Gordon Steadman
29-08-2013, 08:21
I am a motor racing fan and subscribe to a Blog by one of the better informed of the commentators.
He posted this today and I'm sure he won't mind me pasting it here. I think his point about people feeling free because its all a bit anonymous is right. It seems shame that people are prepared to be different than they would be face to face. Maybe the threat of a right hook as a good idea after all! What gets me is the seriousness with which people take stuff. If its cars, computers, hi-fi or anything else which is merely an add on to our real lives, why on earth would anybody get so het up and see another opinion as a personal insult? Everybody seems to think they are an expert but forgets there is another human being at the other end of the line (or ether as the case may be)
Over the summer break some people seem to have forgotten the Blog Rules. There are too many people who fire off abusive comments, without thinking. Saying things one would never say to another person if you were face to face. Everyone is a hero when they are hidden behind their little monikers and their fake e-mail addresses. The fact remains that I am not going to publish such comments, so those of you who do this are wasting your time. I do the best I can to sort out what is really happening in F1 and my sources and connections are wide-ranging and in the know. So just because you might read a contrary story somewhere on the Internet does not make it right. There is so much crap out there. This blog is designed to help fans see the sense in what is happening.
I don't have a problem with being wrong. It happens to us all from time to time. It is an inevitable part of the game of trying to sort the wheat from the chaff. Having a bunch of know-it-alls writing abusive and disrespectful things seriously weakens my desire to interact with the F1 public. Most of my colleagues think I'm nuts to waste so much time on these things, and there are times when I feel the same way. So please, if you want to be able to go on making comments, try to make them positive, respectful and non-personal. It is just no fun dealing with the negative stuff all the time. The blog rules are as follows:
"People are welcome to comment, but they should always remember that this is a privilege, not a right. Any posts that include unpleasant and abusive language will not be published. Joe has no problems with passionate comments and sensible debate, but remember that you are part of a diverse community and it is necessary to be respectful of others. Some of those posting are from the F1 community, and know what they are talking about.
"One can be critical of statements, but try to avoid personal attacks; try to talk about the motorsport world, and skip obscenities, political rhetoric, and anything that might give offence. If you ignore these rules you will be banned. And your future posts will go straight into spam.
"It is always best to include a proper email address with your comments as Joe can then contact you if there are things that need to be discussed outside the public domain."
He posted this today and I'm sure he won't mind me pasting it here. I think his point about people feeling free because its all a bit anonymous is right. It seems shame that people are prepared to be different than they would be face to face. Maybe the threat of a right hook as a good idea after all! What gets me is the seriousness with which people take stuff. If its cars, computers, hi-fi or anything else which is merely an add on to our real lives, why on earth would anybody get so het up and see another opinion as a personal insult? Everybody seems to think they are an expert but forgets there is another human being at the other end of the line (or ether as the case may be)
Over the summer break some people seem to have forgotten the Blog Rules. There are too many people who fire off abusive comments, without thinking. Saying things one would never say to another person if you were face to face. Everyone is a hero when they are hidden behind their little monikers and their fake e-mail addresses. The fact remains that I am not going to publish such comments, so those of you who do this are wasting your time. I do the best I can to sort out what is really happening in F1 and my sources and connections are wide-ranging and in the know. So just because you might read a contrary story somewhere on the Internet does not make it right. There is so much crap out there. This blog is designed to help fans see the sense in what is happening.
I don't have a problem with being wrong. It happens to us all from time to time. It is an inevitable part of the game of trying to sort the wheat from the chaff. Having a bunch of know-it-alls writing abusive and disrespectful things seriously weakens my desire to interact with the F1 public. Most of my colleagues think I'm nuts to waste so much time on these things, and there are times when I feel the same way. So please, if you want to be able to go on making comments, try to make them positive, respectful and non-personal. It is just no fun dealing with the negative stuff all the time. The blog rules are as follows:
"People are welcome to comment, but they should always remember that this is a privilege, not a right. Any posts that include unpleasant and abusive language will not be published. Joe has no problems with passionate comments and sensible debate, but remember that you are part of a diverse community and it is necessary to be respectful of others. Some of those posting are from the F1 community, and know what they are talking about.
"One can be critical of statements, but try to avoid personal attacks; try to talk about the motorsport world, and skip obscenities, political rhetoric, and anything that might give offence. If you ignore these rules you will be banned. And your future posts will go straight into spam.
"It is always best to include a proper email address with your comments as Joe can then contact you if there are things that need to be discussed outside the public domain."