Is it normal to delete/ignore nasty comments online?

71% Normal
27 Comments

I've posted here a couple of times before and once I noticed people making nasty comments on a particular post, I stopped checking that post and would delete all the notification emails without even reading them.
I do this for regular email, too. If I anticipate that an email is going to be unpleasant, which I can usually tell from the subject line or the sender, I just delete it without reading it. Same with texts.
I find that it saves me from arguing with people, since I'm naturally an argumentative person. Arguing causes me stress. It's just too tiresome spending my valuable energies putting people down who have insulted me. It saves a lot of unnecessary fights with people. Less conflict in my life is good.
Do other people do this too? If so, do the trolls realize that their words are just disappearing into e-oblivion without being read?

Voting Results
71% Normal
Based on 73 votes (52 yes)
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Comments ( 27 )
  • Shackleford96
    11 years ago

    Grow some tougher skin.

    You probably shouldn't play Call of Duty online either. Maybe any videogame for that matter... Lol.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      I'm a cancer survivor. I went through 12 rounds of chemo, radiation and surgery. In the one month they gave me PCA (patient controlled analgesic), I pressed that grey button three times. I'm as tough as they come.
      You are not as nasty as some of posters I've met but, like them, you make negative judgments without knowing anything about someone. It really is astonishing how often online posters peg a person as completely the opposite of what they're really like.

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      • q25t
        11 years ago

        First of all, congrats on beating the cancer.

        But...I don't think it's really the same thing. You proved physical toughness, not the psychological toughness that I think Shackleford is trying to get at.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          Every cancer survivor I've ever met says that beating cancer requires more psychological toughness than physical. You have to decide that you want to live. My father gave up. Now he's dead. Not that I'm saying that all people who die of cancer do so because they "give up". Not at all.
          The issue here is about avoiding arguments with nasty people, not about having skin too thin, metaphorically speaking.
          You don't want a skin too thick anyway. People who are impervious to criticism don't get the opportunity to improve themselves. Other people are the observers of our behavior. Clinton said that "our critics are our friends". There are constructive ways of criticizing people.
          The vote percentage of my post tells me that most people agree with me.
          The hilarious things is that the comments in this post have been a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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          • NothingxCrazy
            11 years ago

            I agree 100%. Cancer does take more mental toughness than physical. I wouldn't know first hand but I know if I were put in that situation I'd be a mess mentally.
            I do ignore trolls most of the time. Not even trolls, but the people who are just very judgmental and not open minded. It's not worth my time to try to talk to people who don't like to cooperate.

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      • TheGuruOfTheSauce
        11 years ago

        calm down surviving cancer doesn't automatically make you mature and strong willed enough to be unmoved by assholes seeing as making this post proves they got to you even after all your attempts to stay neutral

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      • Moonbow
        11 years ago

        A lot of people have health problems -- I do -- and even those who don't have problems of one kind or another. There is no way for anyone to "judge" someone from a few lines in some comment, so people say what they think. If you feel your psyche is so fragile that you will be harmed by negative comments, then saraw is right, you should find another site.

        However, I'm curious as to why you receive nasty private emails. What do you do to piss off people so much that they would actually take the time to send you a nasty email? I never receive nasty emails. Perhaps you're not as fragile (or innocent) as you would have us believe and just want attention.

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        • Angel_in_a_Glass_Dress
          11 years ago

          And the thing about nasty emails is that... you don't have to read them either.

          Come to think of it, you don't even have to give them a regular email address anyway.

          You may want to consider having multiple email accounts. The main one can be for people you actually want emails from, and then you can have alternates for things like job hunting, spam, websites like this.

          And if you have say, a junk email for sites like this... then you don't even have to open the email account. So if some ass-wipe decides to message you from here to harass you, it won't bother you at all. They'll waste time fixating on you, and you'll be enjoying life.

          =)

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        Negative comments are often as intelligent and insightful as positive ones. To learn, you need truth, and sometimes the truth hurts.

        If you want sugar coating, you don't want truth, and if you don't want truth why ask questions.

        Pandering to people's sensitivity is pathetic, grow up.

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      • NorthernStar
        11 years ago

        Well, Boo-Hoo!

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      • Shackleford96
        11 years ago

        Whoa, whoa, whoa! I take it back. I TAKE IT BACK! That is awesome that you survived cancer, and holy crap you are WAY tough! I can't say I would have been able to do the same with that dope button... I'm sure I would have pressed it many more times than just three for how much it sounds like you went through. Congratulations, OP.

        I re-read your post this morning, and I think it is completely normal/understandable. Looking back at my original comment, I WAS a little hasty to judge. Sorry about that.

        I have done the same thing on some comments when it comes to ignoring them though. Sometimes, anymore, I just don't have the time/energy to make an argument with someone and even if I did, they might not be worth arguing with in the first place. When that happens, I usually just let it go.

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      • BoyOhBoy
        11 years ago

        Negativity blows. Ignoring it helps maintain a positive outlook, and gives you that bit of ignorance needed to believe in the human race =]

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      • justsomekidfromcanada
        11 years ago

        You're a cancer survivor. You sound like a strong person. It seems like you're comfortable with who you are, so why would Shackleford's comment bug you? I agree with him. Don't let things get to you so easily.

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  • VioletTrees
    11 years ago

    As long as the posts you're deleting are ones that are actually insulting, abusive, or offensive, rather than just posts that disagree with you, that seems very healthy to me. You aren't letting people suck you into their bullshit, and I respect that.

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  • saraw
    11 years ago

    There are a lot of idiots on here. I deleted my post too. I suggest you find another site.

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  • scumfuck
    11 years ago

    weak.. i hate people who do that

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  • myweirdself16
    11 years ago

    I do that too. I have anger issues and don't want to get pissed off at someone on the internet that doesn't like my opinion.

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  • Sailor_Cosmos
    11 years ago

    There is nothing wrong with ignoring trolls on line, however if you regularly avoid conflict in real life that could be a bad thing.

    Sometimes we need to argue with people in our lives to get our emotions out and most importantly to communicate with them. It is normal to have disagreements with people but avoiding conflict wont make it go away. In fact it can sometimes make it worse. Always make sure you address problems with the people in your life so they dont fester and cause resentment.

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  • sega31098
    11 years ago

    I only deleted a few comments that were racist, or provoked violence.
    Anyways, if the bad comments get thumbs down, I'd prefer to leave them up as defaming tools.

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    • Moonbow
      11 years ago

      How the hell can someone be "violent" on an internet message board?

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      • sega31098
        11 years ago

        As in stuff like "Let's lynch this group".

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  • Retard73
    11 years ago

    lol wat a fagot

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  • BlueJeansWhiteShirt
    11 years ago

    I personally don't do that but it's a very good idea.
    It's a good idea to avoid negative people trying to start pointless arguments. The majority of the time, it's not needed.

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  • dude_Jones
    11 years ago

    A heartfelt encouraging response is worth more than a thousand nasty comments. Look for the good people, they make this site worthwhile.

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  • davesumba
    11 years ago

    if you can't take the heat, then stay out of the kitchen. and you don't have to argue with people if you don't want to......

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  • ToxicCrayons
    11 years ago

    I'm not effected by nasty comments. I read them and laugh.

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  • Angel_in_a_Glass_Dress
    11 years ago

    i don't post questions here myself but on other message boards (or chat rooms) where i can delete comments or manually ignore people, i usually don't bother - except for spam and extreme assholes.

    why? because I can mentally ignore stuff pretty well.

    that way, say... if one of my friends says something stupid or horrible on facebook, instead of getting in a message-fight or even responding on it... I just mentally ignore it and move on.

    basically the end result is that the messages are still there and i can read them if i choose - i just choose to direct my eyes elsewhere without response.

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