Apocalypso
Posts: 1104
Joined: 4/20/2009 Status: offline
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I'd broadly agree with you LP. A few more categories I'd add. As Malkinius has said, there are situations with the potential for extreme danger, where I think it is sometimes acceptable for me. Also, for me, there are people who I am so close to as a friend that I consider them to have the right to give me unsolicited opinions on my personal relationships. That's rare though. Currently, there are two people in my life in that position. And, even there, part of the reason they have that right is because I know they'll drop a subject if I tell them to. There's a slightly larger number of people who will take that from me. That would pretty much be it as far as offline goes. Online, it gets a bit more complicated. If people post something asking for advice, or even outlining their personal situation, they're absolutely inviting people to share their opinion. And while the initial post is theirs, the following discussion isn't. And they certainly have no right to complain that people aren't giving them the advice or opinions they want. Some of the more grey areas, with at least tentative opinions on them. Does someone have the right to respond with a different point than the one the initial post was requesting opinion on? Mostly yes. As long as it isn't completely unrelated to the topic at hand. People are to be expected to 'read between the lines' with this kind of thing. Is it ok to draw on previous posts by the OP when responding? Difficult one and mostly contextual. Posters don't have a clean slate and it's unreasonable to expect others to act as if they do. If someone has posted ten threads about different relationships over a year, all with the same content, it's valid to take that into account. But, sometimes, I think it's tempting for people to do this in a way that isn't actually relevant. At the extreme, there are very few cases where it would be legitimate to bring up someone's postings in P&R if they're posting in General BDSM. Is it ok to bring up information from outside the forum, whether from other forums or real life? Probably not, although it's unrealistic to not expect people to have those preconceptions when that's the case. Unless you know someone's bullshitting, particuarly at someone else's expense, in which case it's the lesser of two evils. Is it fair to expect the original poster to give information they're choosing not to, whether more details or an update on their situation? (Which is obviously relevant to this, at least if I've guessed correctly on one of your inspirations for this thread). No. Ask if you want. But people getting all whiny and butthurt if it doesn't happen is a bit pathetic.
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If you're going to quote from the Book of Revelation, Don't keep calling it the "Book of Revelations", There's no "s", it's the Book of Revelation, As revealed to Saint John the Divine.
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