There are many posts here with which I wholeheartedly agree and relate. It took me a long time to feel comfortable posting here, because of a measure of bickering and negative criticism happening.
Not all here are eloquent in our posts. Some are timid and play down their thoughts for fear of intimidation. Some are limited in their expression by virtue of their first language being non-English. Some of us just want to be frivolous, and there are threads available for that. My recent change of avatar, siggie, etc, was a reflection of my lighter approach here, and I hope is taken in that same light. I think Meat himself would be the first to foster good humour, or at least, an attempt at it.
I have noted, with alarm, a downturn in good manners on other forums as well. Without the benefit of face-to-face contact, a lot of dry humour is easily misconstrued also. The use of smileys would significantly reduce some of these misunderstandings. As for the lack of good manners, I don’t think we’re going to get on top of that one quite so easily. We can only hope we all give careful consideration of others before posting our criticisms / opinions. “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” ??
I take Pud's point about the post he mentions. I read that thread, then went away and thought about it quietly. When I returned to the thread, I was able to see it from a slightly different angle. Perhaps a step back before jumping in with both feet might help somewhat for others as well.
I'm not going to include great amounts of love hearts, smileys, or even encourage a group hug here. I think we all just need some timeout to cool down.
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