Why do people get so fighty on forums like this?

Sunny Disposition

There's an awful lot of aggression on anonymous boards like this. What is it about people that gets them arguing bitterly with someone they don't know, often about a topic they half understand like what rural Russians think of NATO or what policy levers should be used to ease the rental market?

Another mad thing you often see is someone trying hard to be the top dog on a particular topic. Like a fella who will put down someone else's knowledge of Fermanagh football or Tipperary hurling and try to show off with insights like corner back X is sometimes a slow to clear the ball off his right hand side. These people sort of humblebrag about their knowledge, by making obscure points, but really, isn't it quite a pathetic ambition to be respected on an anonymous forum?

toyotatommy

Sweeping essays, multi quote and covid/war expertise is all the rage.

Apiarist

 isn't it quite a pathetic ambition to be respected 

An anonymous forum is a relatively safe playground to test the limits of someone's debating skills. If you don't want to play, then get out of the sand box.

Stone Deaf 4evr

I've a sneaking suspicion that a lot of it is the inverse of their real lives, they've never achieved anything of tangible importance, so spend their time massaging their own egos, by forcing their viewpoints and contrarian arguments, and stifling actual discussion.

growleaves

People have too much energy from sitting all day and want to practice their strength on other people, particularly their intellectual strength and greater knowledge (real or imagined). Ego comes into it as well obviously.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058245604/why-do-people-get-so-fighty-on-forums-like-this

Two who each half understand the topic will be able to put their knowledge together and reach an agreement.

BENDYBINN

I think that it's because a lot of us highly intelligent people have no patience dealing with ordinary folk and just lash out in frustration.

growleaves

'but really, isn't it quite a pathetic ambition to be respected on an anonymous forum?'

I suppose so. It's a low hurdle.

sam t smith

Ah yeah, strange behaviour.

One lad was posting something that was factually incorrect the other day. Called him out on it and he immediately gets all shirty like ‘what’s your point?’.

My point is you haven’t a clue, mate.

Continued to badger me because I didn’t ignore his guff.

First person I have had to add to my ‘ignore’ list.

Dial Hard

It will never cease to amaze me what utterly random (and pointless) hills some Boardsies choose to die on. It's bizarre.

Sleeper12

Small man syndrome

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052330#Comment_119052330

Telling someone they haven't a clue is a sure-fire way to get someone's back up. There are 101 ways to draw attention to factual inaccuracies that don't include the old ad hominem call out!

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052351#Comment_119052351

It's all boardsies at some point or other but a Boards holiday is always a good way to clear the system of such negative thoughts.

sam t smith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052368#Comment_119052368

I didn’t tell him he didn’t have a clue. 🤣

I pointed out the inaccuracies. He immediately piped in with ‘what’s your point?’. I clarified again that he was incorrect and another ‘what’s your point?’ and went downhill from there.

Problem is he has built a whole spiel based on the ‘facts’, so he will never accept that he was wrong.

Quite childish.

dotsman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052330#Comment_119052330

Could be worse - you could provide countless links to black and white evidence on your post, but the other poster is a mod who then threatens to ban you because you "offended them".

Ubbquittious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052381#Comment_119052381

Could you imagine a holiday where there's a load of boardsies on it all together? The drama off it would bate any episode of any reality TV show ever created

toyotatommy

Last boards beer meet up was a complete failure as the WiFi wouldn’t work.

Ubbquittious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052515#Comment_119052515

What year was that?

EmmetSpiceland

There are a large number of angry men, both middle aged and entering into it, who don’t like “change”, lack compassion and, generally, just want to yell at clouds, on here.

The world is changing and they don’t like it. They also don’t like seeing others “succeeding” at life, something they’ve failed to do themselves.

All of this anger is directed at immigrants, people of colour, women (both cis and trans), homosexuals and anyone who doesn’t also hate these people.

Thankfully, most of these are contained in the “Current Affairs” forum but a number of unsuitable threads in here act as a staging post for them to spread out and infect the rest of the forum, spiting their hatred, and spite, towards more normal users.

BrianD3

I gave up on multi quote, long winded arguments years ago. I do sometimes enjoy seeing others participating in them though.

The worst type of snark merchants are the "post count" and "attack the OP" brigade. They'll jump in as soon as they can to get their attack in, scanning through a long post to find one word or sentence to go after. They rarely start threads and the majority of their "contributions" to the site are short. I guarantee that they don't speak to people like that in real life.

Ubbquittious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052621#Comment_119052621

What you have to look out for is when someone starts attacking the "thankers" of a post. You know it's an all-out war at that stage 😅

toyotatommy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052660#Comment_119052660

The nato posters.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052396#Comment_119052396

It could have been a woman.

AttractiveAndSingle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052597#Comment_119052597

Emmet you are what the kids today call a “white knight”. No offence intended, I agree with your wider points.

sam t smith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052740#Comment_119052740

Perhaps. 🤔

Rothko

Some posters just can't handle it when others have a different opinion or disagree with them. They'll lash out at them and twist their words around to paint the poster in a bad light and make themselves feel better. I imagine that most wouldn't dare do it face to face. Wannabe bullies basically.

Thankfully, the vast majority of users on here are nothing like that and it's really only a small minority who act like that.

Jim_Hodge

I don't think the vast majority of users are aggressive or argumentative: nor are most of the forums. Current Affairs and AH seems to draw them. They're just being obstreperous because they can't/won't do it in real life. All mouth and no trousers, as my granny used to say.

Mister Vain

It has always been like that. Only difference is now there are less funny and amusing threads to balance out the fighty ones.

Burt Renaults

There's an awful lot of aggression on anonymous boards like this.

No, there fucking isn't. Do you want a slap, do you? Do you want a fucking slap?

SuperBowserWorld

Why?

Sexual frustration probably.

Larbre34

COS KERNTS ARE FOOKING THICK 😡😡😡

Potential-Monke

Self-gratification. The feeling of being superior to others. Selfishness. Just your typical human traits.

Sunny Disposition

It’s actually a bit of craic rising them, but people who get angry about strangers disagreeing with them are a bit touched.

People trying to demonstrate their superior knowledge of sport as well, ye are fecking daft!

The Russia thread is a classic example of Boards psychology at work.

It started as a live update and discussion of the war in Ukraine but gradually dissolved, or perhaps Distilled, into about 10 lads posting the same drivel day after day: all Russians are Orcs, RuSSia, Putler, PooTin. They clap and joke about videos of dead or dying Russians and try to top each others outrage about the latest Russian atrocity. One lad writes poems about the war, another proudly posts pictures of how much he has contributed to a bank account to help Ukraine. Some end their posts with Slava Ukraine and openly call for the burning of the Russian embassy and the bombing of innocent civilians, including children in Russian cities. Anyone who disagrees is branded a Putin Apologist.

The mods seem to think this is exactly what a thread on the Ukraine war should be about and ban anyone who doesn't follow the narrative.

I think this website has deteriorated dramatically since the upgrade. Not because of software glitches, but because many of the worthwhile posters have left, along with the best Mods.

Capt'n Midnight

Spoiler Warning

What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!

Deja Boo

DeVore shared this vid once - Thought Germ Fuel... ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc

freshpopcorn

Some people are actually tad passionate.

Some people can't leave anything go.

Some people like winding others up.

ThePentagon

I remember about 10 or so years ago (on my previous account) quite regularly engaging in/getting drawn into long, multi-day debates/arguments with particular posters in boards threads.

What would start as a throwaway comment would descend into a grueling war of attrition with every sentence quoted and criticised, and every logical fallacy committed at some point.

I recall finding it quite exhausting and even feeling a bit stressed waiting for the other person's reply. For whatever reason, it felt vitally important to respond to each comment, even if the "debate" had long since deviated unrecognisably from the original post.

Crazy when I think about it 😆 . Anyhow, it's only you when take a break from boards (or things like twitter) that you remember how absolutely irrelevant topical discussions on social media are to real life. I think it provides some temporary egotistical stimulation but apart from that, nothing.

Mecanudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052354#Comment_119052354

Also Big man syndrome

Sunny Disposition

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119055046#Comment_119055046

That’s funny, but at least you realised how mad it was and stopped.

therapist3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058245604/why-do-people-get-so-fighty-on-forums-like-this

In a debate you will have someone raising constructive points, these are the people who want to help with and solve problems.

Then there are the people who just attack and blame men or women or dogs or anything really; these are the people *with problems*

A contemporary example is the DUP / Brexit / Northern Ireland Protocol. They're not trying to solve the problem of which there isn't really anyway. They just have a problem with Catholics / Nationalists and attack them and whatever they are in favour off

blackvalley

This topic should be renamed as " Why do " OTHER " people get so fighty on forums like this . All ive read so far is posters pointing fingers at all the "other" people who argue and squabble over random topics while they themselves conduct civilized debate always seeking and speaking the truth . Talk about humblebragging 🙄

Its a bit like the forums that regularly appear from " Really good car drivers " who constantly blame everyone else for breaking the rules , not knowing the rules and generally driving badly . They themselves of course are faultless.

Donald Trump

Did some dickhead try to call me fighty?

D'ya want yer bleedin' go or wha'?

elperello

I only recently realised there is a remedy.

If someone disrespects you or picks a fight with you just like in real life you can walk away.

The only difference is they can't follow you and you won't get a blow on the back of the skull 🙂

joe40

Is "fighty" an actual word.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119081878#Comment_119081878

Apparently yes, who'd have thunk it 🙂

https://dictionary.university/fighty

hayse

A big fight broke out at a boards beer meet one time. I’ll never forget it, they had to turn off the WiFi to stop it.

Astartes

Most people are just feckin miserable these days and I don't blame them. Better leave off a bit of steam on a message board than screaming into a mirror in your bedsit

sam t smith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119081834#Comment_119081834

They can follow you to another thread.

Stick them on the ignore list.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119082817#Comment_119082817

I haven't had that problem.

I don't use the ignore list with one exception and it's a poster I think is pretty ok really but I just got tired of scrolling down a long boring list he keeps posting.

I prefer to keep in touch with what others are saying.

Cause venting in real life you'll end up in jail or fined.