I was once banned from some forums for being "too weird to fit in". It was a forum for a forming WoW guild prior to its launch in 2004.
I remember that it somehow crushed my quirky personality, and I became a bit of a drudge as a result.
Although I still game, and sometimes online, I've never since tried to actually fit in with any group, and have mostly stopped communicating when gaming at all. No voicechat, only chat, and even that very limited. I guess you could say the single experience changed my outlook and enjoyment of online gaming forever.
Online gaming is fun. It just sucks if it turns into all of the bad parts of high-school. I was doing MMOs before WoW and we weren't ever the popular kids. Once wow came out and it became mainstream I probably took a 10 year haitas. Back at it now but things have chilled out quite a bit.
Oh it happens all the time. The worst thing, in this case, is that you don’t even need to be Ukrainian to have such an opinion — people demonising an entire population deals in absolutes which are never a black/white situation, unfortunately
Nobody wants to think of the guy in the latest drone video as the father of a 6 month old who'll never know their father because he was drafted by an authoritarian government to fight in an unjust war. I'm sure a lot of those Russians are full on board with the war, but I'm certain a lot of them aren't, too. Same reason people have such a hard time empathizing with both the Oct 7 victims of Hamas and the Palestinian people. It's horror enough thinking of these things as good vs. evil...it's so much worse when you see all the grey. As an American, I can't help but see Israel making the same mistakes we did after Sept 11. I'm sure they feel the same rage and fear I felt then, and I imagine it's making them blindly lust for revenge just like I did. It's all just so fucking bleak how easy it is to convince ourselves that our enemies aren't people.
As someone who grew up playing control decks in trading card games online... So many death threats from actual adults lmao... That being said, thanks to that now I don't even see anyone who throws death threats, or wishes harm on people online as human beings. Has been great for disconnecting emotionally from overly aggressive people online as an adult now.
Most of then were misgendering me. Let me say this one more time. I. AM. NOT. A. GIRL. I've never been a girl. I'm not even a transgender woman. I was assigned male at birth, and I identify as male.
Now that I think about it, I should change my legal name.
I meant the fact that my real name "Imrane" (a male name) looks too similar to "Imane" (a female name). Just the absence of the letter R makes people think I'm something else entirely.
And I used to use my real name on social media until about a year ago. I guess that was kind of on me.
I have a girls name and my last name is a very popular Asian female name too.
My entire life I get misgendered on phone, email, chat. It’s not a big deal. Hell, it can be an advantage - I’ve gotten more than one job interview because they expect a woman.
Oh man, I think it's the 'e' at the end of your name, which in a bunch of Romance languages would make it feminine. If it's any consolation, solid men's English names like 'Lindsay' and 'Ashley' are almost exclusively women's names now for the same reason. (The "-y" or "-ie" marks a cutesy diminutive version, i.e. "bird" to "birdy".)
I don't think it's the similarity to "Imane" (unless this is happening in your home culture) because I have never heard of that name before. However, I have seen "Imran" and I would have assumed that "Imrane" was the feminine version because of that 'e'.
Nope, that is not the case at all. A lot of Arabic names tend to be written with an E at the end in countries that experienced colonialism from the French, just to match French phonetics. I happened to be taught to spell my name this way.
I've been sick for a really long time, and I finally got diagnosed with Lupus, based on blood labs and symptoms, but the rheumatologist I'd seen was a jerk, so I asked in the reddit Lupus sub if what I'd experienced was OK, or if I should find a new doctor. Well, the mod decided that I didn't really have a diagnosis, because they didn't understand what I'd said, and kept DMing me to tell me that I didn't have Lupus, and shouldn't be receiving treatment for it. I know I shouldn't listen to randos on the internet, especially a Reddit mod, but it made me scared that I wasn't going to finally get the help I so desperately needed.
My doctor has continued to help me, and I'm very thankful that the idiot power-tripping mod was wrong, but it really messed me up for a few weeks, and it still bothers me that someone who runs a support group for a serious illness uses it to try to have power over vulnerable people, just to make themselves feel better. And reddit lets them; you can't block mod-mail, so after asking multiple times to be left alone, I finally got mad and swore at the mod, so they reported me for harassment, and reddit baned my whole account for 3 days, even though it was clear who was being harassed, because it was all there in writing. I have never been back to reddit, and I don't miss it at all.
Well, the mod decided that I didn’t really have a diagnosis, because they didn’t understand what I’d said, and kept DMing me to tell me that I didn’t have Lupus, and shouldn’t be receiving treatment for it.
Ignore it, if you can. 99% of the people on the internet (and real life, sadly):
Don't pay attention enough to understand what you said/asked.
Assume that their life experience applies to everyone else on the planet.
Thank you, and yes, you're right. That's why I don't post about things that will upset me, I was just desperate for some advice and support for the terrible disease with which I'd just been diagnosed. I (stupidly) assumed I could be relatively safe posting in a sub specifically dedicated to supporting people with a disease, but even the leader of the group can't be reasonable, which is really too bad. I've acclimated to having this disease now, and I'm confident I can get the help I need, so I know I won't be bothered by the opinion of an ignorant internet person anymore. But I'm obviously still bitter enough to complain about it somewhere else lol.
You meant “a better place” metaphorically. They understood this, but jokingly took it literally. Denver is indeed a better place than “bumblefuck Arkansas.”
I posted a picture of myself on reddit asking for hair advice. My head was turned somewhat to the side so my nose was in profile. Someone felt the need to tell me I had the ugliest nose they had ever seen. I never really noticed the shape before that, but now in my mind's eye it's huge, crooked and has a hook.
A decade later I was getting a septoplasty to repair damage from an assault, and I asked the surgeon if he could remove the hook in my nose. He looked at me with the most compassion anyone ever has, and asked me to point out the hook in the mirror. It was the first time in all those years I finally saw my real nose. It's actually pretty cute, I don't know what that commentor was smoking
Not from a person. When I was younger I took an online personality test. Nothing from a reputable source, just some random pop psychology thing. The result was short and had a few things on it, but one line hit me like a ton of bricks: "You don't like people who aren't as smart as you."
I was incredulous at first, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it was probably true at some level. I was pretty horrified by this realization, and I ended up thinking about it a lot and doing a ton of introspection. I knew I was smart, but I started acknowledging that there were also a ton of things I was terrible at. Whenever I had intrusive thoughts about a person I thought wasn't very smart, I tried to think about things they were good at or at least acknowledge privileges I had that they didn't.
We are a product of our experiences, and different people have different skills and aptitudes for things. All of that is ok and doesn't make someone better than anyone else. I'm not perfect at it, but I found some value in confronting uncomfortable truths about myself.
I’ve performed and conducted more interviews than I can count. I was once asked a question that stopped me cold. “You’re clearly an intelligent person. How do you manage stupid people?” My mind reeled. At first I thought he was being insulting, but then realized he’s not identifying anyone in particular, just assessing my ability to lead people who are stupid. It’s still to date the toughest interview question I’ve been asked.
After some uncertain smiles and stumbles, I said with patience, high support, and high direction. It was awkward, and not without some rambling.
Since then I’ve realized when I’m having difficulty conveying a complex idea to someone who may not understand, I tend to break the idea down into smaller components. I also often use analogies to help connect a concept to one the listener already understands.
I’ve thought about answering that question again on many occasions. I’m just glad it was a mock interview. lol
The truly hard part is detecting when the person you're talking to doesn't understand. Too many people pretend they understand when they don't and are too embarrassed to ask questions.
Deeply? No, but you try and be funny or helpful and sometimes it offends someone because they read it a certain way (text can be ambiguous) and that can ruin a day for me. No good reason, mind you, but they can get really mean about it and what, do I apologize or fight? You didn't exactly want to clarify for a jackass coming after you for no reason.
I'm also not highly fond of people when they correct you on stuff when it's not really warranted. Lemmy does that a lot; you can't always write a 20pg paper about a random comment to address every little facit of what you said, haha.
Yeah I just leave those comments and walk away. Explaining or editing a comment no-one is ever going to read is not worth the time. Nothing good can come from it.