You Shouldn't Report Every Post That Offends You.

soldier4242

One never has to travel far on these forums or anywhere else on the internet to find a thread teaming with vitriol. Likewise it is easy to find a thread that is created for no other purpose than to tell everyone to nice to each other. The irony of course being that the latter threads often become much like the former as people begin to defend their rights to say what they will in an open forum.

This site is in part designed to help people find support systems. They can talk to likeminded people who want to improve their overall health because we are social animals. It is easier to make the journey with a group than it is to go it alone, and let’s face it a lot of us are surrounded by people in their real lives that will do more damage to our motivation rather than help us.

In light of all this are we to communicate in such a manner as to not offend the lowest common denominator among us? It takes all kinds to fill the world and what would be taken as a joke in my house could be a horribly offensive thing to say in another house hold. If we were to go out of our way to communicate on here in a manner beholding to the most easily offended the forums would have to either be completely silent or completely bland.

I don’t know why people feel a sense of entitlement to an environment completely free of all conflict or disagreement. Simply because someone posts something that is offensive to you does not mean you deserve to have some sort of administrative justice exacted upon that individual. The world is full of people and on the internet they are going to post things. Some of those things are going to tick you off but you have the right to post your response and an open dialogue can be born from that. We can learn about new perspectives from each other and minds can be changed. It won’t happen every time but if your solution for every post that offends you is to report it then it will never happen.

I do hope that I did not offend anyone with this post but if you do happen to agree or disagree with me I am interested in your thoughts. I will be a bit bold by asking that your arguments be supportable by logic and as an added bonus I would appreciate it if your points could address my actual argument rather than simply attacking me personally. If you choose to ignore my requests that is your right and you will not be getting reported by me for something as trivial as refusing to make sense.

_DaniD_

Yes yes yes! All of this.

DontStopB_Leakin

While I agree, this isn't going to end well, and is likely only going to add fuel to the fire.

meshashesha2012

i totally disagree :mad:

j/k.

i'm +1ing this :happy:

_the_feniks_

I probably agree with you but... no way I'm reading all of that.

Crankstr

:flowerforyou:

MidwestAngel

I didn't read it, but everyone seems to agree. I tend to follow the pack, so I probably agree as well.

WinnerVictorious

i'm tempted to make a Bowfinger joke about how many times the letter K appears in the OP, but can't be bothered to count them...

i shall now report myself for:

- laziness
- abandoning a joke
- something else i'll think of later

Tropical_Turtle

:drinker: :flowerforyou:

Laces_0ut

i only try to report the people who get offended easily and are always complaining about people that are "mean".

AllTehBeers

I probably agree with you but... no way I'm reading all of that.

Where is the tl;dr version?

Jersey_Devil

I probably agree with you but... no way I'm reading all of that.

rep+1

bellygoaway

They should have a "Don't listen to the idiot that reports everyone because they were not held enough as a child" option.

By the way, I concur!

darkguardian419

How dare you make sense! *gasp*

BinaryPulsar

:flowerforyou:

sunsnstatheart

i only try to report the people who get offended easily and are always complaining about people that are "mean".

^^^ Well there you go. Something we do agree on! Well said.

Chief_Rocka

Reported

taunto

I probably agree with you but... no way I'm reading all of that.

Where is the tl;dr version?

This.

Countryboy_

I agree with you, and would go one step further. Just because someone is offended, and reports a post, the mods should not issue the blanket strikes, warnings, and bans that they do for some of the things that are being reported. There needs to be come sort of common sense applied...and the posts should be taken in context. Sometimes, the decisions that are made are correct, and fully deserved...but more often than not, they are poorly thought out and poorly administered, and as a result, more chaos ensues.

chubby_checkers

I probably agree with you but... no way I'm reading all of that.

+1

JennW130

Reported!

pastryari

I probably agree with you but... no way I'm reading all of that.

+1

WinnerVictorious

I agree with you, and would go one step further. Just because someone is offended, and reports a post, the mods should not issue the blanket strikes, warnings, and bans that they do for some of the things that are being reported. There needs to be come sort of common sense applied...and the posts should be taken in context. Sometimes, the decisions that are made are correct, and fully deserved...but more often than not, they are poorly thought out and poorly administered, and as a result, more chaos ensues.

i still think that anyone who reports something that turns out NOT to be in violation, should be punished with a warning or strike, as a way of cutting down on the vindictive reporting that seems to be happening here now.

Pixi_Rex

basically suck it up and move on. Its how I deal with most things in life.

BondBomb

I honestly wonder how people function in the real world. Do they only interact with kind, supportive people? What happens when they meet someone that doesn't want to behave according to their standards? Who is anyone else to dictate how I respond. When I agreed to the terms and condition of MFP it did not ask me if I was a 'nice person'. Or was I 'tactful' in my responses. Its ridiculous and self-centered to demand that others behave in the way you expect.

Mcgrawhaha

i wouldnt know how to report something offensive even if i wanted to. lets see, what is it i tell my 7 year old daughter??? time to put your big girl pants on, get over it, move on, cowgirl up... hhhmmmmmmmm im sure there are alot more that i just cant think of.... everyone has a different personality and sense of humor, the fact that i flip my 14 year old daughter off every so often when she looks at me, might offend another person seeing it, but to me and my daughter, it makes us both giggle... whatever...

halejr23

Stop being mean to people who don't like people being mean to them when they are asking people to stop being mean!

*I think I just had an aneurysm typing that*

Z_I_L_L_A

Maybe there should be another area in the forum menu for easily offended people to go and not feel threatened or have no sense of humor. Maybe they can call it the Rated G chit chat forums.

SuperSexyDork

I agree with you, and would go one step further. Just because someone is offended, and reports a post, the mods should not issue the blanket strikes, warnings, and bans that they do for some of the things that are being reported. There needs to be come sort of common sense applied...and the posts should be taken in context. Sometimes, the decisions that are made are correct, and fully deserved...but more often than not, they are poorly thought out and poorly administered, and as a result, more chaos ensues.

i still think that anyone who reports something that turns out NOT to be in violation, should be punished with a warning or strike, as a way of cutting down on the vindictive reporting that seems to be happening here now.

Can we please do this? MFP would be a better place once the butthurt get themselves banned...

richardheath

"You do not have a right to not be offended".

Somebody clever said (or something similar).

LuckyLeprechaun

I probably agree with you but... no way I'm reading all of that.

Where is the tl;dr version?

this ain't reddit.

You can tell because of all the whiners.

plus, not enough cats around here.