Opinions

Read an article about a woman who posted a pic of one of her kids in a playpen. Apparently, she was inundated by nasty comments from folks who objected to playpens. This is just the last in a long, long list of such incidents. This is what I think:

We should all turn off the 'comments' section of our blogs, etc. It's true that everyone is entitled to an opinion. And quite a few folks have opinions about stuff. It doesn't necessarily follow that they should share their opinions with other folks.

When did that start, anyway?

What if the only way an individual could share his opinion was to write a separate status/blog/article? Think about how many negative feedbacks would never be posted. Most folks are too busy or too lazy to actually write a detailed rebuttal. Imagine all the negativity that would be eliminated.

When it gets down to it, most people really aren't looking for a dialogue. They just want to state their opinion, maybe share information, or provoke the thought process. And most comments (If there are any) don't add much to the initial post. All too often, they say things like LOL or I agree or Me, too! In fact, we would probably be better served with a Like or Dislike button and move on with life. For those who really can't make up their minds, we could add an Ambivalent button. That would cover all the bases and maintain civility at the same time.

Imagine how difficult it would be to generate a mass reaction to political or social issues if every single person of like mind had to write their own rebuttal post. No more riding on the coattails of the original poster. What if they had to compose a coherent reply with supporting facts or evidence?

I blame Twitter with it's 140 character limit. And texting. We've gone from a society that was relatively educated to a culture of acronyms and incomprehensive text speak. We have uncivil opinions that are written in incoherent, badly spelled, ungrammatical prose. Insult on top of insult.

I believe there would be far fewer opinions shared if all of them had to be done via e-mail and personal messaging. And a lot less negativity would taint our lives...