Are you too scared to post what you really think?

I think it’s a shame if people don’t give opinions because of fear. That’s how dictators get power. If more people joined in ‘difficult’ threads they would dilute the stronger voices.

I do post on gender threads for instance, because I fear for our daughters and granddaughters if the current situation continues. Yes, I have had horrible things said, but after the sting of being called a Nazi or compared to the KKK wears off (fairly quickly, as it is so obviously untrue ) the insults are just words on a page.

We are all different, but I have a core belief that nobody should let others do all the work, and this applies to defending the truth as you see it as much as to pulling your weight however you can in other areas of life. Sitting back and watching others take the flak is not my style.

Also, if we don’t hear different opinions ours will never change, and I am open to change if I am persuaded I am wrong. I agree that you trap more flies with honey though - there are ways of getting a point across that don’t involve insults or twisting of words, and I always try to be polite, even though I don’t always stay as patient as I might.

Doodledog

I think it’s a shame if people don’t give opinions because of fear. That’s how dictators get power. If more people joined in ‘difficult’ threads they would dilute the stronger voices.

I do post on gender threads for instance, because I fear for our daughters and granddaughters if the current situation continues. Yes, I have had horrible things said, but after the sting of being called a Nazi or compared to the KKK wears off (fairly quickly, as it is so obviously untrue ) the insults are just words on a page.

We are all different, but I have a core belief that nobody should let others do all the work, and this applies to defending the truth as you see it as much as to pulling your weight however you can in other areas of life. Sitting back and watching others take the flak is not my style.

Also, if we don’t hear different opinions ours will never change, and I am open to change if I am persuaded I am wrong. I agree that you trap more flies with honey though - there are ways of getting a point across that don’t involve insults or twisting of words, and I always try to be polite, even though I don’t always stay as patient as I might.

There ^ right there.

I always attempt polite, because why be rude? But patience when others are obviously daft to my clever? Different matter!

As usual, Doodledog articulately explains.

I often felt that I have entered the Twilight Zone or a parallel universe at Gransnet. Some of the comments on immigrants and Muslims are quite shocking and literally ‘out of this world’.

I rarely post nowadays. Not because I am scared to say what I think. More to do with the fact that I am very aware that my grammar is rather poor and most likely will offend some people.

It takes so much effort for me to even draft a reply to a post that it is far easier for me to simply not bother.

In real life, I am very friendly and will talk to complete strangers on any topics under the sky. Even when the male taxi drivers get a bit cheeky and talk about sex, I don’t get offended at all.

Well said as usual Doodledog.

Thankyou very much and I support your kind words and as Voltaire says..etc

Likewise, as Voltaire says .

Agree

Annsixty I was like you soon after I first joined I left for a period of time because I was put down by a member whose no longer with us and I shrunk back into my shell after probably a year I decided to try again and have been here ever since about ten or eleven years I think
I speak as I would to a persons face I don’t go out of my way to be hard but I m not a ‘there there all will be ok’ person either I think I m fairly realistic and I do try to be fair too

SporeRB My posts are littered with typos and my proof reading is not good, Sometimes. I think four words and type to, so the occasional post does come out almost incoherent.

Yet, I have rarely had anyone make invidious comments and if they do I simply say that it is because I have dyspraxia and he mental side of this problem seems to be getting worse as I get older.

Of course the real judge of what is written on this thread is:

Will anyone admit that they are going to vote Reform?

No, I am not, I will probably vote Lib Dem because that is what I always do.

I wouldn’t vote Reform if they were the only party on Gods earth I despise racism and misogyny and liars

Plenty of people, on various threads, have said they intend to vote Reform. I don’t think any of them have been hounded off the site.

Too scared to post that Foden was rubbish

Too scared to post that the manager is rubbish and should have taken Grealish.

I know of posters who have left because of a lack of tolerance towards views that they don’t share. I certainly see a lack of tolerance on this site, and it saddens me. Some posters are so sure that their world view is correct they actually bully others. This site is not as pleasant as it used to be.

I know of one who left because of the views expressed against Conservatives.

I think that people should call out what they see as bullying when it happens, rather than reference it vaguely much later. I know we don't always know that someone is going to leave until it is too late, but if people commented at the time of the incident everyone would see what was going on, and decide whether it is actual bullying or just a difference of views, and we wouldn't be in the realms of 'Some People. . .'.

We often hear of lurkers who are 'too scared' to post in case people disagree with them. Maybe people leave for the same reason, which is a shame - but unless we want every thread to be made up of agreement and smiles, people have to expect that disagreement will happen at times.

maddie and GSM - neither of you are afraid to express your own views, nor to disagree with others' politics, so it's hardly fair to suggest that others doing likewise is bullying. If you are referring to something more extreme than disagreement, why not say what it was?

I did call it out Doodledog and was attacked myself in return. Anyway I also reported the post and it was removed so it wasn’t only me who saw as highly unacceptable. I didn’t report the return fire against myself.

It happened last week.

I have been cyber bullied on this site. It was a few months ago. Another poster called it out. I reported the bullying and HQs said they they had a word with the poster. That poster went quiet for a bit.
Sometimes the bullying and nastiness is more low key, so difficult to do much, but the inference is clear.

Maddyone so true ‘this site is not as pleasant as it use to be’

I'm pleased that it was called out (in both cases) and that the culprits were challenged.

There's not much more that can be done, but it's up to all of us to do as you did and nip any unpleasantness in the bud. I agree that sometimes passive aggressive posts can slip under the radar if people aren't aware of the full context, though.

Over the years I've been on Gransnet I have seen bullying several times. There is a difference between strong disagreement and bullying. Personal attack is always bullying imo.
'Pile ons' are bullying too. However bad a post has been it doesn't take ten people to call it out.

I've not been in GN that long, but it seems to me the election has made a difference, feelings run high?

I well remember an instance when you stood up for me Doodledog, when I was accused of being a transphobic bigot. Expressing your views or disagreeing with the views of others is one thing, personal insults something else altogether.

I quite agree, GSM. I will speak up when I see unpleasantness like that, as do others. I just get a bit twitchy when things are referred to vaguely, as before long there are numerous posts with people speaking in code and others (like me ) wondering if I am being accused of something.