Must.. Resist.. Urge.. To post

[Steeple]

I post too much for my own good. It's almost funny because people call their very popular/common opinions (calling pronouns "special snowflake" things) "unpopular", positioning themselves as underdogs when in fact..... that's not the case. at all.

Because ive been out for a while now, and i can only think of two time in meatspace when someone actually learned and respected my pronouns, and one of them was trans. Everyone else, they told me "they" was wayyyy too hard and weird to do and made fun of or dismissed me. That's just with an old pronoun. That's why i never feel safe enough to reveal my true pronouns irl. At least online i can control who i hang out with, feel safe enough to be myself.

Anyone who says that mocking nonbinary language is an "unpopular opinion" is full of s**t.

[zaade]

- - -
Never compromise, even in the face of Armageddon

I don't care how unpopular my opinion is. If I want to say what I think, I will.
Zaade don't mind a good forum-rumble.
Even if I end up being wrong. It's happened.

Now, I can kinda understand the mentality of "Don't bother speaking up, it won't change anything. It's an unwinnable argument." And being too lazy to bother arguing. In real life. But this is the internet. And not posting because you're afraid others will say you're a bad person is just cowardly.
- - -

[Dlin]

These free and open forums are for discussion and opinions, even if those opinions aren't popular. There will always be someone who will find a way to disagree with an OP in a way that is provocative, regardless of the topic- and we all know there are those who will do this deliberately as a way to keep a discussion lively or entertaining for themselves.

I tend to post only if I think it can add to a discussion and maybe get interesting responses. If I'm angry or upset, I try to make myself get up, step away from the computer and go do something else for a while until my sense of humor or perspective returns. There is little point in getting upset over anonymous opinion based posts, even if it is on a subject that is close to my heart.

That said, I think it is healthy to see these opposing opinions. It is important to know what people are thinking, even if I don't agree with them or think they are outright wrong. You can't fight ignorance if you don't know what form it's taking.

[hiimbeary]

- Yes, not often though.

- I think I resist more often than I give in.

- I avoid most arguments/debates. Last time I tried participating on a controversial topic (not on Gaia, by the way) the person I was talking to just started making fun of my screenname, so I stopped posting in the thread. Calling him out on it wasn't going to get me anywhere and I had already made my point. Of course it's possible to have a calm discussion, but for me it's not worth my time to risk running into people with that attitude.

- Not necessarily, I think it's fine to be passionate about things.

- Yeah, definitely. Especially if it's a topic that I'm not knowledgeable on, I like to know what others have to say.

[Purgatories]

Most of the time I lurk, read other people's posts and move on.
A handful of times I feel the need to actually voice my opinion, and it's probably because it has affected me in such a way that I cannot contain it.
People do debate and reply sometimes, and fine - we're all entitled to our own opinions and can agree to disagree but I despise it when someone tries to discredit your own views. It's my opinion, you can't tell me that what I think and feel is wrong because your own opinion is at odds with mine. Otherwise it's a lot of tongue biting and teeth grinding.

[Obsequious Minion]

I have a hard time restraining my bad opinions.

And I don't mean "unpopular"

I mean genuinely bad and mean. Like "Everyone who dresses their avatar like this is a sheep with no imagination" or "this color is s**t and anyone who likes it has s**t taste" or "This artist is the worst thing to happen to gaia" (I have actually said all of those things, by the way)

I have been better about it lately, and I've learned not to resist posting altogether, but to put my opinion in a less nasty way. But I'm weak. And I'm still really pretentiously nasty about color. lol

I find myself resisting posting altogether in REALLY overdone threads (like Hidden Equipped List threads) just to avoid saying the same thing over and over. Like it's a topic that I find entertaining and I often skim those threads for drama, but I have to stop myself from posting in them unless a new idea is brought to the table.

[Catena Carswell]

I stop myself from posting on topics that I realize I haven't actually thought about thoroughly, or to my satisfaction. And in topics where it looks like anything I'd want to say has already been said by someone else.

I don't really fear getting shade for my opinions. I feel like I've definitely gotten better at expressing myself methodically and logically, over the years, and as long as I'm satisfied with what I'm communicating, that's all that matters.

Anyway. It's all just opinions. More than that, it's opinions of total strangers on the internet. The amount that it doesn't affect my life is vast and towering. And opinions, much like assholes, can in fact be objectively wrong.

[aine21]

I lurk more than I post, mainly because I often don't feel like I have a strong enough opinion on the matter or other people have already expressed my opinion (and often much more eloquently than I could), so there's no need. I tend to avoid life issues as there have been times that I've been lambasted for my opinion just because it doesn't fit with the vocal majority of my faith. I've learned that anytime you set forth in the world of politics and religion, people get pretty worked up and often are too stubborn to consider anything outside what their party or religious leaders say on the subject. I'm this way irl as well... it's just a waste of my time and energy to argue with someone who refuses to even listen or consider another point of view and is just so dead set in their ways. I live by the adage "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". Sadly, I know people who try beating the horse into drinking. lol The only time I've actually chimed in on a life issue is when it came to the subject of abusive relationships and this theory that the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast encourages females to look for such relationships. Having been in an abusive relationship, I obviously have a very strong opinion on the subject. But yeah.... I try to avoid it, because while there are those who CAN have an open mind, sadly there too many who don't and will get nasty and personal.

[koolknight]

So I have a philosophy that if i may have a negative thought or a different one from everyone else I wont let it keep me back just because I want to open eyes to something that might actually make sense or may make people think about things... (if that ramble made sense)

[Scobre]

Honestly I just want that 10K post achievement so I'm going to post. xd Whether someone agree or disagrees with anything I post, I couldn't care less. But happy to know a fellow friend came from the modthesims community. I really love that community and site and Sims games. I mean if people want to label me with silly labels, so be it. I love the z!F and it's my home base on Gaia. Plus it's really funny when people try to label me in the GC versus non-GC squabble because I generally watch videos for GC. Either way if GC is spent, Gaia is going to get it, so what does it matter? But I'll probably be a lot less active on the site while zOMG! is down since playing with friends with that game is the only reason why I want to log on. If Gaiaonline gets to be too much, I just log onto Recolor.me or Facebook or Aura Kingdom or LOL or pogo or play Sims 2. So many options to choose from to keep me happy. biggrin Also sorry I tend to have the tendency to type a lot, bad habit of mine. Honestly I'm impressed if anyone can read any of my posts.

[Junnov]

I always post. If someone writes something that I disagree with or something where they are trying to offend a specific group of people. I will always post.

I don't think there is a time where I won't post. =p