Public Forums and Personal Attacks

I'm perturbed that the thread was locked.

I'm very intent on making this point though; the second anyone posts an opinion in a public forum, they open their opinion up to the masses. The masses are then free to agree, support, and reinforce that opinion; or disagree, critique, and rebuke that opinion. That's basic freedom of speech, and it runs a two-way street. Post your opinion all you want; but you can't expect others not to comment on it.

The very same thing applies to when someone posts a picture of themself in a public forum. You open yourself up for the public's commentary. If you don't want the public to comment on your appearance, then don't post the pic in a public forum; post it somewhere else and provide the link via PM only to those who want to see it.

A picture of a member was once posted on a public forum on this site. I'm free to comment; and I gave an opinion. To call that a personal attack is absolutely ludicrous. If the poster didn't want comments on the pic, she shouldn't have posted the pic in public.

I don't intend on curbing my commentary around here because it might hurt people's feelings or make them angry. I don't intend to launch personal attacks at people. I merely am standing up for my right to give an opinion on ANYTHING that is posted within these public forums.

Now, I recognize that this place is a privelege, and not a right. If Warpath Admin doesn't like my stance, they can ban me. But if that's the stance of the Warpath, I don't think it's a place I'd like to be a part of. Luckily, I think the Warpath is an advocate of free opinions.

I agree that it goes both ways. And I most definitely agree that bringing up your looks or posting a picture opens you up to criticism, but I also believe there's a tasteful and distasteful way to do apply such criticisms. I mentioned this to hess as well that posting her pictures opens her up to criticism and I also mentioned talked to her about the "baiting" issue that's going on and I feel you should also be ready to accept that not everyone is going to love you like some people do.

I guess the "tasteful" part is the difficult part. The definition of "tasteful" probably varies amongst people.

When you're talking about making a comment on someone's appearance, exactly what is the tasteful way to say it? "I find you unattractive" is probably the most tasteful way you can lay it out; but it's still likely to incite anger or hurt feelings.

In the end, this picture issue probably won't be a big deal because it's not like people are posting their photos all over this site all the time. And I appreciate what you're trying to do, TMC. And I appreciate the willingness to allow opinions to be expressed. I guess someone's appearance is always going to be a touchy subject, no matter what. To me, the lesson is don't post your photo in public, and you won't give anyone anything to comment on.

I think the saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" applies. Schneed what you wrote was hurtful and I doubt you didn't know that. You're better than that by a lot.

I'm not even sure what this is all about so don't take this as a specific response to this situation.

Free opinion is fine but when it becomes clear that a thread is spiraling down the drain that's when it gets locked down.

I'm not a fan of babysitting, so if people want to whine and cry and trade insults please do it on your own time through email or instant messaging.

I guess the "tasteful" part is the difficult part. The definition of "tasteful" probably varies amongst people.

When you're talking about making a comment on someone's appearance, exactly what is the tasteful way to say it? "I find you unattractive" is probably the most tasteful way you can lay it out; but it's still likely to incite anger or hurt feelings.

In the end, this picture issue probably won't be a big deal because it's not like people are posting their photos all over this site all the time. And I appreciate what you're trying to do, TMC. And I appreciate the willingness to allow opinions to be expressed. I guess someone's appearance is always going to be a touchy subject, no matter what. To me, the lesson is don't post your photo in public, and you won't give anyone anything to comment on.

Right. I've also been talking with hess via PM most of the hour about this situation and it's something that's pretty touchy since it's a pretty unique situation. Normally it's some asshole (usually from another team) that comes in here, starts crap and gets banned. It's cut-and-dry.

For this, I've been trying to look at it from both sides. I've looked at it from the fact that the internet is a public domain and that once something is posted it's publicly owned (basically).

I've also looked at it as the fact that while this IS the internet, this is also a private board with private rules. I'd also like to see what other mods think as well.

I'm not a fan of babysitting, so if people want to whine and cry and trade insults please do it on your own time through email or instant messaging.

Good call. This is basically what I'm trying to say...

Both Schneed and hess... if you want to trade insults, do it privately.

I think the saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" applies. Schneed what you wrote was hurtful and I doubt you didn't know that. You're better than that by a lot.

Really, I would have kept my mouth shut, but I saw her brag about her appearance, which set me off. So I let my opinion fly.

In fact, anytime I see someone brag about something, I'd do the same thing. I think braggers bring it on themselves. Now, what I won't do is talk about someone's appearance who hasn't posted a picture of themself. I'm going to challenge whatever it is they're bragging about. On this site, someone once started proclaiming and bragging that their gambling system was flawless. Knowing that was ridiculous, I attacked that notion.

As for trading insults, this is a touchy circumstance because it involves someone's appearance. But again, if you don't want comments, don't post the pic.

Right. I've also been talking with hess via PM most of the hour about this situation and it's something that's pretty touchy since it's a pretty unique situation. Normally it's some asshole (usually from another team) that comes in here, starts crap and gets banned. It's cut-and-dry.

PS - Just for the record, I don't expect any special treatment because I've been around this site for a while. I would want the rules to apply to me just as they would to anyone else.

It's just that my interpretation of the rules leads me to believe that I'm 100% in the right on this one, regardless of whether or not I upset somebody.

A couple weeks ago I said something insensitive in a thread that upset SBF; I quickly apologized to him for it because I recognized I was wrong. I don't feel that way in this case.

I think what makes it different is the fact that just like you said, it IS someone's appearance. If you're not agreeing with my gambling system, then I might get a little upset.

But if you flat out say I'm ugly, I'll probably take that a little harder than someone not agreeing with my gambling system.