An awful lot of nastiness these days, don’t you think?

Apparently I am part of 'a coven'

I'm just off to fillet a snake, search for a newt and a frog and hunt for some hemlock in the garden
Oh, I need a salt-sea shark but that could be a bit difficult as I'm not allowed to go out at the moment.
Please keep my cauldron bubbling, anyone who wants to join in.

Goes off-stage, muttering double, double toil and trouble

I agree with *Chewbaccas first post. I too have reduced my GN posting, cant be bothered with the unnecessary arguing, rudeness and unkindness that keep popping up

You took the words out of my mouth, janea. I'm seeing this stuff all over the site at the moment.

Just walk away, Renée

As the much-lamented Gonegirl once said, in one of her previous incarnations,
‘It’s only an internet forum!’

Not worth getting upset about.

Oldwoman70 I agree totally some posters can be so cruel and nasty. Earlier in the year I was horrified by one posters treatment of a bereaved family. The lovely gentle good morning was invaded by a poster not regular on that thread who sort only agreement for her own opinion formed about a situation she had no first hand knowledge of, only her opinion. I was so upset, I am a lurker and have not posted for a while. Mostly threads are good all round opinions on a subject. A few. Spoil things.

Try criticising Mary Berry if you really want a roasting!

Oh goodness Furret, criticising good old Boris is a moral sin gransnet, he has a large fan club, as I have found out to my cost.

I suspect that the majority of the posters on GN who are insulting or argumentative wouldn't say boo in a face to face discussion. Others are using the site to let off steam in frustrating and unsettling times.
Either way, as someone has already stated, you shouldn't take comments to heart. It's only folks opinions, and they are ten a penny as my Granny would say.

That was because your post was a tiny bit critical of Boris Johnson's Government Furret

Like buttons cause issues on some forums as people are accused of cliquiness and of using them to support their friends. They also kill threads, as if people can leave a 'tick', they often don't bother to comment and the threads don't make progress.

Similarly, 'dislike' buttons are used as a passive aggressive way of making people feel bad, and allow posters to be negative without bothering to explain why they disagree. The OP can't explain what they meant if their post has been misunderstood, or offer a counter-argument.

I got a snide remark because I posted something from FB that I thought was funny and would make people laugh, but I didn’t acknowledge the source.

I must admit for the first time ever I asked someone today for proof, but it was tongue in cheek as they are one of the ones always asking for evidence on facts. I must admit I don't post as much as I use to because of the sniping and nasty remarks and name calling.

The biggest argument for a ‘like’ button is that those who don’t want to enter into a verbal affray can at least show support in a non-threatening way. I’m sure you are right Sparkle and it would cool things and cut out some hassle.

I wish there was a "like" button for posts. It would save a lot of hassle.

It seems some people feel unwelcome when they join because they feel ignored I suppose.

I don’t think I was ever welcomed as such, but I didn’t announce it was my first post as some people do, so I never expected it really. Must admit I never say welcome to anyone, just comment on a post if I feel I can add anything relevant.

When no one comments, you assume it wasn’t!

You’re right Grandad1943! Some people must just enjoy lobbing a verbal hand grenade into the mix - then retiring to enjoy the ensuing battle of words!

I think that, sometimes, problems arise because a poster says something tongue in cheek, but because we can't see their facial expression the text is taken literally and certain readers misconstrue the message and take offence. I've often typed something and then thought better of it before I post it for that very reason! Even putting a after the post to indicate that it was meant in a jokey way sometimes fails to work.

Same with me Nico97.

Chewbacca and Marydoll we still do a bit of sparring in The Alphabet Bar, usually with a drink in hand.

Marydoll & Lemon you were the first to welcome me to GN all those years ago and yes, you're right, fings ain't wot they used to be!

In regards to forum members being requested to provide some evidence of what they may be claiming and stating, then I believe that is a perfectly reasonable request

Grandad1943 what you say is completely correct. In my case however, I stated what a couple of my friends in real life had said to me. I couldn’t back that up with evidence. Basically the poster was calling me a liar.

Urmstongran in regard to your post @08:03 today, I believe we may both agree that there are on this forum many illustrations of threads begun by a person who has not ever posted prior to making that one very controversial post.

Those treads and posts are made, I believe, with the sole intention of causing a heated argument, and in that it nearly always succeeds. The originating poster then often never revisit the thread or never revisits the forum again, or at least not under that name.

Grandad1943 I completely agree with you about requests for evidence.
It’s one thing to express an opinion about something, but quite another to state something as a fact, and imply that everyone else should accept it. By definition, a fact can be verified by evidence, and it’s not unreasonable to ask for it.
‘Comment is free, but facts are sacred.’ C.P. Scott.

Furret, I admit to using the term newbie, it's certainly not meant in a derogatory manner. Many posters use the term, Welcome to the newbies.
It confirms my point, that we can cause offense, without any intention of doing so, but the reader's perception is that the comment is offensive.

I’m another who interacted with you a few times whywhywhy on the Good Morning thread as you seemed so low and fed up. You popped in for a few days then disappeared!