Today I posted a link to a short article on "Audio and Civility." It is a plea, of course, for civility.
It would be easy to dismiss incivility on forums as the behaviour of a few bad apples - people with poor attitudes or chips on their shoulders. But we have seen long-term members getting into scuffles, sometimes with one another. I am embarrassed to say that I, too, have either triggered or been drawn into such brief brawls. It troubles me to have been a party to them. And it makes me wonder how they get started.
I'm not referring here to the well-known tiresome debates - SS vs. tubes, vinyl vs. CDs, cables, etc., etc. Usually we just turn off and drop out of such conversations. And no one, I believe, has a problem with respectful disagreements, but most of us do have a problem when disagreements turn into spats.
Setting aside spats started because a "bad apple" is involved (very few here, I'm glad to say), it seems to me that certain words - loaded words - may be the main reason these unfortunate, and personalized, fights get started.
Here is my top-of-the-mind list of the words I think have raised my hackles, and perhaps those of others:
"Best" - Because audio is all about personal preferences and tastes, when someone says, without qualification, that some piece of gear or music is the best, that seems raise ire.
"Hype" when referring to someone's opinion.
"Dishonest" when referring to someone's opinion.
"Wrong" when referring to someone's opinion.
I truly would like to know what words raise the hackles of other members.
Dave
