Have gunboards become ruder places?

[rocinante]

Just seems lately there are members everywhere real quick to insult another's sanity, intelligence, taste, mama if they don't like the brand or the question or anything. The lack of civility goes beyond the tradition gun snobbery or juvenile me too ism and is down right rude. Or it is just me being overly sensitive?

 

[Deanimator]

Not EVEN.

Try usenet for a couple of days.

If you don't think that web based message boards are "polite", see how you like anonymous death threats and maps to your house posted in talk.politics.guns by neo-Nazis using anonymous remailers in Europe.

You'd get booted from this place for even THINKING about something like that.

I've seen usenet anti-gunners, actually contact people's employers to try to get them fired for disagreeing with them online.

 

[merlinfire]

The answers is certainly YES, however, so has everywhere else, generally. So that's an affirmative, but not exclusive to gunboards. The world just isn't as polite a place as it used to be.

 

[earlthegoat2]

The world just isn't as polite a place as it used to be.

I blame the internet.

 

[Davek1977]

Its not so much the anti's that he was referring to, though....its US, as in the gun owners and shooters who frequent shooting/firearms boards. I've noticed it too. While some good natured ribbing about 1911's being better/worse than glocks, or the age old ar/ak debate is to be expected, some people are downright rude if they disagree with another person's choices. The world would be boring if we all like the same thing, and just because someone doesn't see things your way is no reason to outright insult them, their intelligence, their choices, etc. Yes, this board is fairly tame, and thats because of the excellent moderation, but I've seen it happen here too from time to time. So many people are wrapped up and invested in their personal choices they seem to have decided that anything else is bad, worthless, unsafe, or unacceptable. If i come to a forum asking about how to improve the trigger pull on a certain firearm, I don't think its unreasonable not to be expected to be called an idiot for buying it in the first place.

 

[sargas23]

It's the ability to hide behind an anonymous name that makes people bold enough to say things that you would not think expect them to say to your face. I think THR is much more civil than some of the other boards I've been a member of. (And when hunters and anti-hunters meet online, it's a very ugly scene)

 

[crossrhodes]

Thin skinned

I think that, as a gun owner or LEO, you have to have a little thicker skin and a little expression of your feelings isn't bad at all. It keeps us from turning into the ultra sensitive, politically correct, don't hurt my feelings or bend my Psyche type person that condemns you for expressing your opinion.

On the other hand. No one should be subject to "HATE" mail, as some on this forum have commented about. I object to threats to family or suggestion of harming others. I, especially, run a low tolerance for those that post threats and are too chicken <deleted> to attach a vailed return address. It is very disappointing to be sitting East Jerkistain and receive mail address to "Any Marine" and just to find out it's from some <deleted> wishing you and your countrymen harm....sorry going off track a little.

 

[LNK]

As with any group, you can not paint them all with the same brush. I have found that every group is about the same. Some people believe in the golden rule, where others are burdened with having the world revolve around them. I ignore the jackwagons and listen to the people who are trying to help. I don't get into <deleted> matches with anyone. Learn to filter for yourself and you will be fine.

LNK

 

[bikerdoc]

Quote:
The world just isn't as polite a place as it used to be.

I blame the internet.

In part, but I really blame the individual, and his parents. Poor transition of values? Inability to get along? Feeling of inferiority so deep the must lash out! Who goes out of the way to do or wish harm? Who has no sense of common courtesy? Who cannot state a position or opinion in a well phrased neutral sentence with proper punctuation and structure?

Dudes, I am too old to take excriment from anyone. Most of the time I stay to myself and family, but on the rare occaision I run into a butthead, it is either ignore them or game on! I am educated enough and have enough clinical experience to make you cry with words. Most of the time I ignore.

Thank God THR mods "get it."

 

[dawico]

The internet has made it way easier to say things that would normally get you a good punch to the face, and some people will always be a know it all jerk. That is just life, but the problem is that most normal, live and let live people will walk away after being tired of dealing with it. They will go somewhere else to discuss issues and avoid the jerks.

That being said, most gun boards do a good job of reprimanding and banning members that have nasty attitudes toward other members and their opinions.

The internet in general, heck yes.

Gun boards, not really.

 

[walking arsenal]

Yes.

You see it here a lot more than you used to. I can't count the number of times I've seen "Use the search function" when someone asks a question.

The one that irks me the most though is when a young shooter asks a novice question and gets run down instead of a good answer.

 

[deadin]

That is just life, but the problem is that most normal, live and let live people will walk away after being tired of dealing with it. They will go somewhere else to discuss issues and avoid the jerks.

That's the problem??
Do you mean that we should stay there and argue with them?
That's what they feed on.

 

[bruzer]

Does anybody remember the term "cabin fever". Being more confined during the Winter months you can get a little weird and until the Spring thaw your not able to get outside in the sun and fresh air. I see this over the internet. During Christmas and then about this time of year just before Spring it seems people get "short fused".

Mike

 

[alsaqr]

I really blame the individual, and his parents. Poor transition of values? Inability to get along? Feeling of inferiority so deep the must lash out! Who goes out of the way to do or wish harm? Who has no sense of common courtesy? Who cannot state a position or opinion in a well phrased neutral sentence with proper punctuation and structure?

+1
This sums it up very well.

 

[JohnBiltz]

Does anybody remember the term "cabin fever". Being more confined during the Winter months you can get a little weird and until the Spring thaw your not able to get outside in the sun and fresh air. I see this over the internet. During Christmas and then about this time of year just before Spring it seems people get "short fused".

Back when I did usenet that was because the kids were on Xmas and Spring break and had time on their hands.

 

[medalguy]

USENET? Wow that was wild.

I agree, the general demeanor here has gone down somewhat in the past year, and I too blame that on the internet and the anonominity it brings. Yes there have been more sharp posts telling newbies to either use the search or see the stickies at the top. Seems lke it used to be that we would give an answer and then let the OP know there was more information in the sticky. But this has NOT been just on this forum, but on most forums in general. I suppose this is due to the general coarsening of the American population in general. Maybe this will change with time but I suspect not.

And I also agree that non-gun forums have simply gotten totally out of hand. I don't bother to even visit most forums because of this.

 

[CoRoMo]

It's the ability to hide behind an anonymous name that makes people bold enough to say things that you would not think expect them to say to your face. I think THR is much more civil than some of the other boards I've been a member of. (And when hunters and anti-hunters meet online, it's a very ugly scene)

This.

 

[nccavediver]

I joined only a few years ago. It seemed there were rude people from the get go. Others are very nice, though.

When you stand next to someone face to face you won't be so rude. It's common sense, you don't piss off a stranger-you never know what they might do (or, since we are on a gun forum, what they may have under their shirt). When you're on the web, you don't really need to worry about that.

 

[Zoogster]

Each generation is ruder than the last, at least for the last several decades, just research old media, discussions, media excerpts, accepted social norms etc going back to the 1920s.
Even many of the public enemy bad guys in the 1930s were known for being polite, and they were infamous because what they were doing was uncommon.
The 1960s generation was brash and had much more crude and vulgar social norms than the 40s or 50s. The 70s, 80s, and 90s each were a little worse than the prior decade. Kids in the 2000s were even bigger brats on average, and there is little reason to think the trend won't continue.


As the next generation takes part more in firearms it is bound to get a little ruder overall, because the new 20 somethings are ruder than the 30 somethings, who were ruder than most of the 40 somethings. Part of it is maturity, but part is also the generation and social norms they grew up in.

Firearms also became a lot more mainstream around the Obama election. Large numbers of people that never even owned a gun were going out purchasing one, it was probably one of the biggest surges in gun ownership in many years.
You could tell many of them, they were often the people rushing out to buy handguns, while most panicking prior owners were trying to stock up on certain types of rifles those with experience knew were more likely to be targeted.
Well more mainstream comes with a larger number of people, and the population in general is a bit ruder than some of the old sportsmen and collectors.

That brings up another aspect, a big part of firearm popularity used to be in sports (too much in fact just look at the "sporting" clauses we got as a result when the 2nd had absolutely nothing to do with sports) and hunting.
Hobbyists into such activities were in general a more polite group than the general population, but now the general population has more gun owners, especially of the non-sportsman types, at least since the time the internet and forums have been available to the general public.
This means the average gun owner is in fact ruder, because there is a lot more gun owners in the general population than in the 90s and early 2000s.



So it is really a victory, as gun ownership has become more widespread and more mainstream, and embraced more by a larger number of the latest of age generation the prior polite minority of the population are more engulfed in the wave of the general population. A general population that is on average much ruder.

So it is actually good news, gun ownership and use is becoming much more widespread and mainstream so fighting for and maintaining rights is easier.

 

[Gouranga]

In general people have lost some of the old fashioned courtesy. On the internet where they think they are anonymous, they take it to a new level. i have no idea why it brings that out in folks but it does.

I have been in multiple gun stores, gun shows, etc and I have rarely had someone disagree with me on something and do so in the hostile "tone" that I will see on the web. Though that is not just gun boards it is anywhere on the web.

 

[makarovnik]

IMHO a few of the members here have such attitudes and tempers that they should probably not have any firearms.

 

[TexasRifleman]

And this has what to do with guns and shooting?

There have always been and always will be rude people. Ignore them and move on.