Why does it seem like the majority of users on Fluther are becoming more and more egotistical?

Maybe you’re right. I haven’t been here long enough to notice any differentce in the site myself. I think that as a collective expands, quarrels are inevitable. As more and more different opinions are present they are more and more likely to clash.

I agree with gggritso, however, people in general tend to be a little more fired up when it comes to anything religion based.

What a bore this place would be if we all agreed. What would we do? Hold hands and sing Kumbaya? I’d rather see a lively discussion, or even an argument. That’s how we learn. The only thing I would hope is that the arguments would be informed, and would avoid sheer stupidity. Stupidity is far more offensive than disagreement.

Tempers get high around the holidays…

I have an issue with the vulgar language, the offensive remarks that are made instead of sticking to the actual comment. I try not to make offensive remarks but I do like to joke. You would not have found me in that conversation because people either lurve or hate Obama. I will keep my opinion to myself so people will stick to the content you requested.

I use vulgar language all the time. Writing, even here, is a form of art, and one uses whatever tools in the box one thinks will be effective.

@aanuszek1 What you saw on your thread was a successful trolling, in its truest sense. One user writes comments specifically to rile people up (which they did), then disables their account.

@pdworking: That is an excellent point. A lot of the disagreements are in fact constructive ones. But on that same point, it becomes very hard to accomplish anything with some of the unnecessary arguments I’ve been seeing lately.

I’m beginning to think that users carry out the “I’m always right” state of thinking. Don’t get me wrong, some of these people are incredibly intelligent, but when you have lots of these kind of people in high concentrations, any kind of social activity just won’t work. Not everyone can be right.

cough cough answerbaggers cough cough
But seriously, I thought it’s always been like that.

@PretentiousArtist Oh, come now. Gross stereotype. Poor form.

@PretentiousArtist: :(

wis.dm was a learning curve too. give it time. they’ll flit in and out and maybe back in again, things will settle.

@aanuszek1

But do you really expect people to change their opinions that willingly? People are going to disagree. Not everyone has the same views, they just don’t. That’s part of being human.

This is why I prefer questions where I just share my knowledge and experiences as opposed to trying to convince people that they’re wrong, because most of the time, it doesn’t work.

Short time I have been here, I can sum it up to respect and intolerance of others opinions and beliefs.

Great to have have a difference of opinion, nice to read comments, with people who have different views. Not so great when those discussions go down hill with insults, because one doesn’t believe what the other believes.

Chalk it up to immaturity, lack of respect for others opinions, and intolerance of others thinking and beliefs. Those are short and sweet though, so ignore those comments if you can, and have fun.

@pdworkin then I guess you would not be offended if I said, “Go Fluck yourself.”

When a community begins you naturally have a lot of like-minded individuals. As it expands diversity increases. Sometimes that means more arguments, but it also means more exposure to different ways of thinking. The bad comes with the good.

As I recall, I was a bit quicker to pick fights when I first started here than I am now. Before you actually get to know the people in an online community and begin to see them as real, fully-dimensioned people like you, it’s easy to see them as just “positions” in a debate. You don’t care much about them, and you’re more likely to attack.

But after awhile you learn about their lives, see their sense of humor, find things you have in common, and then it becomes much harder to be caustic with them. It’s like when you’re about to honk your horn at some other driver, but stop when you see that it’s the guy who lives down the block from you.

That kind of familiarity may be a little harder to acquire in a larger community, and when there are big influxes it will take some time before we get a feel for the people behind the avatars, and feel invested enough in the community to want to get along with folks instead of just spouting off whatever comes to mind.

‘the hell is the point of an open forum if it’s just a bunch of people nodding in agreement and high fiving one another?

Challenge and get challenged. The purpose of a site like Fluther is to make you smarter, not solidify assumptions and personal opinion as “fact.”

@aanuszek1 ; That thread did get a little bitchy didn’t it? I couldn’t even finish reading the whole thread.

Fluther is a microcosm that mirrors all communities as a whole. Any time there is a period of significant growth, the characteristics of the society as a whole change. Since Fluther relies primarily on written interactions to define personalities and characteristics (as opposed to music, food, entertainment, etc. in RL) the focus is much sharper and changes seem more heightened. After a little time, the new is absorbed, changes and differences become familiar, and things become comfortable again.

@Judi: What happened on that thread is a prime example of something that causes me to honestly consider why I am still active on this site.

Yah, I can see how it felt like your question got hyjacked. It turned into a “Is Obama a “REAL Christian?” thread instead of the simple question you intended it to be.

As a site becomes more popular, it’s going to begin attracting people who may not have the same mindset as the original members. Among those are going to be some who don’t have backgrouns which enable them to effectively research, or perhaps to use logic and reason correctly, or perhaps those who don’t have the same faculty with words, etc. One mark of a really good site is when the original members can make allowances for those who might be unable to use those tools with the same degree of effectiveness.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m always right.

I’ve only been here a few weeks but I’m impressed with how civil and polite Fluther is. The fights people refer to are nothing compared to the donnybrooks I’ve seen elsewhere. Like comparing a food fight with a fire fight.

@delirium- You funny, girl.

@astrochuck Learned from the best!

It’s cyclical. Trolls and trouble makers come and go, sometimes it just takes a while for the “go”.

But I do think that you have to expect certain topics (politics, religion, etc) to have potential for rancor. In a perfect world, people would be able to have intelligent, reasoned discourse on any number of contentious topics, but it’s hardly a perfect world, it is?

I agree @syz and for the short time I have been here it is easy to see who they are.

The fact that everyone is meant to be an “expert” doesn’t really help.

@Jayy Ah – but we’re each only experts in a very few things.

everybody shut their pie-holes!

It’s online that’s what it’s for. It just takes longer to notice here because people use all em big wurds.

I walk, don’t run, to the nearest exit when discord appears. But then the discord here is so much milder than on other sites.

I’ve been here since last summer and I’ve noticed it too. seems like there’s less really introspective, illuminating answers since well—what @PretentiousArtist mentioned..—

@Symbeline On our former site, I was accused of using unnecessarily complex language. Here it seems to be de riguer. Gray cells are fashionable.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land It’s cool to be smart!

Part of the problem is that some people do not understand the proper methods of debate. I’ve found that in many cases what passes for a debate is two or more people stating opposite positions and then trading insults ad infinitum. There are certain areas, such as religion, abortion, gay marriage, etc. where there really is no point in debating because no one is really listening. Everyone has an entrenched position and it just becomes a shouting match.
The essence of proper debate is a willingness to listen and reformulate ones opinions based on new information. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. A learning process. I’ve engaged in enough shouting matches and verbal food-fights to realize when it is a waste of energy.
My basic position is left-libertarian-agnostic and there are certain core principles that I will not be swayed from. Therefore I stay out of debates in those areas; all I can contribute to such are clever insults that serve no constructive purpose, only gaining a few kudos from like-minded people. The ad hominum attacks only enrage the opposing side further and drives them deeper into their anti-intellectual belief system. I’ve learned now only to engage where I can come away with new knowledge or a refined position on a issue.

I’m way off topic here, for that I apologize.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land

I agree, at least in principle, but must take issue with your “thesis-antithesis-synthesis” approach to debate. It’s far too easy for one of those involved to take an extreme position in the expectation of moving the other(s) at least part-way toward their actual position. Other than that, I tend to agree.

“Left-libertarian-agnostic?” Never met one of those before. Hi! : D

I’m a bit hard to pin down that way, but I suppose it would be fair to call me a “right-libertarian-christian-leaning-science-accepting-humanitarian.” Good luck sorting all that out. Even I have problems with it at times! ! : D

@CaptainHarley I think most in a debating format can see when an ultra-extreme position is being used as a ploy. I wasn’t implying that such tactics be used or tolerated.

y a w n

@stranger_in_a_strange_land

I know, but I wanted to make that point.