Hey, I thought we all liked free speech 'round here.
Somebody calling a guy BigTard without responding to his argument has shown himself to be the dunce.
Which exemplifies the (correct) belief that the freedom to speak your mind shows us who people really are. PC runs counter-current to that belief by forcing inoffensive, neutered language to be the only acceptable means of expression.
Pile-ons are common thing on this board, and yes, I’ve participated. Some of my history here I feel bad about, no question. I’m sincerely regretful about past bad behavior. Over the past fifteen years, I think my posting has become both less frequent and more careful.
See, this is the type of response that reinforces my belief that this is classic bullying. And you’re part of the bullying group, who generally counter outsider objections with that sort of redirected aggression “Well who are you? Galahad?”
And here’s the other classic counter: “But Stinky here’s a giant dweeb! Why don’t you step in when other people are being kidded?” When you catch me doing drive-by potshots at any of those you listed, or anyone else, that are in the form of an in-joke slur without responding to anything they said or any reference to the point/argument/subject under discussion, then go ahead and call me out for hypocrisy. But just because I observe a behavior, in a thread in which I’m actually participating, it’s a bullshit objection that I’m not somehow policing other threads or “rescuing” other posters.
And he knew and used the word Shibboleth.
That was cool.
Dude, you did it in this thread. That you are participating in. Certainly 2 and 4 of that list, at least. Way after that “I’ve felt bad about my past” absolution moment. Unless that was triggered by my post to BigT, in which case, you’re welcome.
Now I’m not defending this practice as such. I simply don’t find it a big deal. It is what it is. I find it odd that it’s being called out over this guy when, if we were going to call it out, there are much more deserving people of the defense.
Your examples show me being disagreeable, snarky and directly insulting. If you can’t distinguish that from bullying, or even from “drive-by” posting, I don’t know if we can go further until we share some understanding of what all of those words mean. Do you suspect I coordinated with a group on those posts, or that I’m piling on to a specific person (in those posts arguing with you, doorhinge and Debaser)? That those posts of mine were not arguing about a particular point or theme and joined onto a simpleminded slur or an attempt to stifle the participation of an individual?
I’m happy to participate in a different thread about it if you’d like. Please link me to an existing thread or start one and flag me if you want to do that. But I’m now done hijacking this thread. (Yet another thing I have to regret doing on the SDMB. Oh well.)
No true Scotsman. got it. Deuces. No need for a new thread.
It’s a good word!
Was also someone’s username, with a “0” replacing the “o”. Don’t know if they’re still with us.
Cyberbullying? Give me a break.
Merely insulting someone on the internet is not “cyberbullying”. Most people consider cyberbullying to be outright harassment such as threats of violence, sexually explicit comments, doxxing, and usually they people as well as their friends and family via e-mail and/or social media.
Just calling someone names on an internet message board during an argument? You’ve got to be shitting me. If that’s your idea of “bullying”, you’ve got it pretty damn good.
I am sorry Guinastasia, that is not true. Rational and kind adults do not talk that way. I have been cyber-bullied to the point of seriously deranged people looking up my parents and contacting them directly about stuff I wrote. Luckily, I am just an extension of my parents and everything I said was true and they will fully back me up on everything. However, the creepy stalking factor is more than a little disconcerting and you are at least as guilty of it as some people that are thankfully now in prison.
Let me explain something to you very simply, I am neither for or against you unless you give me a reason. Yes, you can cyber-bully someone by calling them names repeatedly. Being nice to people in general is much more important than any grand social policies that people claim to support in the abstract.
People are going out of line with BigT in my view. Can we get some basic kindness around here? You certainly do not demonstrate anything of the sort.
Start a thread if you’d like and I’ll argue the point. In your prospective OP, please consider including links to the argument you were having with BigT in this thread when you interjected your name calling.
This is the fucking Pit. It’s where names get called. (This is where the Devil makes potty!)
Whining about nastiness in the Pit is like whining about mustard at a hot dog restaurant.
If the PC police have their way, the Pit will soon be a shameful stain on the legacy of the Straight Dope, thrown onto the ash heap of history.
No, it is still part the SDMB and some standards should still prevail. I am not a moderator but I have noticed the latter part of this thread has trended towards insanity and random, targeted abuse. That is not productive. However, it is a really good metaphor for the general PC movement.
I think that goes along with what I said – stalking people, and contacting their friends and family.
Let me get this straight: are you saying that by insulting someone, I’m just as bad as a stalker who’s now in prison?
:dubious:
No, I am suggesting you don’t insult people so much. We have had our differences over the years but I always take back anyone as soon as they change their ways - you included. It is much more important to treat individual people with kindness and respect than it is to claim to support a particular political or social cause. It will pay big dividends for you and everyone else if you can learn to do that.
Shut up, ShagTard
Kindness? In the Pit? BWAH-HAHAHAHAHA!
High fives ** splatterpunk**.
The pettiness isn’t actually the point, in my opinion. The “shut up, BigTard” gag is basically shorthand for, “oh God, BigT is running his mouth and acting like some kind of wizened authority on human interaction when in fact we have all seen plenty of evidence of just how stunted and stupid he is. An actual reasoned response would dignify his idiocy just a little too much, so I’ll just express that he should shut the fuck up.”
In all seriousness, when I read his post, I came pretty close to making the “shut up, BigT” response, but ultimately I opted not to. It wasn’t because I decided it was too petty or mean, but because it was so deserved that someone else would inevitably do it regardless. The only change I would have made is that I would have chopped the quoted portion down to:
Because that is the most laughable part of it. BigT: you’ve said a lot of stupid, stupid shit and gotten called on it. Every goddamn time you attempt to start talking down to people you’re going to get kicked in the nuts, because nobody thinks you’re in a position to condescend.
ETA: PS: calling someone a tard and telling them to shut up in a forum dedicated to insulting each other is not “cyberbullying”, you goddamn fucking shit-lickers.
Read the rules, kiddo.
Agreed, agreed, and partly agreed. Abuse is happening, it is not productive, and it is a good metaphor for the “anti-PC” part of the PC debate, as this viewpoint can only function by calling out “PC” as a rude name. People who favor actual freedom of speech don’t blinker themselves by defending only one limited variety of speech, but defend all speech. That includes speech that is highly critical of other speech, which is all that “PC” has ever consisted of.
If you insist that your speech must be immune from criticism, then you are not a true advocate of free speech.