anybody else sick of online meanies?

 

What I meant was - what does a sticky-out tongue actually mean? - really - what does it really mean? In the UK it is a sign of insolence and rudeness, not a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card for a rude comment.

 

I don't disregard it in the slightest - quite the opposite in fact - it is the simple recognition of that limited context that results in the restraint, that the freedom to express myself within those confines has specific limitations set by the medium and the forum in which that medium operates. The multinational nature of the Internet also plays a contributing factor in to what I can say and how I say it - what passes for sarcasm and wit in the UK is not the same as in the USA or other parts of the world, what is innocuous to one culture is highly offensive to another. The context is not the restricted nature of having to convey meaning by mere words alone, but that the readers of those words are not of the same culture and background as myself - that the context is far broader than I would ever experience IRL and the interpretations of what I write are more often taken as literal since they deeper meaning will get lost in translation.

 

Without regard to context it is the anonymity of the internet that makes people think they can get away with saying what they please without regard for others and I take that into consideration when I read any drivel typed into a post by nondescripts who once read a book without pictures and think they understand the whole wealth of human experience as a result of it. Little of what anyone can mash onto the keyboard is going to offend me, not because I am especially thick skinned, or exceptionally forgiving, but simply because whatever insult that person can put together tells me more about them and their character than they will ever know of me.

 

However, while I cannot claim perfection, I do strive to refrain from making such posts myself since I am aware that some of the things I type through the tears of laughter are not always interpreted exactly as I typed them, because, even though I know that I can say a hurtful thing and tag a :-þ on the end of it to make like a joke, that deep down I really meant it and the recipient may know that too.