Image via WikipediaI really have to wonder sometimes about what motivates some people.Lately, I have been spending a lot more time on Twitter. As of right now, I am up to just under 1350 followers. Most of the people that I follow are individuals with similar interests as myself; conservative politics, blogging, family life, and autism. I also follow a few news outlets, businesses, and the occasional celebrity or athlete.
Most of the interaction that I have with folks on Twitter is fairly good natured and friendly. There is a lot of camaraderie in replying to other people's tweets and retweeting those things that you particularly like. Occasionally you might get into a decent discussion or debate with people who have differing viewpoints from yourself.
Every now and then though, you run across somebody whose soul purpose in being there is to harass and torment people. A few weeks ago, I had somebody reply to one of my tweets about Herman Cain. The person was somebody that I was not following, and they were not following me. I replied back, and the person responded with some derogatory comments attacking me and resorted to name-calling.
I took a look at the person's other tweets and discovered that this person was following a handful of conservative pundits like Michele Malkin and conservative news outlets. Every one of his tweets was attacking a tweet by a conservative, usually with name calling. His soul purpose on being there was to harass and insult conservatives. I decided at that time the individual was not worth my time or effort and block him.
Usually, I am not one to block people that I disagree with. There are a few visitors to this blog who have a decidedly more liberal or progressive viewpoint who visit and occasionally comment here, like Len from the First Door on the Left blog and Aldon from the Orient Lodge blog. Most of the time our viewpoints are diametrically opposed, but I welcome their comments and visits.
The thing with my differences between Len and Aldon is that we just honestly disagree on issues. They do not set out as their sole purpose to harass and ridicule others, but to legitimately respond with their point of view. To have a reasonable debate is one thing, but if your only reason for responding is to harass or ridicule, you are nothing more than a loser and a troll.
I haven't really gotten into the tweet thing yet. I always figured it was something for the younger folks. Think I should?
ReplyDeleteit doesn't hurt to check it out. I was lost when I first signed up for it. I let it sit for several weeks before I really started getting into it more
ReplyDelete