Internet tip of the day:

[conuly]

For crying out loud, if you want somebody not to respond, try not responding to them first. Definitely do not respond with "go away and stop responding to me" or any variations thereof. That never works.

Signed, somebody who is constitutionally incapable of going away and not responding to people.

(Honestly, I know better, but it's like I black out and the next thing I know, there's another response posted.)

Comments

[plicease]

Do not respond to me. And whatever you do, do not throw me into that briar patch.

[conuly]

I was so tempted to actually not respond, but in the end, I got sucked into the whirlpool. Again. Curse you!

[ex_inklessej388]

This conversation is over. I have nothing more to say, please stop responding to me.

[conuly]

*trying hard to resist the urge to reply*

FAILING.

[ex_inklessej388]

I GET THE LAST WORD HERE regardless of stating that I was done.

[conuly]

Okay, if you say so.

[ex_inklessej388]

Last word I said. Haha.

[conuly]

Nope.

[ex_inklessej388]

Listen, something, something Hitler. This conversation is over, good day to you!

[conuly]

Well, I do like my dogs. Gasp! Maybe I am just like Hitler after all!

[smile_n_cuddle]

LOL!!! Note to self? :)

[conuly]

Happily, I am smart enough to never be the one going "DO NOT REPLY TO ME!"

Sadly, I'm the one who replies anyway.

[sabraka]

Oh, you just gotta have the last word do ya?! XD

[conuly]

It's an affliction.

[elf]

It took me a long time to figure out that many of the people who get into intense, sometimes vicious arguments online, do not like that, and are honestly clueless about how they keep finding themselves in such arguments.

Is like they expected to be able to wade into an ongoing discussion, yell at everyone they think is gone, and then vanish. Oh, and reply to everyone who responds to the yelling with "I am done! Quit talking to me!" ... as if other people were obligated to follow those instructions. (Sometimes people did, but they kept discussing it among themselves, and they'd jump back in to say, "this topic is OVER!")

Years. Took me years to sort it out. I mean, I get that there are people who get into arguments in person and don't like it, but online, all you have to do is... not post. Nobody's able to physically grab your shoulder or yell in your face or follow you and demand that you read their posts.

[conuly]

This one is even sillier than the usual. And I share my fair amount of the blame, so I won't link to it, but... sheesh.

[lunadelcorvo]

*snorfle*

[conuly]

Yeah, it's all fun and games until you find yourself shaking over what has got to be literally the stupidest flame war you've ever found yourself in.

[lunadelcorvo]

I hear ya. I've gotten into some of the dumbest discussions...one person spent like a dozen or more tweets on how I was clearly an idiot about WWII history b/c I collect fountain pens... o.O

But I do know the feeling; I find that it is easier for me to simply say "I am done with this conversation, and an now blocking/muting/turning off notifications/ whatever. Then I do it, and I don't go back and peek. So they can blather on all they want, but they and anyone else reading knows they're only talking to themselves....

For what it's worth, anyway. *hugs*

[oracleofdoom]

Yes! When I'm done with a conversation, I stop reading their replies. I've learned to do this for my mental well-being.

[conuly]

Definitely the smart way to do things.

[dorchadas]

I'm much more free with the block button than I was in the earlier days of the internet. The benefits of being online is that I can edit people out of existence from my perspective. If only I could do that in meatspace.

[lunadelcorvo]

OMG, yes!!!! LOL

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I definitely hear you, but there is a simple hack for that. Drop the mic and walk away; resolutely refuse to go back and read whatever they may write after that, because it will only piss you off. So what if that means they get 'the last word'? They're talking staircase-wit to the wind, because you're already gone, and will never know what they said.

There are people who are constitutionally incapable of not having another drink. They know better, but it's like they black out and the next thing they know, they're covered in puke again. However, they are not constitutionally incapable of resolutely refusing to buy alcohol or let anyone else buy it for them.

I leave communities where I tend to get into arguments. I stop commenting to journals where someone on the person's friends-list likes to pop out of the peanut gallery to give me shit. I don't figure it's anyone's job to control their friends' behavior, but neither do I have to enable rudeness, stupidity and illogic by engaging with it, so I say my piece, click out, and never return to that thread. I don't get comments through e-mail, so am spared the bother of having to delete them there.

"Oh noes, someone is WRONG on the Internet!" Yes, yes they are; but that is not your problem. It doesn't matter a damn what they want - if you don't want to respond, then don't keep reading what they write.