When in Rome - Was: Re: : Tanstaafl / - and his attempts to educate

[Guest guest]

On 2010-03-07 1:01 PM, KGR wrote:

> But when one is expressing some normal matter like MMS, health

> issues,testimonials, etc. putting in caps, can not be accepted as

> " shouting " in spite of the so called convention in internet, because

> it is devoid of the negative emotion set against anyone.Expressing

> thro Capitals are rather a 'Convention' than an 'experience'.

What a waste of time and effort ... I was going to ignore all of the

silly complaints about my horribly mean assault on 'the one who shouts',

but this comment of yours is just so ignorant I had to respond.

Oh - and before anyone complains that I am 'calling someone names' - I'm

not. There is nothing wrong with ignorance, in and of itself. I am

ignorant of many things, and I certainly don't take offense when someone

points out something that I'm ignorant of - indeed, I thank them

(assuming of course they were correct). *Deliberate* ignorance, however,

is one of the worst sins, and, I'm sorry to say, one that many people

engage in with gusto.

Consider the saying 'when in Rome'... but then, total disregard for the

customs of other cultures is a typically American trait - its a wonder

we don't get kidnapped and/or 'disappeared' more often when traveling in

foreign countries.

The fact is, all caps is considered shouting in all cases in the context

of email and web content, regardless of how you *personally* may feel

about it. Period. Get over it.

When you go to a foreign country, it is best to learn something of the

local customs and etiquette and act accordingly. The same goes for going

online. If you refuse, you *will* be confronted, sooner or later, and

sometimes not so pleasantly. So, if you plan on continuing to ignore

proper netiquette, don't be surprised when someone points out your error

- and trust me, on some lists, your time there will be very short lived

if you refuse to listen/learn.

I wasn't mean about it. I simply and politely asked whoever it was not

to shout. If that is enough to drive someone away or make them refrain

from posting out of some 'fear' of being 'accosted', then I submit to

you that *they* are the one with the problem - they need to grow up,

grow some kahones, and stop walking around with their heart sitting on

their shoulder just waiting for someone to walk up to them and knock it

off, because it *will* happen.

All that said, the bottom line is, whether or not proper netiquette is

to be flaunted and ignored on any given email discussion list is totally

up to the owner(s) of the list. Now, the day the list owner/moderator of

a list I'm on (including this one) declares that all caps posting is

just fine and for me to shut up about it, I will either just ignore all

caps posts from that point on (and most likely kill file the addresses

of those doing it), or if it gets too irritating, I'll unsubscribe. You

see, I'm perfectly willing to live according to the rules of Rome - but

only while I'm there.

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