Active ignore vs. Passive ignore.

[Juicy_Bellows]

I have been tempted in my brief time here to actively ignore a few posters but I have refrained. Reading all of the bile in some recent threads I think it is time to reconsider. Perhaps an active ignore list can help. I can't find value in an echo chamber but I cannot find value in engaging cantankerous trolls that seem to exist only to argue without merit. That's not really arguing at all. How do you handle it?

I try not to mind people grinnin' in my face but good gravy some here are insufferable.

[Skittles]

1. my Ignore list is a yard long

people I would not want to know in real life, I do not want to know them here either

[Juicy_Bellows]

3. I like that criteria.

If i wouldn't chat with you in real life why bother in the ether. Good perspective! I think I'll apply it.

[hfojvt]

26. I've only got two on mine

cannot even remember why the second one is there.

Before DU3, I had perhaps a dozen. I cannot even remember who they were any more. Whoever they were, I sorta opted to give them all second chances and have not been moved to ignore them again. Some, I am sure, have been tombstoned.

It used to be funny when I could see the ignored posters posts. I remember once seeing something like this

1. ignored
2. I cannot believe you said that
3. ignored
4. that's even worse
5. ignored
6. Are you serious?
7. ignored
8. give me a break

I wanted to tap the 2nd person on the shoulder and tell them "I have that person on ignore for a reason."

Then again, back when you could find out, I noticed that almost 50 star members had ME on ignore. And there are plenty of people who do NOT have me on ignore, but have made it pretty clear that they do not care one whit for me.

So it goes.

[Skittles]

29. I consider it a badge of honor to be ignored by assholes

yes INDEED

[MH1]

2. There are posters who disagree without being complete assholes.

Those are the ones I don't ignore.

The complete assholes? I try to avoid them but once a certain threshold is passed, the ignore button gets a click.

[Juicy_Bellows]

4. It has taken me a little while but I know I've identified

A few. I am going to take your and Skittles advice and see how it feels.

[guillaumeb]

5. I read all the replies. Some reflect a fair bit of anger,

but for some people DU might be the equivalent of free therapy. An electronic version of primal scream and a way to deal with the frustrations that they encounter.

I hope that this helps, and welcome to DU. Most of the posters I encounter here are polite and share my interest/fascination/obsession? with politics.

[Juicy_Bellows]

9. Yes. It could be a form of therapy.

Everyone has their bad days, needs to vent etc. Thanks for the welcome.

Doesnt it seem some posters post only to deride though? It sure seems that way. It is these FEW i am thinking of ignoring actively. Passively it makes me angry to see it over and over. Cheers!

[LiberalAndProud]

11. When the rage begins to boil, use the ignore function.

You can always reverse it later when things are calmer and the point of disagreement has been resolved one way or the other.

[Juicy_Bellows]

15. Good advice.

I got a mini rage reading earlier today. That's what prompted this thread. Cheers!

[guillaumeb]

43. Agreed. Some people seem to have only bad days.

But I do not know any specifics of the personal lives of any posters at DU. Some people will talk about personal issues, most, in my limited experience here, do not.

I was in a disagreement with some people recently and one commented in the thread that, regardless of our disagreements, the poster did notice that I was polite and refrained from personal attack. My response was that anger is such a destructive and corrosive emotion that I try to avoid it when possible.

I hope you have a good experience here. Posters generally seem to be very well informed. Even the ones with whom I disagree.

[bemildred]

42. Yeah, let them vent.

You know it's a waste of time to write something complicated or subtle when the other poster is overwrought anyway.

[TexasProgresive]

6. Ignore is your friend.

I don't use it heavily and most that I put on the list are gone. I check every now and then and they will be "Account status: Posting privileges revoked" My big complaint about the ignore feature is I think the ignore should be notified. I suspect one person of putting me on ignore. We both post in a certain group. I was regularly starting a regular OP that others in the group would post to but this one was suspiciously absent. That's how I figured that this person must be ignoring me so I asked another to start the thread and voila that person was posting again.

[Juicy_Bellows]

13. It would be nice to see if there is a consensus

To the top ignored posters. I haven't been here long but I got good money there would be.

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. I can't ignore anyone. I'm afraid I might miss something.

I've always been that way.

[Juicy_Bellows]

12. That's why I've been passive so far.

I respect your fortitude after all this time! I like the idea of just logging out to see what, if anything, I've missed.

[Skittles]

30. you want I should kick your all-inclusive ass, cherokeeprogressive?

LEMME AT YOU!!!

[cherokeeprogressive]

34. Bring the stiletto heels.

[Skittles]

36. BRING YOUR MONEY, PAL

[cwydro]

40. I'm the same.

I have no one on ignore.

[TacoD]

44. Same, since the usenet days I could never killfile/plonk anyone (nt)

[johnp3907]

8. Occasionally I log out so I can see what DU looks like without my ignore list engaged.

[Juicy_Bellows]

10. I hadn't thought of that.

Now i won't feel like I am missing something. Thanks!

[Skittles]

37. I HEAR YOU

sometimes I forget and think, "OMG, DON'T I HAVE THAT ASSHOLE ON IGNORE?"

[Journeyman]

14. I use Ignore liberally. Life's too short to tolerate “kiddie scorn”. . .

Most of all, I use it to avoid simple stupidity -- drunken fools, whacked-out conspiracy nuts ("BushCo caused the tsunami"), one-note wonders who post the same drivel over and over. . . Other people may choose what they perceive as the "high road" of tolerance and community, but I've no time for blithering foolishness and no interest in useless poppycock. Some will disagree but I figure they must have a surplus of life.

There are some posters whose every other utterance is imbecilic, and those who delight in being boorish with no regard for raising the level of conversation or thought. These too I choose to ignore. And it's not something I do lightly: before I click, I'm convinced these people have nothing to offer -- no insight, no new perspective, nothing to change either my attitude or thought. And though I perceive I have an open mind, that's no reason to let others use it as a sewer.

I also utilize ignore to remove trolls and other unsavory folk from my experience. Oh, I recognize they may be gone by morning, but how much more pleasant the evening is without them. I've never blocked anyone who intelligently debated me, but I'll not suffer fools gladly or madly.

If it makes people feel better about the DU "family" or some other such fantasy, you can occasionally clear your entire Ignore list. I do. Often, I find many of those I've shut off were soon after tombstoned, so I don't feel I missed anything.

[Juicy_Bellows]

16. Terrific response, thank you.

My problem may be that the ones on consideration for active ignore are long standing and prolific. We will see how she goes. Cheers!

[GusBob]

17. I have no ignore list and most likely it will remain empty

There is nothing anonymous intenet posters can say that will get to me

I also avoid posting harsh opinions myself

I do use hide thread for various reasons, repeat and copycat topics and threads that run on and on with repetitive replies and 2 poster flame wars

So yeah totally passive here

[Juicy_Bellows]

18. Right on.

Thanks for replying. I want to stay passive. I doubt I will but that's my intention.

[Solly Mack]

19. I must confess to not needing ignore to ignore people.

I do use trash forum though. I don't like primary season on DU. I never have. It gets needlessly ugly.

[Juicy_Bellows]

20. Do you just skip over those that you know bother

You? Or do you read what they have to say? I find myself muttering certain posters names and making verbal assaults constantly. I thought I was better than that. At least I have yet to type those thoughts! I'm going to try and stay passive for the most part but I got a few going on my list for sure. Cheers!

[Solly Mack]

22. I'm human, so every now and then I explode. I usually go by a name like it isn't even there.

Skipping comment and all.

It depends. Some days very little bothers me. Those are good days.

[Juicy_Bellows]

23. Here's to more good days!

Cheers!

[Solly Mack]

35. Just think of DU has an incredibly large family reunion with

the somewhat rational relatives, the strange relatives, the quirky, yet charming relatives, the quirky and annoying relatives, and the occasional asshole relatives.

Sure, you'll wish you belonged to a normal family from time to time, but who doesn't?

[Juicy_Bellows]

49. Haha! Is anyone's family 'normal'?

Cheers!

[G_j]

31. reassuring..

basically my approach too

[Solly Mack]

33. Hey!

I miss a lot of the drama that way, and things happen I don't find out about until later (bannings, etc..), but I'm OK with that.

[G_j]

39. I can't keep up

whatever the drama of the moment, naturally, as peace & social justice activists, environmentalists, etc. ..at heart..
primary season is not much fun here. I support Bernie out here in the real world ..whatever that is.. but it's not worth much time arguing with people on the internet. DU is still one of the best places to find a depth in information and news. A sense of humor is essential.

[Fumesucker]

24. Every now and then someone I dislike says something that makes me stop and think

It happens just often enough to keep me from ever using active ignore.

Keeping a sense of humor about this place and what goes on here is the best course for me these days.

[Juicy_Bellows]

25. Ahh, that makes sense.

I hope that happens to me. I got two chucklenecks going on my list for sure but only two.

[ZombieHorde]

27. I never used ignore.

Many have me on ignore though. We used to be able to see how many had us on ignore, and I think there were over 20 people who had me on ignore. I never insult anyone, but I guess some of my posts are offensive or something.

[Agschmid]

32. I miss that feature...

[olddots]

28. if you can't ignore yourself who can you ignore ?

Don't try it ,I did and it was a hassle .

people ignore me so much that they place me on sub ignore.

[bemildred]

38. Any response just encourages them.

"You can lead a troll to blabber, but you can't make them think."

Generally, once it is clear they do not intend to engage honestly, usually indicated by their rhetorical stance as you note, I move on, anything you say will be miscontrued and used against you.

The honest conversations that go on here are the only thing that is interesting about it anyway.

But I admit it took me like ten years to get to the point where that is automatic and it does not bother me sometimes to let the babble stand there unrefuted, but then it speaks for itself, and attention is the coin of the realm on the internet, when you respond you reward them and allow them to miscontrue you again.

[deutsey]

41. I used to refuse to use the ignore function

I thought (and still do, in some ways) that it was good to see views other than my own, even when they're annoying.

Then, after a few encounters with posters (directly and indirectly) who were either intentionally provoking outrage or were just one of those sad people whose world revolves around obsessively posting their fixations online, I began using ignore sparingly.

I still only have a handful of people officially on ignore (many of them have long since been tombstoned). But the general tenor of DU lately has just made me want to disengage from most discussions. I still come here because it's always a great source of information. However, after over 10 years here, I'm kind of over the flame war thing and if I keep over some posters here I'm afraid my eyes are going to unscrew from their sockets and bounce around the keyboard.

[MineralMan]

45. I tried using Ignore at one time, but took everyone off the list

when I realized that I was not actually seeing DU as it was. I want to see what everyone is saying, not just those with whom I agree. Now, if I want to ignore someone, I just don't click on the thread. That seems to work pretty well.

For me, fine-tuning a discussion forum to eliminate seeing what I don't like makes the whole concept of discussion useless.

[cherokeeprogressive]

46. I'll tell you what's better than ignore... AUTO-TRASH.

I finally started using it a few months ago. Now George Zimmerman, Sarah and Bristol Palin, and Donald Trump could ALL die tomorrow in a horrible plane crash, and I wouldn't have to read a single word about it on DU. And that's just for starters.

Auto-trash is the best thing that's ever happened to DU... at least until UNREC returns.

[Egnever]

47. Some people swear by it.

I think I might have one person on ignore but in general I don't ignore people. Even the people I disagree with the majority of the time here post things occasionally that make me rethink things.

It's a message board after all. Why delete the messages?

[csziggy]

48. I use my ignore list to keep from getting banned

Sometimes I am just cranky or someone has pushed my buttons so much I am tempted to post a response that would either get hidden or get me instantly banned. When I see that happening, I delete my post and put the other person on my ignore list.

When I'm in a better mood I go through my ignore list and clean it out. Usually I take everyone off - sometimes the person that made me mad has been kicked off DU.

On the other hand there are a lot of threads that I just trash if I don't want to see them again. And there are a lot of days when I don't post anything, just add a "Rec" to an OP.

And to quote Emo Philips: "Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps."