Has anybody else been pretty shocked by how polarized many of the forums have gotten lately? 'Back in the good ole' days,' people would occasionally have differing view points and get into little spats, but on the whole we were all on the same page and working toward the same common goal (patient and nurse well-being).
These days it feels like at least 1/3 of the trending forums eventually devolve into tirades and personal attacks. Even when the discussions start out fairly civil, they sour pretty quickly.
I realize that highly-polarized, highly-sensationalized news is the nature of our political system these days. I'm also guessing that the polarization is felt more deeply on AN because the two most prominent, polarizing topics right now (covid and 'black lives' protests) are both interrelated with public health. Usually AN members are at least somewhat united on the aims and goals for public health, even if they don't agree with the means. Now, there's just so much bickering.
It's really disheartening. AN is usually my escape from the outside world, where I can commiserate with other nurses on topics that only we understand. Lately, it feels like the lighthearted, feel-good nature of AN has been poisoned by all of this hatred. I hope we get back to the way things were sooner rather than later. ?
Its almost when people have a gaslighting/strawman narrative, you will have a faction of people willing to disagree (many will go along with the agenda in fear of social repercussions). Crushing and silencing others opinions as a means of oppression bodes foul for the country as a whole. Calling the jackboots in in order to mask the weakness in an argument is also poor form.
I think for the most part people agree that police reform is a needed in lieu of police brutality but seeing how you react at the slightest form of dissidence is concerning to say the least.
As I said before in other thread we are teetering towards 1984 or the 5th century Roman Empire at this point. Do you want to know how that story ended?
I thought you were taking your pot stirring self up out of here?
I can't argue with someone who wants to deny facts or believes in fake news. I also can't talk with someone who wants to downplay racism while exonerating white supremacy.
Admit it. You aren't here for a discussion but to be antagonistic. You would rather focus on the protests than police officers abusing their power to murder innocent black people.
As Suze Orman says, "People first. Then money. Then things." If nothing else, white posters being more concerned about buildings and business than black people just illustrates how black people are dehumanized and devalued.
Better question, if racism doesn't exist and police aren't the bad guys, why have 5 Black men been lynched and police immediately claim it's suicide and never want to investigate until people protest and call them out? Why did police have a sick out because their racist counterpart was rightfully charged with murder? If you put as much time into being civilized and less about making excuses for bigotry and unjustified murder you might be a better person. Instead, you use the same religion that was used to validate murder and hide behind it. Maybe you and others in this thread are hell bent on making excuses because y'all are just as bigoted. Don't say otherwise because you've gone beyond past the point of letting us know exactly where you stand.
This person had the nerve to come on my profile to attack me rather than do it out in the open. Just tells you how spineless she is.
It seems to be a fairly predictable form of silencing that gets trotted out when a discussion starts getting too dangerous. It’s practically impossible to write anything thoughtful or nuanced in the middle of a snark fest. About the only remedy that works is the liberal use of the ignore feature.
(Heh ... see what I did there?)
Thanks for reminding me of the ignore featur. I have added a few bigots on this thread to the ignore list.
This thread was doing just fine until the usual distractors came with unnecessary drama and conflict. Ruins just about every thread they post in with the same nonsense. Why? Is civil discourse disallowed or taboo on AN? I've never seen people be so miserable to the point of going out their way to ruin every thread they post online. Why even log on if you're that miserable? Go talk to someone about those unhealthy behaviors. ?
I think the answer is not to allow oneself to be distracted and to continue to make the points one wants to make, undeterred. People reading a thread where this is happening can see the dynamics taking place. There's a number of topics that some people appear to feel threatened by, and some people try to derail a thread. Some people end up resorting to insults in desperation to try to force a poster to abandon a thread. I'd suggest just being aware of this, maintaining good behavior, addressing/describing the behaviors one is seeing, and going ahead and making one's points.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Just a reminder of the Terms of Service (link to the full Terms of Service is at the bottom of every page):
Quote
We promote the idea of lively debate. This means you are free to disagree with anyone on any type of subject matter as long as your criticism is constructive and polite. Additionally, please refrain from name-calling. This is divisive, rude, and derails the thread.
Our first priority is to the members that have come here because of the flame-free atmosphere we provide. There is a zero-tolerance policy here against personal attacks. We will not tolerate anyone insulting other's opinion nor name calling.
Please remember to debate the topic and not each other. Should there be a poster you (general you) would like to place on ignore but are unsure of how to use this feature, please feel free to reach out via private message.
I think the answer is not to allow oneself to be distracted and to continue to make the points one wants to make, undeterred. People reading a thread where this is happening can see the dynamics taking place. There's a number of topics that some people appear to feel threatened by, and some people try to derail a thread. Some people end up resorting to insults in desperation to try to force a poster to abandon a thread. I'd suggest just being aware of this, maintaining good behavior, addressing/describing the behaviors one is seeing, and going ahead and making one's points.
Easier said than done, I think. You’re right that it’s been a good look at the dynamics of white fragility ... that tendency for Caucasian heads to explode whenever someone implies, however gently, that racism is a defining characteristic of white culture. It’s the dark underbelly of ethnocentrism. There is no painless way for us white folks to wrap our heads around that. The only way out is through. Think of it as labor pains.
Are you aware the BLM protests have been peaceful and riots/looting started by alt-right perpetrators pretending to be BLM affiliates to start a race war? Literally, all the violators on video/arrested are in fact WHITE!
Really?? Here is the video of the looting of the Target. Nearly everyone looting is black or are they all white alt-right wearing "black-face"?
Should there be a poster you (general you) would like to place on ignore but are unsure of how to use this feature, please feel free to reach out via private message.
This advice is appreciated, but ignoring a poster (any thread on any forum) doesn't actually remedy the problem when/if an actual problematic situation exists; it just means one avoids the situation. While some people may choose to do this, I feel that people who are posting in accord with the TOS should be able to do so without having to ignore/avoid what is happening on a thread (any thread) in real time; e.g. their contributions being sabotaged. I am pretty sure that most people who are invested in what they are writing want to participate in and view the real thread in real time and want other participants to behave reasonably - they don't want to hide away from other posters in a virtual world. Perhaps an option is to require people prior to posting to publicly acknowledge by clicking a box in the text field that their post complies with the TOS.
I thought you were taking your pot stirring self up out of here?
I can't argue with someone who wants to deny facts or believes in fake news. I also can't talk with someone who wants to downplay racism while exonerating white supremacy.
Admit it. You aren't here for a discussion but to be antagonistic. You would rather focus on the protests than police officers abusing their power to murder innocent black people.
As Suze Orman says, "People first. Then money. Then things." If nothing else, white posters being more concerned about buildings and business than black people just illustrates how black people are dehumanized and devalued.
If you think studies from Harvard, National Academy of Sciences, CDC or raw statistics from the FBI are fake news, I don't think anything posted will detract you from your militant dogma and zealotry. If you are going to continue post things totally bereft of any reasoning that's on you.
Your talking points are either based on deflections, red herring talking points or logical fallacies which have been reduced to personal insults or making assumptions which have not even been uttered. Notice how I address positions and delivery and nowhere do I make assumptions or extrapolate beyond that. Usually the person which has resorted these tactics lacks a cohesive argument. It's sad really, but interesting to see as people start to lose an argument they tend to break down.
It sure has. It's now full of bleeding heart liberals and sjw's.
It always cracks me up that the right uses social justice warrior as an insult/dismissal. Like, I get it’s uttered with oozing sarcasm but it still sounds pretty darn cool. I feel like the name should come with a sword or comic book style origin story.
ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP
1 Article; 2,594 Posts
I thought you were taking your pot stirring self up out of here?
I can't argue with someone who wants to deny facts or believes in fake news. I also can't talk with someone who wants to downplay racism while exonerating white supremacy.
Admit it. You aren't here for a discussion but to be antagonistic. You would rather focus on the protests than police officers abusing their power to murder innocent black people.
As Suze Orman says, "People first. Then money. Then things." If nothing else, white posters being more concerned about buildings and business than black people just illustrates how black people are dehumanized and devalued.