Nice people, manners and flames.....

I've been working in the internet (if you can call early non-web CompuServe web in 1995) industry for over 12 years and although I, only now have time to really get into my own personal blogging, I've been a casual user of social media (although it wasn't called that back in 'the olden days') like early IRC, news feeds/readers, Forums etc and even had my own Worlds Away avatar (I think that is now used for that online Hotel - a sort of 2nd rate Second Life type. My point here is that I've been around I'm no newbie here and I need to make a bit of a point here about postings:

Why are people generally so intolerant of peoples views? I can understand debate. I can even see argument and correction as valid. Why am I so often put off community based sites and forum based media by the total lack of flexibility and allowance of others' opinions and statements?

I know that people generally can be like the posts flaming people I see daily - but one has to wonder if these people are like this in their off line lives? Really!

I think online forums and new social media sites that allow free comment are great - don't get me wrong, but - I think that people 'change' when they get on their keyboard in the same way people sometimes change when they get behind the wheel of a car.

The sweetest mild mannered person can change into an aggressive driver the moment they sit in the seat of a car. Maybe the posts that i find inflexible and frankly unnecessary are made by people that use the keyboard and monitor as a shield - but why can't we debate topics and offer our own opinion and even correct people whilst still remaining civil?

Maybe, maybe not - who knows?

I was looking at some YouTube videos of Neal Peart a day or so ago and the comments were the usual, 'Peart is the best drummer in the world' and others like it - but there were others that disagreed - but didn't just disagree - they flamed these poor people just for having an opinion.

I just wanna say one thing - 'CHILL'

:-)