Why do we make those muted into martyrs?
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Original Post
Whenever anyone is muted, there is always an outcry, never an agreement. People are all 'oh but this person was always so nice and helpful to me' and can't seem to believe that that person would ever do anything worthy of muting (and seemingly, leading them to the conclusion that admin's decision was senseless).
Nice and helpful people, even people who generally get along, are still completelly capable of muteworthy nastiness under certain circumstances.
We are all in control of and responsible for our own actions, and if we speak nastily to another person, knowing the consequences, we get what we deserve. Nastiness, whether seemingly justified or not, is still nastiness and as such, is in direct violation of the TOU.
But instead of lamenting human nature to lash out, instead of loving the person despite understanding that they did wrongly, we seem to embrace a black-and-white, hero-or-villain mentality.
Then there's the MutedBabe avatars. All you have to do to have one is get muted, and BAM suddenly you're this hero for 'sticking it to the man'? People generally get muted for being jerks. If a muting is genuinely undeserved (I fully acknowledge that occasionally this happens, and it's wrong) then the MutedBabe image and sympathy that goes with it is entirely appropriate (I support one or two MutedBabes myself). But the providers of those avatars don't seem to make any distinctions.
P.S. This is a general discussion, NOT about any one muted person. Please remember this, so we can discuss the matter respectfully, and without a lock.
Posted at 10:39am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
Responses
if we speak nastily to another person, knowing the consequences, we get what we deserve. Nastiness, whether seemingly justified or not, is still nastiness and as such, is in direct violation of the TOU.
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This is not the only reason people get muted. That's why.
Posted at 10:41am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
Some people get muted because they say the things that need to be said that the rest of us are too wimpy to say.
Posted at 10:42am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
BrightCircle says: People generally get muted for being jerks.
True. Also, mutings don't really seem to come out of the blue, there is usually a fairly well established pattern of bad behaviour.
I also don't understand why people are lauded for being mean to others.
Posted at 10:43am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
Again, people don't only get muted for being "mean."
Posted at 10:43am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
It does also seem that the larger community supports the mutings.
The support for those muted comes from others who have been muted in the past or have been lucky enough to get away with not being muted yet.
Posted at 10:44am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
Hmmm...I have toa gree that people don't always get muted for being mean.
Posted at 10:45am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
SugarcubeDesign says:
Some people get muted because they say the things that need to be said that the rest of us are too wimpy to say.
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It seems to me that it's not that clear of a situation. When that happens I believe that it's not what they're saying as how they're putting it--in a rude way.
Posted at 10:46am Sep 8, 2008 EDT
Your charactarizations of why people get muted were certainly not accurate in my case, or in the case of many others. I was NEVER mean to anyone.
Posted at 10:46am Sep 8, 2008 EDT