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.

[Elba]

I agree. But it takes too long to turn it into an opinion D:

[Melie]

imo, i would have an easier time to accept an opinion than an insult. i would respect the person more

[Tung]

But isn't member bashing technically an opinion.

You're a fag

That's member bashing AND an opinion.

[Reidar]

They don't get a free pass just because they're opinions. Many opinions are stupid.

[Tung]

Everyone has a right to be stupid; some people just abuse the privilege.

[Melissa]

But isn't member bashing technically an opinion.

You're a fag

That's member bashing AND an opinion.

see, that's member bashing AND an opinion whereas

"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."

Is just an opinion.

So if I go around the forum and say "___, I think you're a douche, no offense," I shouldn't get in trouble for it, right?

[Reidar]

Doing what it takes to get banned from here and stupidity go hand in hand. Since it only takes one line with true premises and a false conclusion to establish the invalidity of an illegitimate inference, you, therefore, do not have a right to be stupid if any extent of stupidity is disallowed.

[The-March-Hare]

What ever the exact word you apply to it, if it's causing offense and someone asks you to stop, or gets upset, you ought to.

And also saying 'You're a f*g.' is not an opinion... It's either true or it isn't, it can't really be debatable... 'I think you act like a gay man.' is an opinion. Obviously, either way it's fairly moronic, but that's neither here nor there.

[Insurmountable]

I would say your opinion was more thought out and would be taken better, than your short and mean bashing comment.

I would have felt better knowing you wasted a bit more time on me to say something rude xD There is a fine line from an opinion and bashing though, if you just go around calling people names and crap, you're member bashing. Keep in mind, if you're going around telling people your "opinions" of them constantly and they are all rude and bounce off your bashing comments, I would say have you fun for a little while but soon after you better except a good verbal warning to cut the shit.

I don't know, sometimes I think you guys lose your common sense xD

[queen]

i think the only real controversy in differentiating between member bashing and opinion stating is the issue of whether or not the receiver of such comments is deserving of them.

i know i bashed my fair share of members, but the context in which i wrote my "opinion" could probably be taken as "harsh criticism", due in part to the other person's warranting that type of response ;o. thus, i never got a single warning.

in the end, it's just a balance between what the receptor of your "opinion" did to merit such a comment and wording your "opinion" in a way that would be better accepted by the receptor ;o. of course, this is my take on general posting, not related to any of the specific problems that have been going on around the site lately, a subject on which i really don't know how to comment -_-"

ew, i hate everything that i just posted.

[The-March-Hare]

Well... No. If the person 'deserved' the bashing, then it is still bashing, even if you think you're giving out justice or whatever.

[queen]

^ i understand that; i was simply suggesting that most comments that could be considered "member bashing" would be ignored depending on the receiver. e.g. - there are many threads in the relationships forum full of member bashes but are not perceived as such. why is this allowed to happen? another example would be all the "harsh" comments that were directed to nquackperson. he probably doesn't care about the bashing against him, but like you stated, it's bashing nonetheless.

actually, this is not a problem that bothers me; i'm just saying it does exist. my view is that the reason this happens is 'cause of the situation i described: the original poster did something/posted something "stupid", thus warranting a bombardment of "you're stupid" responses, which are then allowed to be posted. (by "allowed" i mean they are not addressed as member bashing).

the whole point of this thread is to show that although you could be saying the same thing, the way the post is approached depends on how it's worded and how it applies to the person the post is about. (or at least that's how i'm interpreting it, amiright, melissa?) so although the second quote "opinion" could/would be considered "member bashing" by some people, there's also a chance that it would not be addressed as such and that the poster would not be penalized.

[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.

[CrotchetTheLeper]

"It's not what you say, it's how you say it."

My mom used to say that to me all the time.
I think that's what you're trying to get at: the way you word something makes a huge difference in the way that the person reacts to the statement.

If you try to be somewhat polite about the things you say, you can still get your point across.

[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))

[LoveToMySilas]

My take is anything thats direct and imperative is mostly taken as an insult but if its thought out and phosisticated, its not.

[shadowfax]

I probably wouldn't call the first as member bashing and the second only as an opinion. The second is also member bashing but just done more respectfully but it makes all the difference. If I were a mod and read those quotes, I'd be more inclined to warn the first poster.