I thoroughly enjoy allnurses.com for the most part, but I get a little defensive when so many people post acidic posts. So, what is an acidic post? One that burns you but offers no real addition to the subject at hand. I am an opinionated man. I am a loving, compassionate nurse. Yes, I went the long way and believe thoroughly in education and academics being very important to advancing the profession. No, I do not believe that any "level" of nurse is better than the other.
What burns me is when people post acidic replies to what starts as an educated, professional post and really detracts from the actual topic. As nurses, we are supposed to be able to vent, share our ideas, and improve each other by discussion, so please, when you disagree with something, be tactful about it. When you are rude, disrespectful, or downright nasty, you aren't helping anyone, least of all the profession. It is a discussion board, let us get heated about things, let us discuss them and talk about them, but let us not attack each other, please.
PLEASE disagree with me! PLEASE tell me what you think, how you think, why you think.
Most of all, please do it as a colleague, a friend, a nurse.
There are over 800,000 members on this site. That is a lot of personalities. I wonder what would happen if you put that many people in a room together? You would have for the most part people getting along, people being polite to one's face when secretly thinking what an idiot, and some people who would argue. It's much easier to post your true feelings here where you are anonymous. Also, it's hard to discern tone on the internet, it just is. But with this many people you are bound to have conflicting personalities. That is just life. Also, I think life would be pretty boring if we couldn't voice our opinions. That is a gift of living in a free country, not having the fear of retribution just for having an opinion. I don't agree with everyone in here and some days I like to engage in a little debate. It's good for the mind.
I'm with the plain speaking posters. Sometimes those people appear "acidic", but you just can't beat honest. It exhausts me to try to find the information in a post that just wants to be nice.
I think the newer you are to AN, the more offense you take at posts that disagree with you.
Let me let this be known too- I too can come off wrong in posts, of course! I think venting in here is just fine! My point was that if you want other people to "hear" you, then posting what I consider "acidic" posts (like calling people names or stupid- perhaps I should have been more specific as well) are not going to help. If you just come here to write a post and let it all out, then fine, that's OK, but don't call me disgusting, an idiot, or other names. When I say acidic, I mean rude, hateful, and just flat out mean. My feelings aren't hurt, don't get me wrong, but I just wanted to put a little reminder that you don't get points across when you're acting crazy.
I am all for people being polite to each other trying to get along. I am also guilty of some emotionally charged posts that were not so polite, some of these I regret. A point I'd like to try to make is that people in general are becoming too sensitive and unable to take criticism or become offended over the slightest thing. I think it all started with the whole political correctness movement and has spiraled out of control. It seems politeness has taken over to the point where honesty suffers. We are forced to accept everything in this society and are admonished for saying what we think. True, one can try to be tactful, but some times one just has to call a spade a spade. I'd rather hear the truth about what someone thinks, offensive or not, than have them water it down and tip toe around my feelings. We live in a society that has become too soft. I 'm not advocating for fist fights and gun play, but come on people say what you think and what you feel regardless of whose feelings may be hurt. Id rather have someone come out and tell me they don't like me, rather than play games. It's good to know where you stand with people. I hope this all makes sense.
You are right, call a spade a spade, but don't call it a stupid, horrid, evil little spade that knows nothing about anything. Just call it a spade!
There's definitely a difference between being direct (and not hand holding)and being mean or offensive. I value the first; I don't well tolerate the second. I'm fairly new to regular posting here, and a new grad as well. I've grown a thicker skin during school and don't let honest criticism get to me. That being said, there's no room for criticizing for the sake of criticizing or being rude or name calling. Thanks for posting this, NurseGuyBri.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Well, Bri...can I call you Bri? I agree with you - there is no place for namecalling. I try my hardest to criticize the words, not the person. Although, I admit that I have a few demerits here from being too rude. I think I called someone a douchebag once a few years ago. I have permanent points upon my AN record for that one (it did feel good, though).
I think the newer you are to AN, the more offense you take at posts that disagree with you.
Indeed. Which, I kind of find a bit odd - is this REALLY people's first introduction to internet message boards?
Posting/lurking at 4chan has definitely hardened me to what is an actual "flame".
Lol, the other day I left a moderately negative review of a television show on Netflix and got a reply that I was a psychopathic b*tch who should burn in h*ll for not correctly understanding the loving, compassionate, and philosophic nature of the show...I am sure they will never see the discrepancy there. There are a lot of Internet warriors. Here's a website you might enjoy: Flame Warriors Home
Lol, the other day I left a moderately negative review of a television show on Netflix and got a reply that I was a psychopathic b*tch who should burn in h*ll for not correctly understanding the loving, compassionate, and philosophic nature of the show...I am sure they will never see the discrepancy there. There are a lot of Internet warriors. Here's a website you might enjoy: Flame Warriors Home
I think most people on Netflix leave wonderful post on crappy shows as paid individuals...so of course they don't want one to mess up their little cash flow for the readers who don't give their good marks, LOL...
NurseGirl525, ASN, RN
3,663 Posts
There are over 800,000 members on this site. That is a lot of personalities. I wonder what would happen if you put that many people in a room together? You would have for the most part people getting along, people being polite to one's face when secretly thinking what an idiot, and some people who would argue. It's much easier to post your true feelings here where you are anonymous. Also, it's hard to discern tone on the internet, it just is. But with this many people you are bound to have conflicting personalities. That is just life. Also, I think life would be pretty boring if we couldn't voice our opinions. That is a gift of living in a free country, not having the fear of retribution just for having an opinion. I don't agree with everyone in here and some days I like to engage in a little debate. It's good for the mind.