia Online -- they try to run a tight, friendly ship, but lots of lameasses there. One guy was like wondering whether he should kill himself, and a bunch of folks built up this hostile mob mentality and egged him on to commit suicide. Really stupid.
Gee, that guy sounds like a piece of burnt toast alright. Burnt to a crisp, and best stomped on a forgotten out of your life. (I like your metaphors.)
I don't give words like that any weight. They might as well be smoke and dust... like the remains of burnt toast.
Stick with what makes ya happy, don't waste your time with the lowmindedness.
Mich
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Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Gender: Female
Posts: 508
Location: Ohiuh (directly west of Pensyltucky)
Gee, that guy sounds like a piece of burnt toast alright. Burnt to a crisp, and best stomped on a forgotten out of your life. (I like your metaphors.)
I don't give words like that any weight. They might as well be smoke and dust... like the remains of burnt toast.
Stick with what makes ya happy, don't waste your time with the lowmindedness.
I agree. Nick.com is kind of lowminded. Best for NT kids who have IQs under 70 (like most of those Myst-lovin' people) who aren't familiar with Google or anything like that so they can find something better.
About the committing suicide thing. Those people sound weird and even lamer than seeing teenagers get intimidited by a moderator's power (so they act like they're brainwashed to unconditionally love her just because she posts their stuff).
I even refer to Myst now as a "Modertraitor." Same thing with NICKzoedog (who often replaces peoples' posts with "[DELETED]" and acts like he's their boss after that). I even put the Modertraitors in Nick.com Reunion with a little family connection to Myst (that I came up with), Beckie.
Well, I have nothing else to say for now. Bye.
Mich
This "Myst" sounds like he gives one of my fave computer entertainments, the game of the same title of Myst, a bad name!
Moderators help shape and guide a community. Irresponsible moderators and their ilk have a hand in the downfall of the forum. A fine example which I appreciate is the TrekBBS.com -- they have a superb way of making sure personal insults are not freely exchanged, and they give people the freedom to say anything they want to say, as long as it's informed and civil. This kind of system, I enjoy.
It takes a very skilled diplomat/politician not to get flamed on an internet forum when expressing your opinion, and it probably happens to everyone who takes the time to post. It's happened to me a few times. Occasionally the flamer goes into a severe, curse-slinging discourse that eventually leads to my best attempt at diplomacy. I like to be compliant, and when someone so violently reacts to what I say, I try to find common ground. Sometimes they're cool about it, most of the time they're not and end up calling me a wimp or somesuch, or simply continue the arguement. I used to be really sensitive about stuff like that, but not anymore. Now, I just try to keep my opinion to myself as often as I can. It's usually misinformed anyhow.
They tell me to grow up. One even said I was too old for halloween. They just don't get it.
How old are you? How old is too old for halloween? If you are more than 16, you might be too old to go trick or treating in some neighborhoods, but you can always take young kids trick or treating no matter how old you are.
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