Is there 'Hate' in our forum? (Austin, Pflugerville: neighborhood, live, restaurant)

[joedtx]

Hate is strong word and I struggle to find a word to describe what I see too often on the board. Personally I lurked on the board for quite some time before joining. My concept of this board is centered around 'helping' others by providing insight, local information or just positive insight about our local community.

Scenario 1:

Question: "Is there too many (insert targeted offensive term, ie, religion,sexuality,political party ,etc) in this part of area 'Y' " ?

Response: "Yeah in my experience all of area 'Y' is nothing but full of (insert offensive rebuttal) just stick to area 'X'


Scenario 2:

Question: "We are considering moving to area's 'A,B & C' we are coming from area 'Z' any suggestion about these communities are appreciated."

Response 1: "Avoid area's 'A & B' (insert offensive laden rebuttal) area 'C'
is the only place to be (response 1 is not even from the areas mentioned)

Response 2: 'Quote Response 1' "Yeah areas 'A & B' is full of (Negative Political remark) types.

Well you can imagine every response that follows will be a series of personal attacks. I'm discouraged thinking about this. What must other's think of how we conduct ourselves in our community. I don't comment often on this board but I offer what little I can from a positive perspective to our future friends, and neighbors or just anyone needing a helping hand.

I feel fortunate to have researched this board carefully before moving my family to an area filled with unknowns about so many things and am grateful to many who do so much to 'fill' in the blanks with 'factual' information rather than just there personal 'feelings' on why it's the worst place on earth. We love where we live and I am thankful to those who helped shape that decision.

I really feel that there are certain individuals who 'target' their responses and questions with a specific intent on creating anger amongst the contributors. It's discouraging but it reminds me of those age old words of wisdom that mom's say "If you don't have something good to say then don't say it at all".

[centralaustinite]

Huh? I don't really see that at all. for the most part, I think that this particular board is pretty friendly and as a whole fairly reliable. Some commentators have their hot button issues or predictable responses . . . if you think that there are offensive remarks or personal attacks, just click that little caution sign in the far right corner and report the post.

I'm chuckling at your status . . . Austin is not known for its Italian food, you are going to be searching for quite a while!

[Bo]

If you see personal attacks, please do use the button and report them. That's an issue for a moderator to address.

Posting negative comments about a place is not against the rules of City-Data. If the comments posted about the place are ridiculous or excessive, that might be trolling. Trolling is a judgment call for the moderator to make, so please use the triangle button and don't call it out in the forum. Calling another member a "troll" is considered a personal attack, so always discuss trolling privately with a moderator.

The best course of action to posts with opinions about a place that you disagree with is to post a reply with either a clarifying question or some facts that show the opposite is true.

This can be particularly helpful in threads started by newcomers, seeking information about where in Austin to relocate. Let the newcomer see that there is not universal agreement that Neighborhood X is the best part of the city, while Neighborhood Y is to be avoided. That is the best way to help a newcomer. Where newcomer threads are concerned, it's much more important to be helpful than to be the winner of the argument.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

How can we determine motive of "hate"?

I think the "hate" in this forum is bred out of insecurity in most cases. Moderator cut: off topic/personal. Some people move to Austin because they believe it will make them a better person in some way, and when that doesn't happen, they can't handle it - so they validate themselves by saying that "the other people" are bad..

[graygray]

I don't think that's hate. many responses are not politically right, but are truly sincere suggestions. People have different opinions. Isn't it very normal that a single topic can develop into heated discussion, or "attack"? You just pick the information you need, and that's it.

Originally Posted by joedtx

Hate is strong word and I struggle to find a word to describe what I see too often on the board. Personally I lurked on the board for quite some time before joining. My concept of this board is centered around 'helping' others by providing insight, local information or just positive insight about our local community.

Scenario 1:

Question: "Is there too many (insert targeted offensive term, ie, religion,sexuality,political party ,etc) in this part of area 'Y' " ?

Response: "Yeah in my experience all of area 'Y' is nothing but full of (insert offensive rebuttal) just stick to area 'X'


Scenario 2:

Question: "We are considering moving to area's 'A,B & C' we are coming from area 'Z' any suggestion about these communities are appreciated."

Response 1: "Avoid area's 'A & B' (insert offensive laden rebuttal) area 'C'
is the only place to be (response 1 is not even from the areas mentioned)

Response 2: 'Quote Response 1' "Yeah areas 'A & B' is full of (Negative Political remark) types.

Well you can imagine every response that follows will be a series of personal attacks. I'm discouraged thinking about this. What must other's think of how we conduct ourselves in our community. I don't comment often on this board but I offer what little I can from a positive perspective to our future friends, and neighbors or just anyone needing a helping hand.

I feel fortunate to have researched this board carefully before moving my family to an area filled with unknowns about so many things and am grateful to many who do so much to 'fill' in the blanks with 'factual' information rather than just there personal 'feelings' on why it's the worst place on earth. We love where we live and I am thankful to those who helped shape that decision.

I really feel that there are certain individuals who 'target' their responses and questions with a specific intent on creating anger amongst the contributors. It's discouraging but it reminds me of those age old words of wisdom that mom's say "If you don't have something good to say then don't say it at all".

[joedtx]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

How can we determine motive of "hate"?

I was reluctant to use the word 'hate' I simply was searching for a word to describe the negativity 'targeted' comments of some of the forum responses. It's one thing for someone to say an area is not suitable for this and that valid reason it's completely another for one to spread fallacy's with broad verbal malicious strokes painting an image dotted with vile and simply untrue commentations. btw OTMGFP you are a positive voice on this board but then so is everyone quoted here..

Moderator cut: off topic/personal

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Huh? I don't really see that at all. for the most part, I think that this particular board is pretty friendly and as a whole fairly reliable. Some commentators have their hot button issues or predictable responses . . . if you think that there are offensive remarks or personal attacks, just click that little caution sign in the far right corner and report the post.

I'm chuckling at your status . . . Austin is not known for its Italian food, you are going to be searching for quite a while!

Truthfully I don't look at the other boards. I typically will review the threads and comments in our board to learn a little more about our area and see if there is something I can contribute.

Yeah I was sooo bummed when my favorite Italian restaurant 'Bella Luna' closed in Pflugerville....the search continues!

[Bo]

Some posts were edited and deleted above. While I appreciate and sympathize with the intent to understand and find common ground with posters who dislike places you like, drawing inferences about why members post the way they do is potentially insulting in almost every case. Don't go there. IMO, we've taken this discussion as far as it can safely go without venturing into insult territory. Thread closed.

Even though the thread didn't get very far, it was productive. Please see the posts that remain and in particular, my post above for advice on how to address the situation with posters that appear to "hate" Austin.