"Advice sought for aggressive internet behaviour?" Topic

What advice do you have on how to deal with aggressive or bad attitude on hobby sites, maybe even on TMP?

How does one survive Internet discussion when it gets heated?

Walk away!

All computers I have seen have an off button and ignore stifle and similar are available on most web sites. Can't really understand the problem (I may lack something in my make up that does not notice aggression much)

x42

Just keep chipping away til the idiot gets so angry that he spontaneously combusts.

JimDuncan's advice is good.

You can also consider reporting offensive behaviour to whoever runs the site.

Yup, walk away, slowly, speak softly, keep on carrying the big stick.

The advice given has merit but then why bother communicating in the first place?

It's not necessarily about having the last word (my last TMP posting is just me joking) it's being able to express a viewpoint without being 'shouted down' or departing from the discussion and leaving the aggressor in possession of the field.

Ignore it. Its that simple.

Don't feed the troll. Keep the conversation going with people who are not trying to get a rise out of you.

As an old soldier. What have you lost if you leave someone in possession of the field on the internet? Will they come to your home, batter down your door and have their way? It's an electronic interchange. If you don't let it bother you overmuch, nothing very bad can come of it.
Standing up to aggression, real aggression, is one thing. I've met very few folks I've interacted with on the net. Sometimes that's a good thing. I've faced no real aggression here, or anywhere on the interwebs. I'll bet you haven't, either.
If you want to carry on a conversation, do so. Ignore the negative posters. You won't really be shouted down. You don't have to counter each and every argument. But, if you find yourself feeling so frustrated that you don't want to carry on, just walk away…

Complain about it on Frothers.

OP: Some people don't want to hear your opinion or engage in reasonable discourse. Don't give yourself a stroke trying to make them hear your opinion. Move on to the next post.

The only time this happened to me on TMP, I walked away for three days. It was annoying because I'd carefully qualified and explained what I'd said, and he ignored the qualifications and explanations and told me I was completely wrong, without really presenting a position of his own. After three days, I felt better, and wrote a nice little response, which didn't involve words like moron, ignorant, idiot, or benighted (or others that would have engaged the bleep-o-matic) and posted a reasoned, explanatory response. Of course, the topic dropped of a day or so later, and I never saw a response from him.
Grelber

Remember the adage about pigs and walk away.

It's going to be hard to let that pig think he knows better than you, but we all know what happens if you wrestle with him.

We all fail at this but the best you can do is to realize that none of this stuff actually matters and nothing is gained by getting in a fight.

As I said, we all fail at this :-)

Walk away.

If you can't ignore it then just use the TMP stifle function. Sure you will have gray blanks were he posted but so what?

It really isn't important and you will never "win" the argument so stifle and/or use ignore which eliminates any post that person initiates completely from your TMP but not replies so use both.

Gentlemen, your tongues are wise. Thank you.

I shall walk away …mostly.

First, understand it.

Research 'online disinhibition effect'.

Also, watch as the law slowly responds. People operate under the assumption that any speech is permissible on the internet. That is not the case. Internet defamation, cyberstalking etc. are working their way through legislatures and courts.

Walk away.

Don't have to have the last word. I never post more than twice to any topic or comment if it's not an amiable discussion. Once you've made your point there's no profit it arguing it over and over again. Just let it stand and let it go.

As they say at Disney "Let it go" :)

1) Consider, "is this discussion on a hobby site worth getting upset/intense?" I suspect the answer 95+% of the time is, "No.' Walk Away.

2) Always consider the possibility that from their viewpoint (most viewpoints are opinion based, it is human nature,) there is no persuasion or compromise possible, which is not always a bad thing. Walk Away.

3) Remember there often is an ignore or stifle like option if either side is losing their temper. Walk away.

4) If there is actual harassment because of race. ethnicity, nationality, religion,
and/or gender preference (and etc.,) there may be forum or, possibly appropriate in extreme cases, legal resources available for you to seek protection. I suspect this is rarer than some viewpoints want to believe but certainly does exist in some cases. Actual harassment (vice disagreement) is not acceptable.

5) And I say this guardedly and candidly because I don't follow your experiences on TMP and other sites, sometimes the solution may be – grow a thicker skin. It's a big bad world out there and, relatively speaking, disagreement between viewpoints should be less of a problem than that the much less likely (I hope) local, home grown or international "terrorist threat" (which frequently is over-used to stifle opposition) in terms of actual harm. If you live in Nigeria than Boko Haram is more of relative problem than than someone not liking your political or social stance in the UK/USA/Europe.

Mute Bystander,

So true. Actual harm = nil.

Walk away, walk away. I will follow.

My advice is to think the immortal words of Groucho Marx, from the link below, & leave it at that.

YouTube link

Rage,fume, rant, boil … It's the TMP way.

Godwin's Law.