Actually, I was.
I really don't participate in social media or online forums, beyond this forum, siouxsports (on a limited basis) and one other. Not surprisingly I find all three to have similar traits. Someone expresses a view. It may be unpopular, or at least unpopular with an active group of "regulars" on the forum, and the typical response is non-stop heapings of public scorn on the poster, often to a point where anything the poster writes is met with mockery.
Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the targeted posters have not been me. Not because I write only mainstream opinions or the power of my words makes them immune to criticism. I'm just not a real active poster in any of those forums.
But I've seen those targeted posters post less and less, or sometimes disappear altogether from the forum, and I've often thought that if I were them, I'd have been gone a lot sooner.
That's a loss for everyone.
Take for example Bob Gray. I don't mean to single out Bob, for he's not alone. But certainly you and other regular posters on this forum are quick to respond to pretty much anything he posts with jeers, mockery and the like. And for what purpose.
You are not officially blocking his freedom of speech. But you are intentionally or unintentionally stifling it by trying to turn him into a social outcast through his words.
If the "Bob's" of the world are saying things you think most people would find unbelievable, silly or just plain wrong, do you think you're the only one intelligent enough to see that? Do you not trust others to reason their way through his posts and reach that conclusion for themselves?
Must we always try to squelch their thoughts through teasing, mockery, verbal or written abuse and the like? If I were one of the "Bob Grays" of the internet forum world, I'd say the heck with it and spend my time reading a book. And that's unfortunate, because whether you always agree with, or disagree with their points of view, it benefits you to have them express it. Because candidly Priceless, if it's just you posting on this board, and not the "Bob Grays", I'm not going to spend my time reading it either.
