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[Tea Athrawes]

Has anyone else noticed the increased level of hostility on all of these boards?  What is the deal, are we all so stressed that we have to attack each other for the slightest thing?

I mean really, there is an amazing attack on CC profs, Tamian gets slapped around for word choice, student posters get flamed, and everyone, apperantly, is a troll.

I know, I just stirred a hornet's nest, but why all the growling at each other?

[Other Senior Prof]

Good Point, Tea . . . I suspect that it is the time of year where papers come in (late), where excuses come in flurries, and we're all realizing we didn't get to write our novel . . . again.

Add to that the usual December stresses . . .

Spring is only seventeen weeks away.

[anon]

I am just p****ed because some goof ball lost my beagle!

[You're a troll]

Tea,

I think you are a troll!

Just kidding. My guess is many have nothing better to do with their lives than flame and accuse one another of being a troll.

Perhaps they need to find a sig other, a job, anything!

[Billy Goat Gruff]

You're a troll wrote:

> Tea,
>
> I think you are a troll!
>
> Just kidding. My guess is many have nothing better to do with
> their lives than flame and accuse one another of being a troll.
>
> Perhaps they need to find a sig other, a job, anything!

Interesting question for speculation:  what percentage of posters on this forum are unemployed?

[Theatre Prof]

I also would be interested to see how many are unemployed on these boards...I was attacked for something I said a few days ago (under another name , I will admit). Good point, Tea...theatre people together!

[anon]

I'm employed, but as to the question regarding increasing hostility on these boards, I agree that it's simply a function of the fact that it's the end of the semester.  It's just that time of the semester when the stresses and strains of the semester have taken their toll.  Everyone will perk up by the beginning of January (hopefully).

[tamiam]

Eh. People are always picking apart what I say. I don't notice any more hostility lately than there has been since I started coming here. Some times it bugs me, mostly it makes me feel sorry for the nitpickers. I imagine I'm not the only one  who feels that way.

I just hope that people are more effective communicators in their face-to-face interactions than we all seem to be in our written ones. Mine included. My informal and friendly (dare I say "cool") personality apparently is lost in translation to the written word. I guess I just come off as flip and loose with the English language. It's a good learning experience.

And a great way to put off grading and prepping classes.

[Fiona]

The same complaint, about levels of hostility, comes up every few months here. Several people flounced away in a huff in July or so with the same complaint (some came sneaking back under other names, and we know who you are . . .)

If people are hostile, so what? It isn't like they control your salary or tenure or anything that'll really make a diff in your life.

Let them vent. It's about them, not you.

[%sig%]

[Prytania]

I remain Prytania.

[huffy people]

I rather enjoy the unvarnished opinions here. If I wanted the usual politically-correct answers of those walking on egg shells, I would solicit advice elsewhere. The anonymity certainly encourages gruff responses, but it also encourages bald truths undiluted by civility. I expect forum readers to give it to me straight here. Then again, maybe I've developed an exceedingly thick hide from all the years of being beaten down by grant and paper reviewers and don't notice a flaming response anymore when I see it.

[Cicero]

I agree with Huffy.