member bashing vs. opinions, just wondering what your take on this is Options

[Melissa]

Member Bashing:

John Smith is a fucking douchebag and should go fuck a whale and get an STD.

Opinion:

I don't know about you, but I personally feel that John Smith acts rather douchey around the forums, don't you think? I don't think I would be very displeased if he fornicated with a whale and obtained an unfortunate sexually transmitted disease.

I personally think that posting the opinion part around the forum isn't technically member bashing. You're just posting your opinion about somebody, right? Not blatantly calling them names.

[Melissa]

^ yeah.

I mean, I've seen some posts in member photos that say "omg, you're really f**king ugly" and once in a while, these people would get verbal warnings. I can see how people would be offended, but if at the same time, you said "it's my personal opinion, but i don't find you attractive at all."

To say that we're not allowed to post negative opinions about other members is completely stupid. I can almost understand why member bashing is not allowed, because saying "you're a f*g" or "you're pretty f**king stupid" is to assume that it's a fact and everybody else agrees with you. Saying "i think you're pretty stupid" shouldn't be considered bashing because you're posting your honest opinion.

Our opinions should not be censored, imo.

[superstitious]

To say that we're not allowed to post negative opinions about other members is completely stupid. I can almost understand why member bashing is not allowed, because saying "you're a f*g" or "you're pretty f**king stupid" is to assume that it's a fact and everybody else agrees with you. Saying "i think you're pretty stupid" shouldn't be considered bashing because you're posting your honest opinion.

Our opinions should not be censored, imo.

We're riding semantics a bit here, but I can understand what you are saying and where you are coming from (I think xD).

I don't like the idea of censorship, but member bashing/trolling just isn't allowed here. However, saying your opinion about someone, even if it isn't necessarily a flattering opinion should be allowed. I mean, if we all had the same, positive opinions about things and about people, the world would be a pretty dull place.

Having said that, I do think that at times, people state their negative opinions when it isn't necessarily provoked. For example, if someone posts something in showcase and someone comes along and says something like, "I think that you may be mentally incompetent", I don't think that it is merited. If you think that what they are showcasing needs a critique, critique the graphic, not the person. It's a rough and random example, I know.

And sometimes, it is how you word things. That isn't censorship, in my opinion, it's common sense. The examples in the first post are pretty good example of bashing versus brutal opinion posting. I would be apt to see "bashing" in the first example and although I might not like the sort of meanness (lol) in the second example, I wouldn't be quick to call it "bashing."

Does that make any sense, at all?

((holy crap, I fully didn't know my post was so long))