Conversation

[mac2766]

It's very sad that like-minded people are unable to have a decent conversation without the conversation escalating to immediate anger or insults.

I recently tried to have a conversation with a user here on DU. I was very surprised that she was communicating with emogees rather than actual words or discussion. Her position was coming from a supposed sense of superiority, yet she had nothing tangible to say to me. Only emogees. I felt compelled to block her. She is the only person that I've blocked.

I found it very displeasing to have to block a person that was supposed to hold the same values that I do. A Democrat.

Are we so separated from one another that we can't at least speak to one another?

It amazes me what we have become.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. It's a big country, and a big discussion board.

Expecting a uniform experience and instant understanding on any discussion board is a mistake.

[mac2766]

3. You missed the point.

I'm not looking for anything uniform. Just the ability to converse like adults. I understand completely that people have differences of opinions. What I can't understand is why we are unable to discuss those differences like adults.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. It doesn't sound like you tried hard to understand their point, either.

You set a standard; other people have other standards. It happens in real life all the time; discussion boards are no different.

[mac2766]

11. Standard?

Opinions aren't standards.

I'm simply stating that I'd like to be able to converse with other people. I guess you're still not understanding the point of my post.

Conversation is lost. We've lost the ability to speak to one another. I'm not trying to set a standard.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. The other poster used emojis, you said you couldn't understand them.

That’s all.

Plenty of us have the ability to speak with and converse with each other. Sometimes we strike out. It happens.

[Squinch]

21. You want to converse with people, but insist they don't understand you if they disagree with you.

I begin to see why the other poster didn't want to converse.

And no, a poster sending you emojis doesn't mean we have lost the ability to speak to one another.

[Squinch]

15. Careful now. You don't want to say anything "displeasing"

or you'll get a thread dedicated to chastising you.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. If a person can't communicate with actual words

and has to resort to emojis, I'd say they aren't worth even trying to communicate with. Emojis are useful only as a sort of shorthand for an emotional reaction but they are not communication in the sense of trying to express or defend an opinion. You haven't lost anything by ignoring a hostile person who either can't or is too lazy to use words to describe their position. Fortunately most of us aren't like that.

[WestIndianArchie]

4. it happens all the time

Don't be surprised. Understand that even within the realm of du, you are dealing with uninformed and emotionally immature individuals.

[Squinch]

5. Maybe she just didn't like you.

[Squinch]

14. She has no obligation to talk to you. And its pretty shitty of you to devote a whole

thread to naming a person and complaining about them.

All in the name if bemoaning "what we have become."

I wonder if you see the irony. I suspect not.

[Brawndo]

7. Discouraging

I have come to DU to seek some camaraderie with like-minded people and an exchange of ideas in a respectful manner, even when there is disagreement. So far its a 50/50 chance that my posts will be met with insulting invective. I'm not engaging in provocative posts here either. I live in a deep RED area and it gets tiresome to constantly debate with republicans, but even most of them have shown less animosity than some DU posters. Same team people!

[mac2766]

8. Sounds like we're on the same page

[Brawndo]

12. We are

Lets stick it out a bit longer and see if that insult to cogent reply ratio doesn't tip one way or the other.

[Blue_true]

10. Maybe you should unblock that DU member and send her a DU mail message

explaining why you felt the need to block her. I have no one on ignore and won't put anyone on ignore. I have had one DU member call me a name over DU mail, and I guess that person put me on ignore, I don't care, someone that is as immature as that person seemed isn't someone that I could have a meaningful discussion with anyway.

[JHB]

16. I can't evaluate this without a link to the conversation

Context can mean a great deal in the situation you describe. Including whether other people will interpret it in the same way you do.

[question everything]

17. I, too, am having a hard time following the emojies

But then, I am an old boomer, meaning a dinosaur. I use a handful from the smilies menu..

May I suggest you don't block anyone. Just ignore a person, or comment and move to the next topic.

[KPN]

18. Welcome to DU. Just know that it isn't you

and try to have a thick skin. Whoever you had that exchange with has no clue about who you are as a person. I try to just ignore that stuff. It’s trite and not worth being aggravated about. I’m sure you’ll find there are many like-minded people here at DU. But we definitely do not all see eye to eye.

[Caliman73]

19. Internet forums can be difficult.

DU has undergone some pretty intense situations, including malicious sabotage during the last election and a relatively nasty splintering off of a group of longer term members who went, in many people's opinions, off the deep end with hatred of the Democratic nominee in 2016. There was a nasty spat during the primaries as well.

People are still upset about where we are with the idiot in the White House and how he ended up there. While Democrats have always acted like the proverbial "herding of cats" there have been calls for unity and supporting candidates and push back from the different factions within the party. Some people are wary, some suspicious, and some are straight up hyper-vigilant about certain topics and certain personalities within the Democratic Party and associated progressive movements.

When we find ourselves digging in for a topic, policy, candidate etc... it is always good to remember that we all have the same basic goal, just different methods of getting there.

[Iggo]

20. Meta!