Originally posted by: meltdown75
LOL
online - it puzzles me greatly.
here you have some words on a screen, allegedly composed by a human. there is no intonation, no body language, nothing. just text.
yet, a lot of folks take it and run with it, making sweeping generalizations on the poster(s) and on a lot of users in general. often it is based on anecdotal evidence, which is even more of a pisser. ie. it sucks when you get suckered into posting about something only to be ridiculed and flamed later on - especially if you are being honest and trying to add to the substance of a legitimate conversation.
i think we all have an intrinsic need to categorize everyone and everything - it's human nature and it's how our brains work. the quicker we can pigeonhole something or someone, the easier it will be to catalogue the information for future reference. i lump the internet name-calling phenomenon in with this.
that said, some people are just idiots that need attention, and flaming is just about the easiest way to get it online.
the best mindset to have is that you don't know jack about the poster, and they don't know jack about you. the only thing you can count on is that you have some things in common - ie. computers, being from the same planet (maybe), etc.
sadly, online people tend to focus on the differences instead.