Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

Barbannoy

Page: 1 ... 29 30 31 32 33(34)35 36 37 38 39... 69

14:12 / 02.10.06

God, I hate emoticons.

14:20 / 02.10.06

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

14:38 / 02.10.06

I think a lot of you need to go outside.

This place gets increasingly uninteresting as it denigrates into petty sniping and backbiting. Once a month, it seems Barbelith chooses a variety of whipping boys/girls--but never the oh-so-elitists who have taken it upon themselves to police, monitor, and judge actions and words not deemed profound or intellectual enough for the board--and proceed to mock, slander, or just generally use good old verbose snobbery to make them feel unwelcome.

What's pissing me off about Barbelith today?

Barbelith.

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:44 / 02.10.06

Thanks, Kali. That was hella easier than actually following the complex attempts at negotiation with an unreasonable and increasingly aggressive individual through about four or five Policy threads. And, as an added bonus, if I'd wasted my time wading through them, I would have discovered that what is going on bears absolutely no resemblance to your potted history there, which would for reasons obscure have been a nightmare.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

14:46 / 02.10.06

Yes, let's not have another thread discussing this issue please.

In the interests of sanity all further discussion of this topic should be taken here.

15:20 / 02.10.06

Clearly you missed birthdaygate, Kali.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

15:21 / 02.10.06

And somehow not the least bit worried about it.

15:26 / 02.10.06

...because, if you'd not, you might actually never have written the words: never the oh-so-elitists who have taken it upon themselves to police, monitor, and judge actions and words not deemed profound or intellectual enough for the board without thinking, 'actually, that's just silly, inaccurate rubbish.'

ONLY NICE THINGS

15:36 / 02.10.06

Huh. I hadn't really thought of that, but that was a bit WHEN TITANS CLASH, wasn't it.

GASP! AS THE BARBELITE BICKER!

ACTUALLY, ON REFLECTION, ALMOST ALL THE TIME!

15:56 / 02.10.06

I like it when people return to the board after a couple of years away and think that having a pop at an imaginary elite is a really smart and original thing to do.

You maverick, you.

16:20 / 02.10.06

"You started"

"No, you started"

"I did not"

"You did too"

"I did not"

"You did..." [repeat ad nauseum]

Anyone cares for some hen? Or an egg?

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

16:28 / 02.10.06

Precisely what I'm talking about. It's much better to accuse people of being unoriginal in their responses. It's much easier to take the piss and make fun than actually conjure up any sort of proper response.

I usually stay out of these things because it just turns into childish goading and name-calling. I was just tired of sitting back and watching people get stupidly upset about things that don't matter in the least.

But hey, you're the maverick, aren't you? Your reaction is truly original.

16:28 / 02.10.06

Don't we have a numbered list someplace?

1. You are wrong, because [see Matrix, etc.]

2. You are wrong, because I have a friend who [action or item].

3. You are right, but only because you are smarter than me, and that is cheating.

4. U R TEH 13371575!!!

I could've sworn somebody made a list like this.

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:33 / 02.10.06

It is indeed much easier to accuse people of being unoriginal in their responses:

"You started"

"No, you started"

"I did not"

"You did too"

"I did not"

"You did..." [repeat ad nauseum]

Anyone cares for some hen? Or an egg?

Perhaps you should take DM to task?

However, this doesn't change that the people you might call the oh-so-elite are very frequently challenged and attacked - if you missed birthdaygate, you missed a whole bunch of people smacking down Triplets and Flyboy (not sure if they count, but), Duncan Falconer and myself once again locked in manly combat, lengthy discussions of what is acceptable beahviour on Barbelith involving and criticising all concerned and so on. God, you just have to look at the Moderation requests thread some days to see Barbelite Sealed Knot Battle Reenactment.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

16:36 / 02.10.06

I wasn't taking DM to task. I meant to direct the comment at E. Randy.

*sigh*

I'm already tired--and by that, I mean, exhausted--reading all this. I should have stayed quiet.

16:41 / 02.10.06

The funny thing is, Kali, if you'd been around here consistently from the day you'd first signed up, you'd undoubtedly be one of the people being identified as a member of the elite by some other deeply unhelpful, potshot-taking prannock.

But I wouldn't expect you to realise that, as you've apparently not paid any attention to what's actually going on around here.

And yes, if you're not prepared to get involved in the stuff that you're complaining about in order to understand the issues involved and try and be a part of the solution, then it may very well have been better if you'd stayed quiet.

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:48 / 02.10.06

I wasn't taking DM to task. I meant to direct the comment at E. Randy.

Yes, Kali. I know that. I was suggesting that you should take DM to task for having made the most repetitive, tedious and hackneyed contribution so far.

Lesson learned? If you make attacks on people, they will very likely respond to those attacks. If having to deal with the consequences of making attacks on people makes you tired, then unless you are looking for an inexpensive alternative to a milky drink before bed, it's probably best not to do it.

16:53 / 02.10.06

[warning: humorous post. DO NOT TAKE SERIOUSLY]

I wasn't trying to be original. In fact, I aimed at being repetitive. It was the point, was not, was too.

And I'd say Kali can take me anywhere anytime she wants, but I'm not allowed to flirt around here anymore

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:56 / 02.10.06

Ah, but the time you're spending swapping flirtatious emails is as deeply satisfying for us as it is for you. Keep it up, big sexy!

16:59 / 02.10.06

Anything for you, lovebunny

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

18:42 / 02.10.06

Wait, wait, wait, because in six years I haven't posted as consistently as everyone else that makes me fair game for potshots??

Well done.

19:27 / 02.10.06

I feel that maybe you've not quite understood and have, instead, read what you wanted to into words that said nothing of the sort. Unfortunately, I can't be bothered explaining.

19:31 / 02.10.06

I'm annoyed by my failure to understand PW's posts. I mean, ze seems pretty sure they're meaningful and (sometimes) important, but i just can't see it.

It's like listening to the old man who lives in the bus stop near my house - I'm sure if i could understand him, i'd learn something massively important, but i just can't decipher the mumbles...

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

19:35 / 02.10.06

I say we forget about it altogether. If you can't be bothered to explain, then I can't be bothered to be irritated, and then this won't turn into some useless row, and everyone goes home happy.

Fair enough?

20:08 / 02.10.06

Yep.

ONLY NICE THINGS

20:44 / 02.10.06

I can't help it. My duty is to educate.

Kali, what he said was that if you had been posting regularly on the board for the last six years, you would be considered a part of the Barbelite by somebody else, and therefore that somebody else would think of you as fair game for potshots because they saw you as a member of the Barbelite. Because that person would see you as fair game and not really consider your feelings or right to be treated with respect. Because they would consider you a member of the Barbelite.

However, since you have not been posting regularly, you do not consider yourself part of the Barbelite, and thus instead feel entitled to take potshots at those you consider to be members of the Barbelite. Because you are the person in the original anecdote who feels entitled to take pops at people because you perceive them as the Barbelite.

It's basically a cry for the intrinsic dignity and worth of humanity to be respected without recourse to putting people in imaginary boxes, but with a bit more swearing.

*

22:59 / 02.10.06

I am annoyed at PW for becoming an opening for people I respect to make comments that target people with mental health issues, I am annoyed at the people I respect for taking the opening, and I am annoyed at myself for being one of the people who will take the opening and then feel shitty about it.

To me, "crazy" is not any longer an acceptable synonym for whatever I happen to dislike. That doesn't prevent me from using it, yet. But I'm trying not to.

Having mental health conditions is a deeply personal matter, because people diagnosed with mental health conditions face severe stigma and discrimination. I think that casual speculation or accusations about mental health issues can be very damaging. I also engage in this kind of speculation, and I don't really know what if anything to do about it. So, barbannoyance, barbeconfusion, barbesadness and barbelackofmotivation.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

08:37 / 03.10.06

Thanks, id. That's a concretisation of a lot of things that have been bothering me for the last 24 hours, but I couldn't phrase them that articulately.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:40 / 03.10.06

To be fair to that discussion, the references to possible mental health issues are, I think, frequently intended not to denigrate PW, but to try to find a credible explanation for his behaviour - so, while it is arguably not acceptable to suggest that his behaviour is a result of mental health issues, doing so was seen as an attempt to make sense of a series of apparently inexplicable behaviours, and possibly to suggest a different approach.

It's also worth noting that, while Paranoidwriter repeatedly accuses people of calling him "crazy", actually nobody does. The closest we get, I think, is in the "Moderation Requests Thread", where Lula says:

PW I don't think anyone quite knows what to do for the best now, you've behaved so oddly about this post deletion. Can you not see this is crazy-silly? It's really not worth alienating yourself over anymore than you already have is it? Is it really so important to you that you are willing to argue over it until everything goes utterly wrong for you here? Is it just the principle of the thing?

Honestly, this is really bonkers.

That may or may not be offensive to you and MattS, but I don't see Lula actually relating the terms to Paranoidwriter himself.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

09:43 / 03.10.06

Thanks, id. This is something that's been bothering me, too. I think we started the mental-heath awareness thing with the best of intentions: 'Nesh's thread, for instance, talking about more sensitive handling of posters with mental health needs whose behaviour was problematic--but I'm now picking up a sort of creeping undercurrent of dismissiveness when the topic comes up. Maybe I'm being oversensitive.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:57 / 03.10.06

Well, I think we have to be careful about it. Personally, I wouldn't want to proceed on the assumption that PW had mental health issues that needed to be taken into account unless he specified that he did and asked for help in dealing with their consequences on Barbelith. On the other hand, people might have undiagnosed mental health issues, or have issues that they don't want to talk about, or just behave in ways that seem to others suggestive of mental health issues which don't exist. And we've had posters whose behavior was heavily affected by delusional or psychotic states that were pretty clear to everyone else around, but not to them - can one be considerate of that? Or where a condition was cited without substantiation as part of a demand for differential treatment.

It's tricky. I think one probably has to react to people purely as disembodied sack of posts, if possible, but that's harder to do than it is to say...

Our Lady Has Left the Building

10:41 / 03.10.06

Well, without wanting to seem unduly defensive and acknowledging that I am not a mental health professional, do we only get to discuss this area if someone stands up and admits "Yes! I am teh crazy!"? I didn't think I was stigmatising PW or using it as a stick to beat him with.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

11:12 / 03.10.06

"in case you don't know, Barbelith is over. it never recovers from this."

11:18 / 03.10.06

I know I'm planning to hurl myself into RAW's open grave.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

11:34 / 03.10.06

Wow. Nobody told me Barbelith was over. Maybe Tom Coates should update that banner to support Internet freedom on the front page with a polite message telling us we are now all members of the Dark Universe NecroBarbelith.

Page: 1 ... 29 30 31 32 33(34)35 36 37 38 39... 69