Help Me Understand

[briarblues]

What is it, on social media, that can bring out the worst in us? This has been on my mind for some time, but the thread about Allen Harrelson truly got me thinking.

It is just so easy to sit behind our keyboards and type things that we would never say to anyone face to face. Or at least not without provocation. Sure, sure some will say I would say anything I type about so and so, if we met, but somehow, I doubt that.

Each of us has our preferred venue or venues to relate with others of a similar mind set. There does appear to be a great divide between the different platforms. That is something I could never and still have never wrapped my head around.

If your preference is for forums, then participate in the forums. If message boards then participate in them. If You Tube, then participate on You Tube. All have some value, and all have their shortcomings.

On each platform there will be those you get along with and those you do not. There will be fans and detractors. You can’t please all the people all the time. You choose how to spend your time. If you don’t like XY or Z then change the channel. It’s not personal, or maybe it is, within you. Something about the way someone presents themselves just rubs you the wrong way. If that is the case, don’t watch, don’t comment, don’t make a bad thing worse.

I truly don’t understand why it must become personal. Not all personalities get along. However, it can be kept civil.

I spend time here to learn and whenever possible add what little knowledge I can share. When what I think I know is incorrect, I am very pleased to learn that I was wrong and gain new information.

I do spend more time on You Tube than I do other platforms. I can’t honestly say why that is. It’s a boat load less work to type a response than to create a video. Maybe I like to put a name and face to the content, as opposed to a “screen name”. Maybe I’m just lazy and it’s easy to watch and listen as opposed to reading.

The more I type the further I wonder where I’ve headed this little mess of thoughts.

It is not some “why can’t we all get along” bs. Within this platform we wouldn’t all agree on the best blend, pipe brand, or best pipe for a new pipe smoker to start with.

I guess I’m just a little amazed at how things need to go to personal levels when stating that we don’t like or agree with someone’s opinion or presentation, no matter the venue.

If you can shed some light on why this is, please help this little old man understand.

 

[Streeper541]

The veil of anonymity.

 

[jaingorenard]

He definitely does seem to produce strong reactions in people!

For my part, I criticized some of what he has said as I don't think it's correct. If someone presents themselves as a source of information on pipes and tobacco, I don't think there's anything wrong with challenging or critiquing what they say about it, particularly for those who are new to smoking to get a balanced view on things. I'd be happy for someone to challenge my thoughts on it all, and I'm not claiming to be an expert on it or presenting my thoughts on a YouTube channel with a large audience.

I think if someone presents themselves in public they open themselves up to criticism (and maybe even ridicule) up to a point. That has always been the case. I think it probably has got worse due to online anonymity, but I didn't see anything in that thread that seemed any more vicious than what people would say to each other pre-social media.

 

[fireground_piper]

I think in the specific case of The Pipe Cottage.....he tends to make very grandiose and perhaps oddly definitive statements, presented more as fact than opinion. When the same types of statements are also made here on the forum, those individuals get equally criticized so in that particular case I do not consider it a platform specific reaction.

The same types of accounts here usually burn themselves out or go crazy enough to get the ban hammer. They usually just don't last long enough in this format as opposed to Youtube where they are, for the most part, their own platform master.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It's not new to social media. In the old days, we just slugged it out. People have and still do just say whatever crosses their minds. This is just how humans are. Welcome to the Earth, my friend. Sit next to me at any event, and we will make fun of whoever the hell is speaking. It's fun, and people like it. If they don't they will usually just walk off to the other corner and talk about me, ha ha, which makes them a hypocrite. But, they like it.

You have to have thick skin to put yourself out there. If he goes off and cries because of a thread on here, he is in the wrong hobby.

The guy puts himself out there, and people will react. You like the guy, others don't. It is annoying to listen to him, but that was never as much my argument as why a club would have someone who doesn't blend for a living do it.

 

[briarblues]

It's not new to social media. In the old days, we just slugged it out. People have and still do just say whatever crosses their minds. This is just how humans are. Welcome to the Earth, my friend. Sit next to me at any event, and we will make fun of whoever the hell is speaking. It's fun, and people like it. If they don't they will usually just walk off to the other corner and talk about me, ha ha, which makes them a hypocrite. But, they like it.

You have to have thick skin to put yourself out there. If he goes off and cries because of a thread on here, he is in the wrong hobby.

The guy puts himself out there, and people will react. You like the guy, others don't. It is annoying to listen to him, but that was never as much my argument as why a club would have someone who doesn't blend for a living do it.

True, in the "old days" if there wasn't a flame war in the am, by noon someone would start one. I am getting old...I forgot those days.....

I never said I liked or disliked him. Good information is good information and bad is bad. Everyone on YT puts themselves out there. Some just to ruffle feathers, some to educate, some for fun, and various other reasons. But IF you don't have thick skin, it is not the venue for you.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It's just Youtube, and it's good if you enjoy that medium. For me, it just takes me longer to watch a video than to read a post, or misread a post, ha ha.

The same thing with tobaccos on here or pipe brands. Watch a Peterson thread. Someone will eventually say that all Petes suck, and then come the devout fans to dog pile it, ha ha. Someone will say that all Sutliff blends suck, same thing happens. If both sides didn't really enjoy the back and forth, they wouldn't be on a forum.

Michael, I know you took some time off from the forums way back, and then came back. I for one, am every happy you're here.

 

[Old Smokey]

"Too many unstable words are spoken
by him who ne'er holds his peace;
the hasty tongue sings its own mishap
if it be not bridled in." - Hávamál

 

[kcghost]

I think ESPN is an example of what he is saying. It doesn't matter what you say, it matters how loud you say it. Stephen A. Smith doesn't know a football from an outhouse, and he stays while a of number reasonable people who know a lot about a given sport where cashiered.

 

[Haggard]

I think the internet makes most people experience Social-emotional agnosia.

It doesn't capture all of the problems you describe, but maybe quite a few of them.

We're all simulating being brain damaged on here, I suspect, in our different ways.

Then, combine that with actual brain damage and real disorders and ta-da! You have the internet.

Pretty neat, huh?

 

[Chasing Embers]

If you haven't seen this sort of behavior outside the internet, you've lived a very fortunate life. I know very few people that wouldn't say what they'd type.

 

[proteus]

Anonymity is a component. So is passion. I think people have strong opinions they hold on to strongly. There is less willingness to accept differing points of view without feeling like that acceptance invalidates one's own opinion. To deviate from the notion of only one right answer existing is psychologically hard to do for some people. There is also an inability for people to admit when they are wrong so they hold steadfast to their believes to the bitter end despite no apparent scorekeeper. Flexibility in thought is a difficult skill to master.

 

[Servant King]

I have found that people would rather have their erroneous beliefs validated than acquire any real knowledge. When this quest goes anything less than smoothly, the reaction tends to be both impulsive and inconsiderate, and anyone caught within a certain radius (whether in the physical world or the cyber world) unfortunately risks bearing the brunt of a misdirected outburst. In the wrong place at the wrong time, you might say. And as the human mind deteriorates further (corresponding with its AI symbiosis), one does not have to be a Madame Blavatsky to foresee this problem getting worse.

What I'm trying to say is, no one seems to be in control of their own thoughts, emotions and actions anymore. Sure, humans behaving erratically is nothing new, but I think it's beyond all doubt that this is only getting worse. This will inevitably cause greater confusion in extroverts (because they won't understand the nature of this ongoing behavioral disorder), and cause introverts to withdraw further.

Mike, as I've told you before, I feel fortunate to have found your YT channel early on in my pipe journey. I can't help but think I might've gotten sucked in to the dark, seedy, often frivolous world of the YTPC had I not had your sensible, grounding influence close by, right at the outset. I tend to avoid social media like the plague, but based on what I've heard about that sector of the internet, I feel like I dodged a bullet. And for that, I'm grateful. Plus, you don't drag a 30 second explanation into a half-hour lecture.

Keep you skin thick, my friend!

 

[AJL67]

 

[warren]

f you can shed some light on why this is, please help this little old man understand.

Human nature. "Nuff said.

 

[1stPersonSmoker]

Some people need to have some kind of consensus to operate under and others value independence and going their own way. I don't use certain social media like facebook but I do watch and S#@tpost on video sharing platforms, I learned a lot about pipe smoking on youtube from YTPC, I even started a pipe channel for fun*
In the past I have always found forums tro have more gatekeeper-types and "actually" guys. But it's par for the course.
We live in a golden age of communication, even if you factor in all the censorship.
Our attention is the very-most valuable thing we can give eachother, thanks for sharing a little of yours with me.

*entertainment purposes

 

[woodsroad]

WTF is Allen Harrelson?

 

[Peter Turbo]

I mean don’t post something controversial if you cant take the heat because its coming.

Once you put yourself out there you are at the mercy of anyone with an internet connection and a keyboard/smartphone. If you cant handle other peoples opinions or even facts being dropped on you then its time to go outside and touch grass.

This is nothing new, people were talking shit on the internet before social media blew up. Its just more in your face now if you let it be. I dont use facebook/insta/tiktok/reddit for that reason.

 

[captpat]

I don't think the phenomenon is restricted to the internet. Hardly a day goes past that a notable person makes some outlandish, bigoted, misogynistic, racist, or other claim (not to mention tropes). Some of these thoughts aren't new but when I was growing up in the 70's they seldom uttered in public or on the national news. Nowadays it's pretty much accepted, if not expected; this is how we've evolved as a society. I still try to avoid saying anything if it's not nice, to someone's face or on the internet.

 

[LotusEater]

Whether you post a video on YouTube, write a blog or post on a forum you are a content creator and by sharing that content you are implying that you want others to take notice of it. It sucks when someone takes notice of it and says something mean or offensive about whatever content you have shared but thats just the way it goes. We are luck here because the forum rules and the moderators keep the BS to a minimum.