I know this is the Internet, but...

[Yeata Zi]

1-800-OMG-STFU

Yeata Zi

1-800-OMG-STFU

Yeata Zi

the_true_iori

1-800-OMG-STFU

What gives you the right to be so judgmental? I know, I know... Anonymity and nobody will know who you are, but damn, show a little decency and respect.

You and your bigotted "friends" are not the only people who come here to enjoy themselves, and you just might be, you know, affecting their ability to enjoy this site. Yeah, yeah, you don't give a s**t.

So... Spoons:

What are some of the most bigoted and judgmental things you have witnessed on Gaia? Careful about your choice of language though! ninja

Do you notice that people judge you based on how your avi is dressed, items you use/buy for it, forums you post in, or other personal preferences you have?

I realize that this happens all over the Internet and Gaia is not unique, but do you find that it happens more or less here than on other forums/Internet handouts (excepting places specifically created for this purpose. We won't go there)?

Do you think the Gaia mods and admins do a good job of policing/preventing this sort of behavior?

Do you think that you might have done this sort of thing before, even unintentionally?

Are there places on Gaia that you avoid because this sort of behavior is worse there than elsewhere?

The constitution gives me the right to be so judgmental. Technically it gives me the freedom to be so judgmental but it's almost the same thing.

I don't have to be a decent person nor do I have to be a respectful person. In fact, you imposing your beliefs upon me is far worse than any opinion I could hold and/or show. If you take offense to something that I or my friends (btw, 'bigot' is an offensive term and you shouldn't toss it around lightly) do or say why don't you tell them about it and see if you can reach an understanding rather than whining about it on a message board to a bunch of people who aren't involved in an attempt to garner sympathy from them? Have you ever considered that by not being able to say or do what I want MY enjoyment of the site may be compromised? Why is it that you being able to enjoy yourself at the expense of my enjoyment is alright but not the reverse?

It's been a pretty long time since I've been on Gaia but this topic strikes me as entitled and judgmental while also holding onto that false sense of righteousness and indignation that so many 'activists' use to justify their attempt to violate the rights and freedoms of others.

People usually don't judge me based on my avatar, at least not to my knowledge. Generally they judge me based on my communicated thoughts or actions. Interestingly, this is actually vital to the survival of any society so I'm not sure why you seem to be using the term 'judging' with such a negative connotation.

As I have mentioned, I have not been on Gaia in a long time so I lack the expertise to compare the amount of judgments that occur here versus the amount of judgments that occur in or around other online communities.

Yes, I have judged people. Many times it has been intentional. For example, based on your post I have already made a rather unflattering judgment on your beliefs, developmental level and how much I like you on an overall level. I think perhaps a better question is 'does anyone believe that they have never judged a person online before?' or, if you wanted to appear less cynical, 'is there anyone here who hasn't judged a person online before?'.

i don't mean to be that guy, but your constitution argument irks me.

Gaia is not the united states of america. Gaia has its own set of laws called the Terms of Service.

The constitution shouldn't really play in here. You know, unless gaia was like oppressing us or something.

I don't know why this bothered me, but it did.

Back to your regularly scheduled discussion.

Actually, the ToS IS kind of like a Gaia "constitution" in a way, if you think about it. But yes, we are not subject to the US Constitution here. The owners and admins are completely well within their right to make their own rules and governing "laws" that would dictate how we are to behave in here. If the Constitution held sway, cyberers would not be banned because that is also a form of "free speech." xp

Yup and I could say "MOTHER ********" on neopets.

Yep, too true. The "constitution" arguement is weak.

3nodding very weak.

[Deliacroix]

Wow, look at all of the downvotes. How typical.

People are just judgmental. They don't care, plain and simple. It's the internet and they think that they can do whatever they want and treat anybody like crap.

[Bleeding Apocalypse]

People are judgmental because they want to feel better about themselves in general. And the easiest way to feel better about one's self is to find the faults in others and think, "At least I'm not like YOU."

More than anything on this site, even more than judging people on their grammar... I see a LOT of anger that can be directed on a person for their taste in music. Gold shop only avatar? Item set avatar? That user will not get NEARLY as much hate as a user who will openly admit to liking pop music by, say, Justin Bieber or whatever. My God. The pure ignorance that comes out of people's mouths when musical preference comes into play is astonishing.

It's like if you don't enjoy a certain genre of music and shun another, you're a knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing idiot that should be kept from reproducing at any and all costs.

[1-800-OMG-STFU]

Bleeding Apocalypse

People are judgmental because they want to feel better about themselves in general. And the easiest way to feel better about one's self is to find the faults in others and think, "At least I'm not like YOU."

More than anything on this site, even more than judging people on their grammar... I see a LOT of anger that can be directed on a person for their taste in music. Gold shop only avatar? Item set avatar? That user will not get NEARLY as much hate as a user who will openly admit to liking pop music by, say, Justin Bieber or whatever. My God. The pure ignorance that comes out of people's mouths when musical preference comes into play is astonishing.

It's like if you don't enjoy a certain genre of music and shun another, you're a knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing idiot that should be kept from reproducing at any and all costs.

Oh dear lord. All I can do is +1 this. xd

Music forums anyone?

[the_true_iori]

Yeata Zi

i don't mean to be that guy, but your constitution argument irks me.

Gaia is not the united states of america. Gaia has its own set of laws called the Terms of Service.

The constitution shouldn't really play in here. You know, unless gaia was like oppressing us or something.

I don't know why this bothered me, but it did.

Back to your regularly scheduled discussion.

Well I appreciate you telling me that my argument irks you. Unfortunately since my points are all valid and you seem to be operating under misinformation I am rather unwilling to retract any of my points.

Additionally, you realize that countries other than the United States have a constitution yeah? Maybe you should check your nationalistic biases before you make uninformed statements?

Additionally, because Gaia is run and maintained by the united states it IS actually subject to the laws of the US constitution. That is why child pornography is not allowed, because even if Lanzer decided that he would really like to look at some small children engaging in sexual acts with one another, he would not legally be allowed to do so on Gaia. The fact is that the constitutional laws and freedoms that govern the facility where a website is maintained also apply to that website. In some cases that doesn't even need to be true (eg: Megaupload).

But even ignoring the [many many MANY] constitution that give us as human beings rights and freedoms, nowhere in the ToS of Gaia does it say 'you are not allowed to judge others'. In fact, the avatar, art and writing arenas are areas of the site SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR JUDGING. the upvote/downvote system is also used for this.

So perhaps I should have restated my claim as: "The constitution, the Gaia Terms of Service and the features of the website itself give me the right to judge". In the future I shall respond to posts in this topic as if I were communicating with a four year old since that is the highest relative amount of coherence and understanding that I have JUDGED you to be capable of.

Normally I would chastise you for completely ignoring the substance of my point in an attempt to nitpick a small detail that upsets you (despite the fact that it is a completely sound point and that you are wrong) but you did seem to recognize this when you made your initial point so I suppose I'll let it slide.

1-800-OMG-STFU

Actually, the ToS IS kind of like a Gaia "constitution" in a way, if you think about it. But yes, we are not subject to the US Constitution here. The owners and admins are completely well within their right to make their own rules and governing "laws" that would dictate how we are to behave in here. If the Constitution held sway, cyberers would not be banned because that is also a form of "free speech." xp

Minus the part where that is entirely untrue you are correct. The terms of service are inherently governed by the constitutional and state laws. This is actually explicitly mentioned in the ToS. You may want to actually read it before you start making stupid claims.

[Azavezel]

The more personally affronted the individual, the more judgmental and caustic they tend to be.

[LadyLazarus-Wyrda]

Yeah, the whole world is judgmental. And very, very rude. The thing is, you just learn to get over it, eventually. I first joined Gaia about two years ago, but stopped using it for a year because of all the pricks. I remember this one guy in particular who was making rude, inappropriate jokes about a woman's picture someone had posted. I didn't have much practice in controling my temper back then and it just didn't turn out well. But I've done a lot of growing up since then and now know how to handle myself around jerks like that. As for people judging me personally--well I just don't give a damn what other people think. If someone doesn't like me, then that's their problem, not mine. I'm sarcastic, brazen, and opinionated, and that bothers some people, but I like who I am, and that's all that matters. Deal with it. 3nodding

[Dexigone]

The majority of the internet is filled with extreme liberals. They shove down s**t as much as the extreme conservatives.

[a I e x a n d e]

Soundholic

Dood, I was lurking around when I found someone who wouldn't let unattractive (Ugly/Fat) people speak to them. I put them into my ignorelist a second later, no lie. It also made me laugh because, how would they know that whoever they're speaking to is ugly or fat? If it was a, "Joke," I think they should never attempt or even think about doing stand-up comedy. Ever. Unless they wanna get booed off the stage. There was also this imbecile who wouldn't allow females to voice their opinions on getting more "Manly" items on Gaia, and dismiss them in a degrading manner. Most of the females were supportive too. Ah, but it seems like he's lost access to his account/Gaia due to all those reports. lol

I know you may not want to answer me, but I'm just wondering why you took me off your friend list.
Is it because I'm annoying as of recent?
Anyways, sorry if I inconvenienced you. I haven't really gotten on and talked to anyone either.
Sorry about not talking to you for so long, also.

[Sabin le Rose]

I blame the atheists really.

[Esper]

People who have just plain out, hatted and used malicious words and comments just to make you feel bad about something that's ether none of there bissness, that or are just doing because of of something that's has nothing to do with with it.

[castigat ridendo mores]

Himemiya Neko

Everyone judges people.
The least judgmental person still judges people.
It's human nature.
Even going "Hey, that guy has an interesting avatar, wondering if he likes _game_" is judging.

Everyone has a right to do it.
It's just the approach some people take that is bad.

So yes, people will judge me by my sig, profile and avatar.
Do I care? No.

This x about a billion.
You can try your hardest to not judge, but it's not going to work. Some people just--see, right there, I'm judging. rofl

[jettisoned corpse]

I usually judge things that tend to be "typical" or bullshit, like:

- double standards
- hypocrisy
- stereotypes
- selfishness
- entitlement
- homophobes
- sexism
- racism
- ignorance
- arrogance
- babies

Actually screw it, this list would go on forever. I'd rather just make it short and simple and say: I hate the majority of people and society, and it takes a lot for an individual's personality to impress me to find them a decent person. I'm very anti-social.

I do tend to judge people (on Gaia) by the way they present themselves because it gives you an idea of their personality (not always). Certain groups do tend to come off a certain way. That's how stereotypes and hate for "groups" is formed. Obviously not everyone from a group (or looks like they're from a group) will fit the cookie cutter mold, which is why I will judge people by a case by case basis and let them speak for themselves.

On Gaia though, total turn offs for me are:

- Overly cute bubbly girly avatars
- Very stuck up rich elitists
- Individuals who like to take advantage of other people's misfortunes/mistakes and show no remorse or care about it (example: mispriced item scenarios).
- Popular/Oldbie/Rich users who act like they're something special and important by ignoring people they feel are beneath them.

Though honestly, I think most of the things I listed here are things most people hate.

[Deadly Tv]

If you let people put you down over a game then what are you doing with yourself man.Dont ever take things to heart over the game its not worth it.People judge all the time over anything cause 1 their probably ashamed of themselves or just do it to spite people.2 If you let this get you down then you wont make it through life cause their is worse people than that.But take my words into thought cause next time it happens I wont be there to back you up

[Commander Sigma]

Bleeding Apocalypse

People are judgmental because they want to feel better about themselves in general. And the easiest way to feel better about one's self is to find the faults in others and think, "At least I'm not like YOU."

More than anything on this site, even more than judging people on their grammar... I see a LOT of anger that can be directed on a person for their taste in music. Gold shop only avatar? Item set avatar? That user will not get NEARLY as much hate as a user who will openly admit to liking pop music by, say, Justin Bieber or whatever. My God. The pure ignorance that comes out of people's mouths when musical preference comes into play is astonishing.

It's like if you don't enjoy a certain genre of music and shun another, you're a knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing idiot that should be kept from reproducing at any and all costs.

It's really frightening how music is almost like a religion to some people. eek

I hate the phrase "bad taste in -blank-" because often times it's just a more pretentious way of saying someone likes something another person doesn't like. If someone finds something they like in Justin Bieber or whoever else, then they like it and that's all that matters.