Wow, I've been here less than a week and have already gotten a big dose of the passive-aggressive venue known as OS blog comments.
I'm no stranger to online forums - if you know what a BBS or an IRC sysop is then you also have old school chops. I also know you're not supposed to feed the trolls, yet somehow it's so damn tempting.
As I understand it, this forum is about opinions. My opinion is my opinion. Feel free to disagree, but if you come out swinging with "You're wrong, you're stupid!" chances are I won't engage with you. (Go back to Junior High.) Nobody puts baby in a corner. And should they? Should OS authors be forced to be on the defensive about their personal opinions...especially when those comments are steeped in vitriol?
Think I'm full of shit? Good for you. Offer your take on my rant and enlighten all of us with your opinion. Do so eloquently and logically and I'll probably reply and even add you as a friend. If you just want to do a dirty dance, that's not my idea of being provocative. And I know a great spot under a bridge waiting for you.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
John of Village of Whitefish Bay
Deven McKay
Verbal Remedy AKA Denise
Sally Swift
bbd
shaggylocks
Salon.com
Comments
When things devolve into schoolyard name-calling is when I lose interest.
Funny you ask. The esteemed poster Sandra Miller has a post on this EXACT topic:
http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=6550
In the 24x7 race to get your voice heard, it’s easier – and faster, the modern proxy for ‘most likely to succeed’ – to submit opinions that are intellectually lazy rather than informed.
That's her opinion and she's entitled to it.
But we're not talking about statements like, "It's my opinion that the sky is green" because to anyone whose rods and cones are biologically true, we know that opinion has no basis in reality.
But offering your view of a political situation, the actions of public figures, or your take on relationships based on your own experience? I don't have a "moral obligation" to anyone but me.
Anyone who wants to get on the semantic merry-go-round as to what is an "impression" and what is an "opinion" is free to pursue their life of mental masturbation, but I doubt they'll ever "finish".