Sometimes something sticks in my craw. Lately it is the use
of foul, vulgar and abusive language in titles, posts and social media posts. I
know that some claim that the freedom to use such language is freeing, even
empowering to them. This argument holds little weight, as I am one of many who intentionally
do not read or engage with images, posts or statements framed with vulgar language.
It seems strange that those wishing to make, what are often
interesting and relevant contributions to a discussion, would frame their
opinions in such a way as to alienate some of the very readers they wish to
communicate to.
As a community have we come to a place where intelligent,
polite and contentious debate cannot happen without such expressions that have
no inherent meaning to the discussion at hand?
These musings are not coming from someone who never engages
in swearing, certainly when in pain or surprised my language choices stray to
offensive words.. What I am
addressing, however. is the intentional use of such words to gain attention. Somewhere
in the back of my mind I suspect that those who engage in such writing feel
their writing will not receive the attention it deserves unless they have the shock
value of meaningless and disrespectful expletives.
So that is my Old Guy rant for today. What do you think?
In Service to the Goddess,
10 comments:
I personally do not censor my writing on the off chance that it will alienate a reader; to me that point holds little weight. If a reader cannot deal with what I'm writing or with which words I choose to use, then that probably isn't a reader I'm interested in reaching. Just as I'm not afraid to fire a difficult client as a designer, I've no problem with people not reading my content just because they don't like "vulgar" language. I keep a small group of high quality friends, clients and readers. I do that by being honest and authentic, and letting the chips fall where they may.
Peter,
You miss my point, there is no "off chance" Individuals "will" react with negative thoughts about such writing. Why exclude some of the best minds in the community just to use shock language?
Expletives are like salt, If used in the right quantity and recipes they can greatly enhance a statement, Its just to bad that we dump an entire salt shaker on everything and call it well seasoned, when in truth, Expletives and disrespect on-top of that is being used to replace substance.
And although I have little room to talk on this subject. I would say that we do need to cut back on the disrespect as a culture.
Me, I write the exact same way I talk, and the way I talk depends on who I'm talking to. If I'm writing in a casual tone, like chatting with my friends, there might be a few "sentence enhancers" and my casual slang, including pronunciations, thrown in. If I'm writing in a more professional manner, then I dig up a thesaurus and use those 25c words. (And yeah, I check myself on grammar, spelling and punctuation, too.)
Here, I'm just posting casually, so I don't feel the need to be all professional-like. But out of respect for ya, I held back a word I would have otherwise used.
(Oh, and you'd HATE my garbage men. I post tidbits of their conversations on my Faceypagez whenever I hear them. Every third word is the F-bomb, and of course, they're talking over the garbage truck, meaning everyone in a 20 yard range can hear them. It's so pathetically sad it's hysterical!)
Wow what is going on here, I find myself agreeing (mostly) with Scurvy, LOL
Lori, thanks for the comments!
I have a mouth like a marine, exponentially worse the more tired I am. That being said, I also recognize when and how words have power. Generally, when I am trying to make an intelligent and provocative argument I will do my best to be succinct, literate, and intelligent. Profanity is gratuitous in such situations.
OTOH, sometimes it is exactly what is needed to shock people into actually listening to what you have to say.
Depends on the audience, I suppose.
I didn't miss your point at all. You and I disagree on the certainty to which all people "will" react with negative thoughts using such words in our writing. You write that everyone will always have that reaction. I don't think that's the case, and every football coach will probably back me up, lol. Peace, joy, and laughter, Peter.
PETER, I in no way believe "all" people will react. In fact I avoid absolute determinates as they are dishonest in nature. To be clear, I believe, with some evidence that some people will react to posts in this way.
Blessings
Always good to have your input Jen
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