Sarcasm, Ridicule, Obfuscation, and Ad Hominems on Threads

I've been an ATS member for less than a year.

I'm looking for feedback from the experienced ATS members.

What have you found to be the best way to handle these posts? Ignore them? Respond to them, calling the poster on the inappropriate, counterproductive technique and leaving it at that? Respond to them as if there had been no lack of common courtesy?

I left out respond in kind because I'm assuming everyone agrees that will result in more sarcasm, ridicule, obfuscation, and ad hominem. And when I say this, I'm referring to these things directed at any person - members of ATS as well as public figures. In my opinion, it's all the same - it's all counterproductive.

What works to get the thread back to a productive discussion?

reply to post by Mary Rose


If you feel the post is nothing but an insult and adds nothing to the discussion then you should just ignore it and alert the post.

If your in the mood for a fight you could always respond but I doubt it would be productive

reply to post by Mary Rose


I wouldn't worry about it. Don't forget you are dealing with many degrees of intelligence, attitude and experiences. Not everyone can be polite and not everyone can deliver sarcasm.

At the end of the day, every aspect of your waking life, you will deal with all sorts of people. ATS is no different.

As i say... Sarcasm is not against the rules, neither is polite ridicule. But name calling, insults and bad language is.


Peace

reply to post by Mary Rose


Usually witty humour can work to in favour or you can try the traditional approach of pointing out the immature nature of the particular statement/post in question; usually the majority of posters will back you up if someone is being out of order and then the debate or thread can continue.

You could also try ignoring the comments as you said or if the post was particulary offensive then it's best to report it although in all fairness the mods overall do a pretty good job at spotting irrelevant or inflammatory posts.

I'd say it depends on exactly what was being said and how it affected you (and the thread) personally, once you have determined that then take one of the above courses of action.

Originally posted by mr-lizard
I wouldn't worry about it.

But what if the subject matter of the thread is important to you and the forum is your communication link to the world and you care deeply about certain things?

Originally posted by Mary Rose
But what if the subject matter of the thread is important to you and the forum is your communication link to the world and you care deeply about certain things?

Then if it's that much of a cause for concern go see a mod but unless it breaks the T&C's you can either respond back or ignore it.

reply to post by Mary Rose


For the really rude butholes, ignoring them is the best option. If they are trolling a thread, they are just trying to derail the discussion and no amount of correction will set them strait.

For some things, I think deflecting silly arguments with humor is appropriate to let them know that you don't take their silly arguments seriously and will not be drawn into their attempts at trolling.

In many cases, it is a good idea to have a strong grasp of logical fallacies in order to point out their flawed reasoning and try to get them to argue on the facts if you think they may have something to contribute to the discussion if you can get them away from nonsensical arguments.

The number one thing you should never do is to let them get you angry and respond in kind. This can get you warned by the mods and if the trolls see that you are easily riled, they will gang up on you in an attempt to get you banned. I've seen it happen and its not pretty.

Its best to walk away from an argument with internet trolls and live to post another day.

reply to post by Mary Rose


If a thread matters dearly to you, then one person won't be strong enough to put you off what you wish to seek.

Don't stand for bullying or insults, but just learn to take a harder, thicker skinned approach to the slightly avant-garde approaches to the English language.

Originally posted by Death_Kron
. . . the T&C's . . .

In your opinion, the T&C's are well enforced on ATS?

Originally posted by Mary Rose

Originally posted by Death_Kron
. . . the T&C's . . .

In your opinion, the T&C's are well enforced on ATS?

The Mods can't be everywhere so if you believe someone is violating the T&C's, you should hit the alert button to get the Mod's attention. The Mods even remove off topic posts if there is no other T&C violation and this can help to get the discussion back on track.

Originally posted by Mary Rose

Originally posted by Death_Kron
. . . the T&C's . . .

In your opinion, the T&C's are well enforced on ATS?

As I said above, the mods do a pretty good job overall when it comes down to enforcing the T&C's and removing inappropriate posts.

That being said, I've had posts removed and been given warnings before for no reason in my opinion, I've also seen others get away with blatent trolling without punishment.

Like I said, if it's that distracting to the thread then get the mods involved.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
In many cases, it is a good idea to have a strong grasp of logical fallacies . . .

I know you're right about this. I have not wanted to focus on learning all the ways people avoid discussing reality because they're protecting their ego or whatever the problem is, but it's necessary.

Alert it.

Alert it.

Suffice to say it's been drummed into me over the years....I still don't always alert though, sometimes I respond in kind (big no no) and sometimes I ignore it.

But yeah, the company line is to alert it.

reply to post by Death_Kron


Thanks for your response.

I am discouraged because since I've been here, I've alerted four posts. One got a response from a mod; the other three did not.

The sad but amusing thing?
For a bunch of rugged individualists...
Valiantly fighting off the bondage of group think and other Orwellian memes...
Ready to confront The Powers That Be....
You've recreated an oppressive society...Free speech? Only until you offend one of the chosen.Free will and self discipline? Only until you talk dirty...Fight Ignorance? You can post Anything on here...accuse anyone...make any ridiculous generalization....The things that get removed are usually the tools of logic...the words of sense....the frustration of the realist....
Then ,to top it off...Many of the people who come here are already on the margins of society...What happens when they call these injustices out? Their thread disappears...they get branded 'disinfo'...or they're banned...
What ever happened to free discourse? Freedom of opinion?
Nah...It's easier to get someone to punish others with the censor's whip.
Fail.

Originally posted by Mary Rose
reply to post by Death_Kron

 

Thanks for your response.

I am discouraged because since I've been here, I've alerted four posts. One got a response from a mod; the other three did not.

Don't become discouraged and especially don't let some troll dissuade from participating in a thread that you find particulary important or meaningful to you. I wouldn't worry about using the Alert feature either, just don't forget that it's a big site and the mods have a tough time keeping everywhere in check.

If all else fails you could simply send a U2U to one of the mods that your thread topic falls in and ask them to look at the situation.

Originally posted by FortAnthem

In many cases, it is a good idea to have a strong grasp of logical fallacies in order to point out their flawed reasoning and try to get them to argue on the facts if you think they may have something to contribute to the discussion if you can get them away from nonsensical arguments.

Agreed, but here's the problem ...there's the logical fallacy fallacy!

Which can really get one into a rather funny and nonsensical circular thinking conundrum since by definition it all but negates itself. It really is a pickle to have one's reasoning become dependent on formal and informal fallacies ... pretty much every argument by definition has some fallacy built into it. So it's an important filtering tool but not to be used singularly.

reply to post by Mary Rose


hello mary
long time no write.
a suggestion for you. all those you deem insulting or rude, just open a wordpad document and take down details.
if they ever start a thread or discuss something they feel important, just kindly remind them of their past attitude.
btw never did get my kaiser!
regards f

Ridicule? Sarcasm?

As the other posters in this thread, I just ignore it. I mean, it isn't at anything useful to whatever you're discussing, and just plain childish.

As a plus you could alert a mod or something.

Anyway, i can't give more advice than the other people here already had.

It varies with me, depends on what sort of day I have had at work and / or the mood of my partner (when she has had a hard day at work she likes to pass the headache on to me, lol).

I either choose to ignore insulting or idiotic posts, or I will respond in a calm, responsible manner, OR if its been a hard day and i'm not in the mood for trolls // arsewipes I will express my concern / disgusts.

Thankfully I have only had an "extreme T&C violation" slapped on me a couple of times in the two years or so I have been a member, I got a little warning sign not so long back for posting a picture of myself and a snowman I built in a snow related thread.......guess the mod took offense at the extra "man part" I gave the snowman (made of snow) just for a laugh, I suppose everyones sense of humour is different though.

I am here for a serious debate on various subjects and maybe a good bit of humour thrown in, lately though there has been an incredible amount of nastiness going on, wish it would stop.