Well, I was part of the latest "war" and have observed many wars in the past,
most of which I deleted without any real feelings on them one way or the
other. These things will happen once in a while and should not be censored.
Now, does that mean we should engage in flaming on a consistent basis? Of
course not. However, to start censoring posts brings up more troubling
issues than it's worth.
Individual's who read flames and then complain about them are in the same
boat (to me) as those who complain about Howard Stern yet listen to him. If
you don't like what is being said, or who is saying it, ignore it! That's
what I do.
As far as those who leave the list over this, I'm not sure that is the real
reason. I' have and many others have been on the list for a long time. At
some point we've all been attacked, yet most of us remain. Why? Most likely
our self esteem is high enough we can take it to a certain degree. I believe
that many long time members may be leaving the list not over this issue but
that the list has stopped serving their needs. There are days when I delete
every post in my box because the topics covered have been covered extensively
in the past and hold no further interest for me. I suspect this may be the
case with others.
While there may have been an increase in flaming recently, it is still a
small percentage of the posts on the whole. Expecting a list of diverse
viewpoints and personalities to never have issues (even personal ones) is
like wishing for there to never be a car wreck on the highway. It's a nice
wish but will never happen.
Randy Buescher |
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