Re: personal attacks

Subject: Re: personal attacks
From: Barry Lockard <barry -at- BGS -dot- COM>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 12:57:48 -0400

>Fellow techwr-lers:

>In the couple of years that I've been on the list, I've found myself
>astonished from time to time by vitriolic personal attacks. Calling this
>"flaming" is, in my view, only a way of softening the fact that these are
>direct personal attacks.

>Ask yourself if you would say the same things to a person's face. If not,
>why say it here?

>It all reminds me of graffiti. Go anywhere, and you'll see names, initials,
>and other messages written, scratched, and carved on surfaces. What that
>tells me is that whoever felt compelled to deface something with his or her
>name has no common sense and no sense of self.

>Flaming - attacking a person who expresses and idea, rather than attacking
>the idea itself - is a little like graffiti. It's inane, and it's something
>people only do when they don't have to face you.

>Before you attack someone, ask if you'd do it face to face. If not, don't do
>it via e-mail either.

>If you don't like my ideas, say so. You don't know me, and you can't comment
>intelligently on who I am or what I am.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Thom Remington remingtf -at- engg -dot- dnet -dot- dupont -dot- com
>DuPont External Affairs
>Information Design & Development
>http://www.dupont.com
>http://www.concentric.net/~remingtf
>Speaking for myself, not for DuPont.

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Thanks for your statement, Thom. I agree with you completely.

Barry

*************************************************************
Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the
wrong words. - Mark Twain
*************************************************************

TECHWR-L List Information
To send a message about technical communication to 2500+ list readers,
E-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send administrative commands
ALL other questions or problems concerning the list
should go to the listowner, Eric Ray, at ejray -at- ionet -dot- net -dot-



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