Gransnet an online community to support,chat and discuss.

Belittling and sneering is a form of bullying.

As you “you must be a bit thick”, or “ you need to get out more”
“your life must very limited”, ‘you are obviously ignorant”.

Together with the virtue signalling of ‘if only you could be more tolerant, compassionate, educated, thoughtful, caring understanding…..,” ie you are none of things.

All of this I have seen from a number of posters who are on this thread.

JamesandJon33

And there are others who people defer too. I can ‘t think why ?

Me neither. I have seen people post a comment and they are ignored. Then someone else posts the same thing and they fawn all over them. I can't see why either.

Passive aggression also happens as well. I was accused of something by a poster but she then added I am sorry if this is not the case. This poster was covering her arse but the message was clear.

I also think some posters are unpleasant but they don't bother me at all. I could not care less. If they come for me I will deal with it at the time and move on.

Sometimes there is a mean girl vibe and people think they can put posters down. It's not as bad as it was as I have noticed posters are not willing to put up with it.

The 'rofl' emojis can be really dismissive and 'Mean Girls'. Context is all, and if they really mean that something is amusing they are fine, but when they are used to ridicule someone's opinion they are just nasty.

I'm not sure what has triggered your OP, Sago, but if it's Estrangement, I sympathise, as I rarely read those threads, but when I do (I use Active Topics so don't always know which forum I am in) I am aghast at the unwarranted nastiness of people who seem to just want to cause hurt to others. Why do that?

Otherwise, there is a lot of point-scoring, but I think that's been the case as long as I've been here (since 2018 or so) - it's just that the main characters change over time as posters come and go.

Thank you and I stress I have no intention of leaving.

I’m just so angry at some peoples behaviour.

I think they are possibly not fulfilled in RL so adopt an imperious persona here.

LucyAnna5

And yet, Sago -

You have either taken the opportunity to be nasty or you’re a bit thick and don’t know the definition of an immigration

[hmmm]

The context was after three posters kept quoting the remark with laughing emojis.

Yes they were being nasty and ganging up.

Why is using the word immigrant funny?

As I said on thread it was not derogatory.

My father was an immigrant, my mother’s parents and my son is an immigrant in North America.

It is nasty behaviour.

And there are others who people defer too. I can ‘t think why ?

Sago there are some lovely people on here, some and some you would not ever want to meet. I have experienced a few nasty moments and considered leaving several times but then I think, they probably have problems in their lives if they feel the need to spit out nasty comments and I actually end up feeling sorry for them. I nearly left years ago because of a coven ( no other words could describe it ) and then more recently because I was told to butt out of discussing uk politics because I don’t live there. All I can say is, hang in there Sago because the vast majority are interested in sharing views and chatting and just being friendly.

And yet, Sago -

You have either taken the opportunity to be nasty or you’re a bit thick and don’t know the definition of an immigration

[hmmm]

Sarnia

There are definitely some who feel they have superior knowledge in subjects like politics and woe betide if a word or name is spelt incorrectly.
Everyone's opinion matters even if it is poles apart from what someone else believes but there are those who don't hold back with unkind words. Shame really.

Yes, I agree with most of your points.

However, particularly on the N&P thread, it is absolutely vital to have a basic understanding of how our political system actually functions and to be very clear about whether something is indeed “factual” or an “opinion”.

Again, though, there’s not one person, on or off Gransnet, who is an “expert” on everything.

So long as it’s not done rudely, I’m quite happy to be corrected.

Everyday is a classroom (in my opinion) and I like to learn. Doesn’t have to be done rudely or with an accompanying insult though.

Patsy70

Cossy was it ‘harangue’? I have seen this kind of response at times and it really isn’t necessary when someone is seeking advice or some sympathy.

Yes! Thank you so much!

There are definitely some who feel they have superior knowledge in subjects like politics and woe betide if a word or name is spelt incorrectly.
Everyone's opinion matters even if it is poles apart from what someone else believes but there are those who don't hold back with unkind words. Shame really.

I think knowing who these people are, helps.
Usually the same few, in different guises, different sexes, with different stories... but the same spelling mistakes.

Yes Sago I agree. Only post on games etc now. All the rest is cliquey and horrid.

I am always slightly in awe of how those on the estrangement thread navigate those who pop on and are vile. It isn't as if it is a one off occurrence, they appear to have been dealing with it fir years.

Yes the best idea is to ignore any post that is unpleasant. Don't comment. Just ignore. As if it were not there. Don't give the person any credence. Don't encourage by commenting.

There are horrid people in life and horrid posters on social media.

I think it was worse.
At least, now, people just post around someone who is being unpleasant.
Long may it continue!

It does seem to happen too often that someone asking for support ends up being more upset by some harsh posts. Was it always like this? I don't remember it being so bad years ago.

Right when I had just started, it was on a Farage thread 2023 and being new I was cautious in what I said,

and the reply came as

"Get a life"

That was so hard and horrible at the time.

I agree that there is a lot of carping going on but I don't think it is anything new.

Good post, Sago

Cossy was it ‘harangue’? I have seen this kind of response at times and it really isn’t necessary when someone is seeking advice or some sympathy.

I put it down to the heat

A while back I decided not to respond to any rudeness, life is too short to let an anonymous keyboard player get to me.

Sorry * I don’t know which word I meant to use but it wasn’t arrange

I agree Sago and I’ve brought this u previously.

We are all entitled to our owns views/beliefs/opinions, and to express them.

But we are not entitled to bully people, arrange them, insult them or be personally rude to them or about them.

Frankly, I see this all to often on here and it’s not limited to our very passionate N&P site!

Well said Sago

I wish you all a good and peaceful weekend

It isn't restricted to the News & Politics forum.

We see it on threads where people are looking for support and advice when going through upsetting and difficult personal situations.

It's never acceptable, but even worse when someone's posting for the first time and doesn't come back because of the unnecessarily unpleasant responses they receive.

A good OP Sago but those responsible for this type of online behaviour are unlikely to change .