Music Forums & Politics
A Very Bad Mix
An Open Letter to Forum Administrators
Online discussion pages are one of the most interesting developments of our time. Through the miracle of modern communications technology we can meet and interact with others that share our interests with little regard for the constraints of time and space. From my easy chair I've contacted guitarists in Nepal, all over Europe and Australia, something that would have been virtually impossible even 20 years ago and now it's right at the fingertips of anyone with Internet access.
The online virtual-communities that have developed are far different from the communities of the real world. We never actually meet the people we deal with online and they exist mostly as a mental image of someone far away. It's easy to assume that they are just like us, but this is not always the case. Sometimes people that share one of our interests are quite different from us in other ways. They may experience life much differently than we do.
I participate in a number of guitar forums and enjoy them greatly. On some forums I'm one of the regulars while on others I've a new-guy living on the fringes and asking obvious questions. It's a good experience to be exposed to so much expertise.
One of the forums I visit fairly often has little restriction of the subject matter and while that is a good thing in many ways such freedom is bound to be abused at times. On this particular forum politically charged threads seem to spring into existence all too often and quite often they become heated. Occasionally, some members are known to become verbally abusive towards others with name-calling and insults being hurled.
I've never particularly cared for this sort of thing but I've tried to keep an attitude of live and let live with regard to such matters. Sadly, I've recently seen one of these situations become very ugly and I will present my point of view in hopes that someone may be helped in the future.
A member of one forum is a fellow with very serious heart problems. He's on a transplant list but no suitable organ has turned up yet. As a result he is medically retired and filling his days in part with online activities. During one particularly sanguine thread he was attacked with glee by a forum member that has a habit of being abusive towards anyone that contradicts him.
Probably with his heart problem in mind, he started a new thread informing everyone that he was going to stay away until the political nature of things calmed down. Predictably, the abusive person that had been taunting him weighed in with a political comment. The next day after posting this thread he had a major heart attack.
I'm not saying that his heart attack was caused by what happened online, there's no way to prove it either way. One thing is certain however, emotional stress can play a large role in heart attacks so I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility. I do know for a fact that he was somewhat distressed by the fact that his online haven had gotten so politically charged as of late.
I Said All That, To Say All This
When we are online we can't see the person we are talking to. We don't have a clue as to their body language or any of the other indicators that are present in face-to-face communications. All we really have is what we read. As individuals, I think it's very important to keep our posts as positive and friendly as possible. We can disagree without being insulting or using personal insults. For moderators it's good to remember that an online community is relying upon fair and reasonable moderation . . . including the removal of troublemakers. Online communities might be virtual communities but there are still real people out affected by what happens and they have the right to expect some degree of oversight from the people operating the forum.
Heal quickly Steve!
