Reply #248: I understand the impulse to rage against the coarsening of public dialog . . . [View All]

[MrModerate]

That anonymity allows. But that's always been a feature of the Internet, and an important one. It's one of the things that gives the Internet such power. Unfortunately, people do let their inner asshole out when they think they can get away with it. It's the same thing when otherwise law-abiding people shoplift because they can.

I also think that it's getting worse. Certainly what passes for "serious" political discussion among "professionals" is only slightly elevated above the playground conversations of not too many years ago. Among amateurs like ourselves (by which I mean the only professional DUers are the founders and their staff) it's even coarser still, plus a lot of posters only have a partial selection of clues (and for some, none at all) to guide them.

I don't let it bother me much, however. If I get a drive-by insult, I just let it go, unless it's cleverly worded and gives me a thrill responding smarter-funnier-snarkier. That, too, is part of DU.

The other thing I do is stay out of forums I know I'll never be successful in, where the usual suspects and I are so completely at odds that a shit-fest is the *best* I can hope for.

Don't let it get you down. Remember that jerks, twits, twirps, and goniffs ultimately have to live within their own skins, and that's probably punishment enough for any infractions they may commit here. Also remember "Ignore."