Posted by PeterH on July 27, 2006 at 20:26:18 from 86.130.125.214 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Government acts on cyber-bullies posted by Prue Eckett on July 27, 2006 at 11:05:11:
Peter, there is a vast difference between 'politely disagreeing' which everyone does at some time or other and is an essential part of debating, and trashing, which is both a putdown and a form of bullying. I believe there is no need to denigrate someone else's opinion merely because you disagree with it.
Prue - I agree with everything you say, which may surprise you. Would it surprise you also to learn that I have felt 'put down' by your posts in the past and thoroughly denigrated too? It isn't just one-way traffic. I regard you as one of more powerful protagonists on Tarboard, who can always hold her own, and skilfully use words to telling effect. A helpless victim of bullying you are not!
Perhaps the word 'denigrate' needs looking at. If someone posts a very controversial opinion on Tarboard, then the strength of the replies might border on 'denigration' of that opinion. Suppose I posted up that I thought Titty was a neurotic ninny who should have been taken in hand by her parents and told to stop day-dreaming? I imagine that there would be some forthright replies, telling me how off-beam my opinion was, and that I obviously hadn't paid attention to Titty's importance in the stories. Surely those replies would, to a necessary extent, 'denigrate' my original opinion? I would be wrong to interpret any such forthright reply as 'personal' or 'bullying'. It would simply be that people felt strongly that I was wrong, and they are entitled to express this feeling, and as the author of an outrageous post I would have to expect this.