Facebook Fighting
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Boys and Girls,
Children of all ages...
Club SEBU would like to present to you the heaviest of Heavyweight Championship matches of all time...
This bout will take place in the only place that would make sense today...the comment section.
In one corner we have the user who has made a comment regarding a topic...Yes, that's all it takes to start one of these battles.
And in the other corner, we have the user who disagrees wholeheartedly.
Let's get ready to rumble...
The interesting thing about these battles is that by the time the comment section has surpassed the 10 reply threshold, the entire point is completely lost.
It's kind of like the game Telephone that we used to play in school, when the substitute teacher finished the lesson plan way earlier than expected.
The only difference is that on Facebook, you can go right back to exactly where the confusion started just by scrolling up to clarify any issues...
Given the reality that a lot of these comments aren't thoroughly read, and most responses are personal opinions that have finally found a platform to be expressed, miscommunication is a mainstay of these comment section war-zones.
While indulging in some of these Facebook Fight episodes, I've noticed that there are usually one or two main points that are not being fully addressed or detailed. If they were discussed, the fight probably would have never even started.
Also regarding those same points; if they are fully addressed and detailed, and neither party chooses to acknowledge them, the entire battle becomes sheer entertainment for me and readers like me.
Do you see where I am going with this?
I am in favor of speaking your mind...I do that from time to time...
But let's be real here...the dynamics of these discussions are far from effective.
There are some people that find security behind the keyboard. Commonly known as "Twitter Fingers", as referenced by Aubrey Graham, these users use the comment section as a place to cause a riot, or to get under people's skin. These users are often the most aggressive in their comments. We will refer to them as 'Trolls".
Then we have another side....
This other side consists of users who aren't here for the games. The danger when these two mesh is that the ones who are not interested in going back and forth may take the Trolls virtual punches personally, and choose to retaliate with physical responses. We will call these users the "Real Ones", because of course, they are about that action. A computer screen may not be able to differentiate which is which.
For starters, let's take a look at some of these equations, and see how they typically pan out...
--
Trolls v. Trolls
These battles are probably the most comical. Both parties use personal attacks to drive home a point that has clearly been lost in translation. These are the posts that reach well over 50 replies in very little time. Some users will be refreshing their pages rapidly, to get their comment in as quickly as possible. The responses usually get out of hand, and the original poster may regret stating their piece...that is not the case, if the original poster is a habitual Troller as well.
Trolls v. Real Ones
These encounters are very different in their makeup. Typically those who are "about that action" don't really have much to say. They may discuss coordinates on where to find them, or contact a direct line, such as a phone number. Trolls must be careful in this situation, because the Real Ones may go dormant on Facebook...but you must understand that the battle is not over. These comment sections have far less replies, and you may see the Troll commenting several times in a row. This is generally because the Real One may have had enough typing for the day and would like to solve things in a more substantial face to face interaction.
Real Ones v. Real Ones
These rarely happen. These will be settled outside of the social media realm. No audience needed.
--
It is important to understand that the theatrics of Facebook do make for entertaining moments, but do not solve much of anything. Considering the comment sections are so divisive and really aren't focused on the actual issue, they just become ranting sessions in which those who believe us cosign, and those who don't agree with us find people who cosign with them, making it a new age "He Said, She Said" argument.
Maybe Facebook isn't the best forum to have these discussions, especially if there is no real intention to take in anything that someone else is saying.
If Facebook is the only option, let's at least stay on topic. Take the extra second to read what was written, before writing a paragraph questioning something that has already been answered. It will reduce the amount of frustrated readers (me), confused readers (myself), and sometimes angered readers (I).
On second thought, those readers will probably still tune in for every episode anyways, so I guess you may be doing something right...
But remember, not all attention is good attention. It may seem like it, but everything comes full circle, and everybody screenshots conversations.
Stay calm and relax before you post. You might not feel the same way in 5 minutes...
And if you do, I'm sure there is someone who you could call or text who would serve as a better audience than me and the hundreds of other comment prowlers.
Until next time,
Long Live The People
Boys and Girls,
Children of all ages...
Club SEBU would like to present to you the heaviest of Heavyweight Championship matches of all time...
This bout will take place in the only place that would make sense today...the comment section.
In one corner we have the user who has made a comment regarding a topic...Yes, that's all it takes to start one of these battles.
And in the other corner, we have the user who disagrees wholeheartedly.
Let's get ready to rumble...
The interesting thing about these battles is that by the time the comment section has surpassed the 10 reply threshold, the entire point is completely lost.
It's kind of like the game Telephone that we used to play in school, when the substitute teacher finished the lesson plan way earlier than expected.
The only difference is that on Facebook, you can go right back to exactly where the confusion started just by scrolling up to clarify any issues...
Given the reality that a lot of these comments aren't thoroughly read, and most responses are personal opinions that have finally found a platform to be expressed, miscommunication is a mainstay of these comment section war-zones.
While indulging in some of these Facebook Fight episodes, I've noticed that there are usually one or two main points that are not being fully addressed or detailed. If they were discussed, the fight probably would have never even started.
Also regarding those same points; if they are fully addressed and detailed, and neither party chooses to acknowledge them, the entire battle becomes sheer entertainment for me and readers like me.
Do you see where I am going with this?
I am in favor of speaking your mind...I do that from time to time...
But let's be real here...the dynamics of these discussions are far from effective.
There are some people that find security behind the keyboard. Commonly known as "Twitter Fingers", as referenced by Aubrey Graham, these users use the comment section as a place to cause a riot, or to get under people's skin. These users are often the most aggressive in their comments. We will refer to them as 'Trolls".
Then we have another side....
This other side consists of users who aren't here for the games. The danger when these two mesh is that the ones who are not interested in going back and forth may take the Trolls virtual punches personally, and choose to retaliate with physical responses. We will call these users the "Real Ones", because of course, they are about that action. A computer screen may not be able to differentiate which is which.
For starters, let's take a look at some of these equations, and see how they typically pan out...
--
Trolls v. Trolls
These battles are probably the most comical. Both parties use personal attacks to drive home a point that has clearly been lost in translation. These are the posts that reach well over 50 replies in very little time. Some users will be refreshing their pages rapidly, to get their comment in as quickly as possible. The responses usually get out of hand, and the original poster may regret stating their piece...that is not the case, if the original poster is a habitual Troller as well.
Trolls v. Real Ones
These encounters are very different in their makeup. Typically those who are "about that action" don't really have much to say. They may discuss coordinates on where to find them, or contact a direct line, such as a phone number. Trolls must be careful in this situation, because the Real Ones may go dormant on Facebook...but you must understand that the battle is not over. These comment sections have far less replies, and you may see the Troll commenting several times in a row. This is generally because the Real One may have had enough typing for the day and would like to solve things in a more substantial face to face interaction.
Real Ones v. Real Ones
These rarely happen. These will be settled outside of the social media realm. No audience needed.
--
It is important to understand that the theatrics of Facebook do make for entertaining moments, but do not solve much of anything. Considering the comment sections are so divisive and really aren't focused on the actual issue, they just become ranting sessions in which those who believe us cosign, and those who don't agree with us find people who cosign with them, making it a new age "He Said, She Said" argument.
Maybe Facebook isn't the best forum to have these discussions, especially if there is no real intention to take in anything that someone else is saying.
If Facebook is the only option, let's at least stay on topic. Take the extra second to read what was written, before writing a paragraph questioning something that has already been answered. It will reduce the amount of frustrated readers (me), confused readers (myself), and sometimes angered readers (I).
On second thought, those readers will probably still tune in for every episode anyways, so I guess you may be doing something right...
But remember, not all attention is good attention. It may seem like it, but everything comes full circle, and everybody screenshots conversations.
Stay calm and relax before you post. You might not feel the same way in 5 minutes...
And if you do, I'm sure there is someone who you could call or text who would serve as a better audience than me and the hundreds of other comment prowlers.
Until next time,
Long Live The People
Comments
Post a Comment