Day: April 6, 2012

How rude are you when commenting on someone’s blog, or on an article you’ve read?

I remember some of the FLAME Wars that would erupt on the IRC channels. Those would get downright vicious and sometimes so brutal the IRC channel would be killed because people simply got tired of reading one venomous message after another.

I’ve seen Flame emails start and persist for DAYS at some companies where I’ve worked.

The best of these usually revolved around someone accidentally sending a message to “ALL” then all hell would break loose.

Often some “Kind” soul who knew much better than anyone else how the email system was to be used, volunteered to tutor the miscreant who dared to send to ALL.

I actually looked forward to these events because they were a great way to figure out who in the company to avoid at all costs. I mean if people are wrapped so tightly that they over-react to a simple mistake, it’s probably best that I not interact with them EVER.

The funniest part of these flame wars was that inevitably the “Kind Hearted” superior soul would chastise the miscreant and would do it BY REPLYING TO ALL.

This would lead to a furball where a bunch of other people would get really snippy and hostile. Particularly if they were part of the effete corporate Blackberry class. Apparently, the folks the company provided with Blackberries were simply TOO important to turn the machine off when they went to bed.

The strangest part of the intra-corporate flame war is that there is no anonymity.

A corporate directory will tell you exactly who someone is and who they work for. And yet all sense of decorum would fly right out the window.

At one company, the CEO sent a message to ALL that said simply, “This is the last email about this subject, the next one of you that hits REPLY ALL is fired!”

I’m sure some idiot hit REPLY ALL after the CEOs message.

If people in a corporate setting where there is no anonymity are willing to flame each other publicly I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at the verbal violence we see when people can comment anonymously.

I used to think that rude comments and flame wars were a function of the “newness” of the media being used. All of us have sent one of those ill consid

ered emails at least once. Usually we learn

Lately, I’ve been reading lots of blogs, and newspapers online lately. People not only HAVEN’T changed, I think they’ve gotten worse.

A blogger that I read with some frequency posted a very eloquent article recently about this issue.

His blog describes events in his life. These events are in his past, EVEN if the event he writes about happened only two hours ago.

He’s apparently received highly caustic comments regarding his life choices, relationships, and sexual proclivities. People feel the need to sit in judgement of him while they’re reading HIS blog where he’s voluntarily sharing his life with the world. It’s not like these folks don’t know what they’re going to read about. They’re not being coerced in any way to read what he has to say.

This blows my mind!

I’ve occasionally opened my mouth metaphorically in newspaper or blog comment sections. I have also attempted to refute some of the most hateful statements others made.

Most recently, I opened my mouth on a newspaper in Miami. The article was about Marine kiss in Hawaii. I was astounded at the things people thought were appropriate to say. Then as I read further, I couldn’t help myself… I opened my mouth. Several people took offense at what I has to say and I responded politely to their concerns.

I’ve been wondering lately if this really is getting worse or if its my perception.