Whenever I read an article online I am always amazed and ashamed for the comments people will make about people they do not know. Subjects they are no more an expert on than I. Yet for some reason they feel that their opinion no matter how unthoughtful and unkind or just plain mean it may be.
When I was a kid I used to find it funny or silly that my father would watch the news and talk back to the TV as though Walter Cronkite could hear what he had to say. As I got older I found myself doing a similar act but instead to Dan Rather or Peter Jennings. None of them could ever hear our comments. Never hear my criticism of how the world is being run no matter how wrong something was.
Today it is different if you want to shout back at a reporter or the weatherman or anyone else and say your opinion you have the forum to do it and for some reason it is encouraged.
The encouragement is the part I do not understand. If you want to say your friends new hairdo on facebook is beautiful or your not sure what she was drinking when she did that. It is between the two of you and the friends that view the posts. But when it comes to a news story or even the weather. There are people out that for some reason read a story and immediately believe that they need to put their 2 cents in. Not in a polite way but in a unfiltered, unedited yet anonymous way.
If you are willing to put your opinion out why not put your name on it. Well this is where I believe that we have somehow grown to believe that by using an alias the words said are less harmful to speak. That racist, pig headed beliefs spewed on the Internet have no back lash other than in the online world. The person writing them may even think it is funny to get someone else fired up over something they just shouted out without thinking.
I have read things written about people I know that are not true and their is no taking it back once it is out there. Even the media rarely corrects the article that is wrong. There may be a correction but they do not actually correct the original article or even attach the correction to the original article. So it is like the TV commercial says. Well I saw it online and you know they can not put anything that is not true on the Internet. Oh here comes my French model boyfriend.
Are we really that stupid. Now I have noticed that recently that some news organizations no longer show the comments attached to the articles. I don't know why I ever looked. I guess I thought there might be some insight on the story or some new information but usually all I read is about how stupid the person is that is the victim and why were they in that situation and things of that nature.
Why would someone feel that this sort of comment is appropriate. How could it ever be. In the real world where I live if you want to say something you say it with your face showing. You should have enough intelligence to speak knowledgeably about a subject so that you do not look like a fool to those listening. But somehow somewhere it has become acceptable for people to make comments online that are not called for ever, even in your own home.
I understand speaking your mind. I have always been one to speak out when I felt something was wrong. I have gotten in trouble for things I have said and sometimes my mouth has been unfiltered but I never denied saying it. I did not blame Jane for something I did. (I made up Jane.)
So who are these people that are so smart and have so much to say but don't show their face or their name. I guess they are just big chickens that live in their mom's basement and their only communication with the outside world is the Internet. And instead of shouting that they need a friend or help they shout out absurd things about people they do not know.
I don't even know if making people put their name or face on an article like a reporter has to or quote a source would be enough but it might be a start for people to think before they post a comment online.
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Monday, May 13, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Politeness
By definition is the practical use of good manners or etiquette. Showing consideration for others, tact and observing acceptable social graces.
Hmmm.
So why are we losing this. Do we no longer practice what we preach. Teaching our children to say please and thank you. When on line people say things like "WTF". (If you don't know what it means, What the ----?) and I will just pretend it the last word is heck. For the sake of being polite. I find this to be one of the most offensive things a person can type or say.
I used to work where this sort of terminology was used to talk to the employees. By the same man that would have flipped his lid if it would have come out of a kids mouth at the dinner table. See how I used flipped his lid instead of something less polite but yet you all understand what I am saying. I see this on the Internet and television as well. Posts from people who are again parents that use profanity as though it is just any old word. Maybe I am a little prudish? But I was taught not to speak that way in public. I had quite the sailor vocabulary when I worked in the store. I did start off working for a Navy guy but I don't think picked up any bad words from him. But as I moved up the corporate ladder (just a few rungs) I learned people do not speak that way at work in an office situation. Funny how a few years later I would be spoken to in vulgar manner by my boss. But enough about him.
For the rest of us who live in a polite society in public are polite but willing to use abbreviations and vocabulary on Social media sites as though they are in their bedroom with the door closed talking to there best friend.
Have people forgotten how to act? People on the phone have lost this as well. I understand being frustrated and angry and even annoyed. I do not understand being so mad that you are willing to cuss and yell at the person on the other end. Guess what I did not cause your problem and unless rebooting your modem will resolve it or it is a bad code on your account all I can do is schedule a tech. I can not come fix the problem even if I know how. I will schedule a tech that as far as I know is correct for the problem I find. Now just like most things it only takes a few to spoil a perfectly good day. Some days you can talk them down others nothing is going to make it better. Which leads me to believe there may be more than one thing going on wrong in their life and I am only one who will listen to the screaming. I heard another employee on the phone last week say in the politest voice. Ma'am I do not need to be spoken to like that to understand that you are having a problem. You laugh when you aren't the one but you know your turn is coming. Could be just a call away.
So how did we get to this place. Is it TV or the Internet. Is it the fact that you are not speaking to a person face to face that makes some brave and rude all at once. Are the words coming out the ones that are in your head and there is no longer a polite filter that stops the words from crossing your lips. I say yours I probably should not. I know there are some people out there that think like me and would not speak in a rude manner online or on the phone. Never in public.
George Carlin said there are 7 words not said on TV but after reading his list I feel there should be more than just those 7. Those 7 should not even be said by sailors. I am not going to list the words but in this day and age. I think we need to pick up Miss Manners and consult with Emily Post and fine tune our vocabulary. Instead of consulting with likes of Captain Jack Sparrow and Bart Simpson.I would not suggest South Park , Jerry Springer or the likes of a show like Cheaters either. I have never seen Pirates of the Caribbean and will not watch the Simpsons. I accidentally saw South Park once it was a Halloween episode. I had nightmares. Wouldn't watch Jerry Springer, or Cheaters nor Cops. Need I continue
I could list more shows that I will not watch than the ones I will. I feel the same way about things people post online. I will end with, Just think about what you are saying before you say it and if you do not think you should say it in front of your Mother or Grandmother, Don't say it to me either.
Thank you.
Hmmm.
So why are we losing this. Do we no longer practice what we preach. Teaching our children to say please and thank you. When on line people say things like "WTF". (If you don't know what it means, What the ----?) and I will just pretend it the last word is heck. For the sake of being polite. I find this to be one of the most offensive things a person can type or say.
I used to work where this sort of terminology was used to talk to the employees. By the same man that would have flipped his lid if it would have come out of a kids mouth at the dinner table. See how I used flipped his lid instead of something less polite but yet you all understand what I am saying. I see this on the Internet and television as well. Posts from people who are again parents that use profanity as though it is just any old word. Maybe I am a little prudish? But I was taught not to speak that way in public. I had quite the sailor vocabulary when I worked in the store. I did start off working for a Navy guy but I don't think picked up any bad words from him. But as I moved up the corporate ladder (just a few rungs) I learned people do not speak that way at work in an office situation. Funny how a few years later I would be spoken to in vulgar manner by my boss. But enough about him.
For the rest of us who live in a polite society in public are polite but willing to use abbreviations and vocabulary on Social media sites as though they are in their bedroom with the door closed talking to there best friend.
Have people forgotten how to act? People on the phone have lost this as well. I understand being frustrated and angry and even annoyed. I do not understand being so mad that you are willing to cuss and yell at the person on the other end. Guess what I did not cause your problem and unless rebooting your modem will resolve it or it is a bad code on your account all I can do is schedule a tech. I can not come fix the problem even if I know how. I will schedule a tech that as far as I know is correct for the problem I find. Now just like most things it only takes a few to spoil a perfectly good day. Some days you can talk them down others nothing is going to make it better. Which leads me to believe there may be more than one thing going on wrong in their life and I am only one who will listen to the screaming. I heard another employee on the phone last week say in the politest voice. Ma'am I do not need to be spoken to like that to understand that you are having a problem. You laugh when you aren't the one but you know your turn is coming. Could be just a call away.
So how did we get to this place. Is it TV or the Internet. Is it the fact that you are not speaking to a person face to face that makes some brave and rude all at once. Are the words coming out the ones that are in your head and there is no longer a polite filter that stops the words from crossing your lips. I say yours I probably should not. I know there are some people out there that think like me and would not speak in a rude manner online or on the phone. Never in public.
George Carlin said there are 7 words not said on TV but after reading his list I feel there should be more than just those 7. Those 7 should not even be said by sailors. I am not going to list the words but in this day and age. I think we need to pick up Miss Manners and consult with Emily Post and fine tune our vocabulary. Instead of consulting with likes of Captain Jack Sparrow and Bart Simpson.I would not suggest South Park , Jerry Springer or the likes of a show like Cheaters either. I have never seen Pirates of the Caribbean and will not watch the Simpsons. I accidentally saw South Park once it was a Halloween episode. I had nightmares. Wouldn't watch Jerry Springer, or Cheaters nor Cops. Need I continue
I could list more shows that I will not watch than the ones I will. I feel the same way about things people post online. I will end with, Just think about what you are saying before you say it and if you do not think you should say it in front of your Mother or Grandmother, Don't say it to me either.
Thank you.
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