> Theresa wrote:
>
> > OK, guys, I'm sitting in a corner, blasted, flamed, and
> > properly punished. Enough now, please. I never imagined the
> > depth of vitriol that would appear in reply to a conflicted
> > message about cats. Until I joined this discussion group
> > (December), which I now feel roundly isolated from, I had
> > truly never seen the numbers that were quoted.
> >


When I first began using the net I too was amazed at the seeming ferocity
of the discussions. Upon reflection, however, I realized that much of
the ferocity comes from the simple fact that the net involves
communication stripped of all the non-verbals cues.

If you were in the physical presence of the other speaker, you would
have a lot more information than the mere words -- for example, there
would be the person's tone of voice and body language. As a result,
what seems ferocious is in fact often playful. Furthermore, bluntness is
a virtue as long as it avoids the purely personal. The fact that a
person -- Theresa, in this case -- initiates a thread should not lead
anyone to think that the ensuing free-for-all is an attack on the
initiator.

dale goble
moscow, idaho

gobled at uidaho.edu