So,
I'm on Digg last night and up comes an article about how PETA kills animals. I read it. I'm shocked. I read more. I'm shocked and suspicious. The page obviously has an agenda but I wonder what the facts are. I google the topic. I read more. I go to PETA's page to see what they have to say for themselves. I type "peta kills animals" into their search box. a thread comes up in their forum. I read it. it's long....
like any thread, lots of people say a bunch of stuff without really listening to each other so they say the same things over and over again. it's late and i'm tired, so my judgement is somewhat impared. I think, "ooh, i should reply to this with my two cents; that would be a great idea." I start writing my response....
Three hours later, I've written a rambling essay many times longer than the longest other post on the thread....
I'm an asshole.
for the play by play:
http://www.peta.org/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5260&whichpage=1
I'm down on page 4. Some people actually responded to my post, which surprised me since the discussion had been basically dead for a while; I had mainly written it for myself because I feel I don't write enough lately. I'm pretty happy with the comments, both good and bad. the good ones i'm happy about because, hey any praise is nice, and also since the main poster, Annie, who's questions kept going unaddressed, gave me props.
i kinda like the bad comments, too, since none of them address what I was saying at all. both negs say my post fails basically by not providing solutions! It's clear from what I wrote that I didn't intend to provide solutions (so I wonder if they really read my post); I was just trying to clarify the issue at hand since the two sides seemed to be talking past each other. The fact that my post has evidently changed the dialogue to one about solutions is actually pretty awesome, I feel. :)
Also,what a strange criticism to level at someone's post in a forum: "This large organization is doing something some people are worried about. Your post has not provided a solution." Wat?
The whole thread is about people asking for info about whether PETA kills animals, how many, why, and whether that's okay. One side says, "the animals are sick. peta is doing the best thing for them." the other side says, "yeah, very likely, but it seems that too many animals might be being put to death. perhaps there is a better way for some of those animals." the first side puts it's fingers in its ears and shouts what it said before more loudly. I break down the issue for the first side. the first side responds with, "Ah, but you haven't fixed PETA's problem."
To which my mental, unsent response is basically, "Right you idiots, I fixed YOUR problem of missing the point. I certainly can't fix PETA's problems by posting in this thread! You expect me to know here in my pajamas what the People for the Ethical Treatment of (fucking) Animals should be doing differently in order for animal lovers the world over to feel assured that the company is doing the right thing by all the super messed up animals it sees? Really? That's your criticism? That's not my department, that's the department of, well, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. My department is just to point out that, in fact, the numbers are troubling and have not been effectively dealt with so far by your replies."
Man, it's tough work being an Internet Troll. I don't think I could do this full time. It is somewhat satisfying, though....
I'm on Digg last night and up comes an article about how PETA kills animals. I read it. I'm shocked. I read more. I'm shocked and suspicious. The page obviously has an agenda but I wonder what the facts are. I google the topic. I read more. I go to PETA's page to see what they have to say for themselves. I type "peta kills animals" into their search box. a thread comes up in their forum. I read it. it's long....
like any thread, lots of people say a bunch of stuff without really listening to each other so they say the same things over and over again. it's late and i'm tired, so my judgement is somewhat impared. I think, "ooh, i should reply to this with my two cents; that would be a great idea." I start writing my response....
Three hours later, I've written a rambling essay many times longer than the longest other post on the thread....
I'm an asshole.
for the play by play:
http://www.peta.org/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5260&whichpage=1
I'm down on page 4. Some people actually responded to my post, which surprised me since the discussion had been basically dead for a while; I had mainly written it for myself because I feel I don't write enough lately. I'm pretty happy with the comments, both good and bad. the good ones i'm happy about because, hey any praise is nice, and also since the main poster, Annie, who's questions kept going unaddressed, gave me props.
i kinda like the bad comments, too, since none of them address what I was saying at all. both negs say my post fails basically by not providing solutions! It's clear from what I wrote that I didn't intend to provide solutions (so I wonder if they really read my post); I was just trying to clarify the issue at hand since the two sides seemed to be talking past each other. The fact that my post has evidently changed the dialogue to one about solutions is actually pretty awesome, I feel. :)
Also,what a strange criticism to level at someone's post in a forum: "This large organization is doing something some people are worried about. Your post has not provided a solution." Wat?
The whole thread is about people asking for info about whether PETA kills animals, how many, why, and whether that's okay. One side says, "the animals are sick. peta is doing the best thing for them." the other side says, "yeah, very likely, but it seems that too many animals might be being put to death. perhaps there is a better way for some of those animals." the first side puts it's fingers in its ears and shouts what it said before more loudly. I break down the issue for the first side. the first side responds with, "Ah, but you haven't fixed PETA's problem."
To which my mental, unsent response is basically, "Right you idiots, I fixed YOUR problem of missing the point. I certainly can't fix PETA's problems by posting in this thread! You expect me to know here in my pajamas what the People for the Ethical Treatment of (fucking) Animals should be doing differently in order for animal lovers the world over to feel assured that the company is doing the right thing by all the super messed up animals it sees? Really? That's your criticism? That's not my department, that's the department of, well, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. My department is just to point out that, in fact, the numbers are troubling and have not been effectively dealt with so far by your replies."
Man, it's tough work being an Internet Troll. I don't think I could do this full time. It is somewhat satisfying, though....
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