The internet is more censored than the pub

[mattyman]

I just want to report that some of the things that are taboo to bring-up on most forums have come-up in pubs and also in backpacker hostels, relatively openly and with people my age.

You are not allowed to bring-up the fact that stuck-up, hard-to-talk-to, scowl-faced women outnumber the nice girls. You are not allowed to bring-up the fact that too many girls have a default attitude that most guys outside their circle are stalkers or creeps unless proven, and that girls that do not harbour this attitude are part of the minority. You are not allowed to make comparisons between countries on most forums, such as the degree to which this fact is less true in a nice Spanish city vs. a working-class UK town. It's observable and valid to anyone. On most forums, doing so puts you in the firing line for all sorts of labels, yet in some of my local pubs, this is almost common knowledge and has come up in conversation fairly naturally.

The question is, why on the net are people so quick to throw labels around and censor people's opinions (or valid observations)? Why is it that on the net people are so badly looking to, and are so quick to acuse you of something, rather than trying to relate to where you're coming from? Is the net a repository for idiots? Is it a repository for assholes with a chip on their shoulder who only prop-up their ego by trying to one-up others?

Then again, I suppose the internet is a different dynamic from a pub, or from backpacker hostels. At least you get to know people on some degree in the real world and it's easier to make judgements as to what to bring-up than it is online. Still, much of the internet is informally heavily censored.

I don't like the 'manosphere' forums, they have opinions that genuinely are a bit extreme. To be fair, they're just as bad for political correctness and lack of free speech (in inverted form), they're equally quick to lable and shout-down people who disagree with them as 'mangina', in the same way as mainstream forums are to label people 'misogynist' or 'sexist'. Same childish-quality of debate.

I wonder whether one of the reasons they're putting tax on beer is an attempt (half-hearted at that because people still go to pubs without drinking) to discourage people from going to the pub and exchanging information freely by word of mouth? There are many, many much more serious issues than what I've brought-up that cannot be talked about in most mainstream forums without some asshole shouting you out and getting you censored that are common conversation topics in pubs, especially amongst the older folk.

[Jester]

Is the net a repository for ... assholes with a chip on their shoulder who only prop-up their ego by trying to one-up others?

So it seems.

Good observation, good post.