And MN Was Aghast!

[hunkermunker]

Do you find that MN responses are often totally over the top compared to RL?

Why is this? Faceless internet, or are we all just opinionated beyond belief?

I think MN gives you 'altered reality', I found myself toying with the idea of having a 3rd child purely because I didn't want to have the 'perfect pigeon paired boy and girl" and be a 2 kid family 'cliche' (all vehemently expressed MN opinions) - bizarre that I was so temporarily influenced, given that I find just 2 kids more than I can bear sometimes!

Maybe reading things in black and white makes them sound much worse than they would if you told someone.

Although I think most people love a bit of drama and feeling like they are involved in something that is kicking off.

then i'd best keep my opinions to meself :o

totally.

Dude

parptastic

You get to say what you really think - and what you would love to say in rl, if only you weren't so scared you would get punched in the gob!

You sit alone at your computer, you can say what you like and the worst, the very worst that can happen is you get some unpleasant words on the screen back at you. Boohoo.

Frankly I'm surprised we're as restrained as we are!

I'm with HMC on 3rd child pressure .. but that's just cos it reinforces what I already think .. which I know is total rubbish but hearing it from other people makes me think maybe it isn't

and here I go again .. off in a vicious cycle of 3rd child, no 3rd child .. will miss it, don't want to do it

Element of faceless internet I think. Am sometimes shocked at responses to some pretty everyday things, but I think it is a bit of an altered state and in reality I think this would be tempered somehow. I think when things are written down it seems harsher - there is no room to soften it as there is when we speak etc - sometimes when I read back my own posts they are much harsher than I intented and I have to post again and say God I didn't mean it to sound quite like that. Or maybe I am just not so good at getting down what I meam. Am sometimes a bit taken aback by reactions tho, so I'm guessing it gets exaggerated.

wouldn't dare say what I really think all the time to my RL friends

don't care here .. you're all hobbits anyway

Ahhh Twig, go for it. Having my 3rd was one of my better decisions.....know its not that easy, but 3 is lovely and I (almost) feel finished.

Yes but that's because it's not RL. Obviously it is for the person who has a problem they want feedback on, but if a RL person asks me about a family dilemma, I can't be 100% honest with them, because every interaction you have with someone in RL affects your relationship with them. So I can't say "Your DH is an arse" because she may then feel offended with me. Whereas on the internet, people are inviting honest comment from disembodied posters and they won't be offended (or if they are it doesn't matter, because it doesn't affect your day to day life).

I've learnt during my time here not to use the safety cushioning of the faceless conversation as an excuse to behave like an arse. Also, now i 'know' more posters, and so talk to them as I would real people, it took me a while to get used to the forum, I must say, but I am more careful and considered about what i say now.

True Ruty. Occasionally you find yourself holding back as much as you would (or almost as much as you would) in RL becuase you've got to "know" people online.

It's the mob mentality a lot of the time, and the glee of jumping on someone who has said something that is deemed unacceptable. People want excitement above all else (I blame TV, consumer culture, and erm, Thatcher), and ripping someone limb from limb on the internet then picking over their bones is a lot more exciting than saying "hmm, I don't agree, but let's discuss it in an adult fashion and perhaps learn from one another, shall we?"

Besides we are all bitches. :o

LOL at blaming Thatcher. If in doubt...

I blame the parents.

I blame Thatcher for everything

No no no Caligula, I am sure Thatcher would blame the parents

The ones that get me are the thread titles that invite a really obvious response. But even here, I'm too polite to answer 'what was the secret weapon that helped you get pregnant' with 'my husband's penis'. Or 'am I pregnant' with 'buy a test you silly chuff'.