Bugger this for a lark

[pecunium]

This is just me venting, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, then worry not. If you do, think carefully before responding.

I've been lucky, there has been precious little drama in my Lj, and not much more in which I've been involved. Some of that may be the result of my sterling perspicacity (Ha!), more is probably because I rise slowly to most types of bait.

But recent froo-fra-raw in several friends journals has gotten out of hand. It's caused a fair amount of shit, and no small amount of real pain, damage and destruction. That's bad enough, but some people are so fucking clueless they can't resist a cheap shot when someone else is either down, stepping away from the fray, or not aware of the conversation.

That's no small part of what caused the crap which made me write this post. So... comes the time you are wound up about something, and someone isn't present, or has made some sign of attempting amends, and you feel the need to set them straight... Don't.

If the topic comes up again, and they haven't learned, you'll have lots of time to try and test your moral superiority then. If they have learned, then all you did was spoil what reserve of goodwill might have been building.

In any case, no good will come of your momentary indulgence of self-pleasure.

Comments

[ammitbeast.livejournal.com]

I quickly backed out of one such melee with a very mild comment. Thought I was perhaps being cowardly... until I saw how badly out-of-hands things got. Reminded me of the bad old days of Usenet newgroups. Have the Usenet twits finally migrated to trolling blogs?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Finally? No. They've been here from the get go. If not in direct migration, at least their equivalents.

They have clubs, and play games (there was a group, a few years ago, which tried to build a sort of "honey trap" which would let them read the locked entries of anyone on the f-list of anyone who took advantage of a needless service; so they could use it to make mock).

[ammitbeast.livejournal.com]

I recall that particular service... it's why I placed a comment about privacy-defeating services in my profile.

Maybe it's just me, but the trolling and forging problems seem to be much worse of late.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

It's for the lulz, man.

Ethics are not lulzable.

[quercus.livejournal.com]

Usenet? I do believe they edit Wikipedia these days. 8-(

[soon_lee]

I felt cowardly for not posting, but my rational side told me no & I'm glad I listened. When the situation gets that toxic, the best thing to do is stay away.

[lyorn.livejournal.com]

When the situation gets that toxic, the best thing to do is stay away.

This.

After I barely skirted the edges of such a kerfuffle some years ago and managed to get out with nothing more than a few singed tail-feathers, I have set myself some rules for the likes of it: 1) Do not touch with a ten-foot pole. 2) Not even to save/help/support/get out your best friend, lover or mother. 3) If you even consider breaking those rules, log off the internet, go to the gym and work out until you are too exhausted to care.

[pgdudda.livejournal.com]

Mercury's in retrograde, hampering communications, don'cha'know. Spectacular bit of timing, that. First time I've ever been tempted to give credence to that bit of astrology, but damn, if this latest blowup ain't fine evidence of that!

[packbat.livejournal.com]

This is true. It is absolutely necessary to have that little filter that says, "Okay, you need to step back and chill out for a minute here."

[perlmonger.livejournal.com]

Beware of self-righteousness; it's the root of all evil.

There are people on both sides of this spiked, bloody, constructed wall whom I love and respect, and more caught on the shards in the middle. Me, I've kept quiet (after linking to Bear's initial post before the shitstorm erupted).

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Yup, I was thinking about posting a Vigorous Rant to set everybody straight. Fortunately, I _did_ think before acting. I was moderately involved (both the principals finally started speaking to me again before they died, and reasonably civilly, at that) in a major Fan Feud back when I was little more than a Neo, and once was more than enough for me to learn many things. Chief among these was that when people get Carried Away, my involvement is not likely to improve the situation in the least.

Personally, I'm currently developing a Theory that most people _need_ to oppose/fight something, in order to define themselves, and now that the Administrative Branch of the Federal Government is (perhaps only temorarily) no longer serving that function for most of the people I know, they're rather at loose ends and searching for some other Cause. *sigh*

I do wish, however, that the people deeply involved in the current fracas would ponder Carol Kennedy's suggestion that for people of a certain age the word "racist" may be _much_ stronger than it is for most people who've grown up since racial discrimination has become both illegal and generally socially-unacceptable.