On being rude ...

[Lil' Lavery]

I red dotted Foster's post, and I'd do it again to another individual who posted in the same fashion.

Was there useful information in there? Sure (though some of it was only half-true).
Was it also condescending and needlessly hostile? Absolutely.

Nothing in the post he was responded to warranted him insulting that poster. There are very seldom reasons to call someone an idiot on Chief Delphi (or imply they are an idiot, as Foster did). Certainly not expressing a viewpoint in the reasonable fashion the poster he was responding to did. It's fine to lay out the difference in perspective, it's not fine to attack someone for it.

To expand upon the wisdom of [paraphrasing] not saying stuff on Chief Delphi you wouldn't say to their face, you have to be even more selective on internet than you would be in person. I try to avoid posting anything here I wouldn't be comfortable e-mailing to my coworkers or boss. Any non-verbal cues you may give in person to convey the message you want are lost over the internet. You have to assume anything you write will be interpreted in the worst way possible. Even if you didn't mean to offend, if there's a possibility that your post can offend, it likely will. The rapport you have with another poster will not carry over to the general public, and considering you're posting on a public forum, think twice about leaning on that rapport to send the message you want. There are those out there who may take the wrong message away from your post.

I have a real problem with the groupthink and shutdown posts that get lobbed about here. "FIRST lifers" often likes to pile on to people espousing a particular viewpoint. In some cases (such as when a poster is bullying another team), it's warranted. However, it frequently isn't. It's not only applicable to Chief Delphi (it's worse on Facebook and elsewhere), but it's very present here. Instead of fostering a discussion to illuminate the misguided, people simply shutdown conversation and belittle those they disagree with. Posting a dead horse emoticon is not a sufficient answer to a question. Snidely saying another poster needs to use the search function or read the manual is not an inclusive approach.