The Official, 100% Anonymous ILX Self-Censorship Poll

this is where we need ranked poll options

Just an experiment. You know, for a psychology class I'm currently taking.

“i often refrain from posting”

But why, why is the question.

*struggles to refrain from posting*

have many opinions completely at odds with ilx but don’t see any use in posting them

there is a strong hive mind here which I admire and mostly agree with, but any outlier opinions get crushed

I’m not self confident enough to want to defend unpopular positions

I think there are a lot of people here who have opinions but who don’t want to engage in ilx combat

I sometimes don't post about when it's morally appropriate to do things that are illegal. A thorny topic and I want to be careful when making statements about it.

also I can tell you the experiment results now: ilxors like voting in polls. h/t to bojack.

I'm extremely careful with anything political, and I generally avoid anything highly charged in the immediate aftermath. I'll be honest: there are a few people who just lie in wait, waiting to pounce on anything that doesn't suit them. I'll never understand that.

Part of it may just be cultural or predicated on the height of the stakes, so to speak. I don't recall any spectacular putdowns or beefs in the Canadian politics thread, for instance (I guess ILX lacks a hardcore Québécois separatist).

I'm very comfortable posting in the Canadian politics thread. Kim and sund4r and most everyone in there don't turn it into some vicious territorial thing.

the stakes are that you're posting on a message board with people who are probably 95% in agreement with most stuff

nobody here is saving nor ruining the world, it just suits a lot of people that need a proxy to rage at to pretend otherwise i think

but "what is ilx for?" is a question with as many answers as there are posters

ie about ten, with one of them being the sockpuppetmaster of ilx

There aren't many putdowns and beefs in the UK politics thread either, but there are people on there who are good at being spectacularly angry and vitriolic. There's not a UK Morbz or, thank God, Fred.

Oh, I forgot about imago and xyzzzz, that's just tedious though.

thank you for your post darraghmac

We could poll the US and UK politics threads specifically. Just to see whether anonymity makes a difference or not.

I pushed one of the radio buttons!

(xp) No no no, the politics threads are about the worst things on ILX.

... UK and US, that is.

Though at least there's only one UK politics thread.

oh i was only referencing football threads meself

Heh, that much is true. Whereas every thread is doomed to become a US politics thread sooner or later.

xp

... here, that reminds me. (xp)

But why, why is the question.

― pomenitul

that's not how the napalm death song goes

Speaking of which, they've got a new one coming up this year: Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, which is as solid a description of 2020 as any.

(I guess ILX lacks a hardcore Québécois separatist).

― pomenitul, Friday, May 1, 2020 5:44 PM (one hour ago)

Willing to step into this role. I’m also a Basque nationalist and pro-Scottish independence. However, I’m against Russian annexation of Crimea and Cascadian secessionists.

Ultimately though I desire a new world order of independent city-states with outlying territories farmed by robots

I don’t hold back posting opinions but I’m never sure if they’re mine.

Can't believe I forgot the 'I am a longtime lurker who never posts to ILX because this place is ass, wtf am I still doing here?' option.

Speaking of which, they've got a new one coming up this year: Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, which is as solid a description of 2020 as any.

― pomenitul

except for the throes of joy, sure

i never did listen to that idles album

i could do it now but i'm listening to "agony of defeet" from "trombipulation"

i often type my opinion out then delete it. i believe each person is entitled to their own separate nation.

needs "i often refrain from posting, and it doesn't matter"

almost never censor myself, and when it does happen, it’s usually the right call

I voted « I sometimes refrain from posting my actual opinion, and it makes me seethe within » but I don’t seethe, it’s just that the other sometimes option suits me less well. But I only really care about ILM where I post as I please. ILE is an uglier place.

I refrain from posting on US pol threads unless it’s something with a specific international element I know about (Burisma, etc), because who cares?

I will generally refrain from pointing out when people are imo incorrect about stuff, but well intentioned, unless it contributes something else to the discussion.

There are some things I can’t be bothered to argue about (or, more accurately, some people I can’t be bothered to argue with) because it’s tiresome, unproductive and I have better things to do.

clicked on the i don't care about any of this button but there really should be a thread where only the people who have been too viciously intimidated to post on another thread are allowed to post, just as a model community tbh

Mourning ilx’s silent majority, all six of em

no "polls are bad and u shd feel bad" knob i see

🎛

but by clicking on the "polls are bad" you would be clicking on..a poll...but polls are bad...but clicking...love...hate...does not compute... *smoke rises from Vague's ears as his head drops and he shuts down*

I usually imagine getting dogpiled for my opinion and wind up not posting, then posting later after other people with similar opinions have already become the whipping boy

I don’t seethe, it’s just that the other sometimes option suits me less well

There is no middle ground in this poll. You must choose between good and evil, chaos and the law.

Refraining isn't the same as self-censorship, right? Regardless, I refrain quite a lot actually; more and more iirc. I'd like to think it's enhanced my ilx experience significantly. Refraining so much to the point where I don't post at all any more, yet am here, is some sort of utopia probably.

You’re right, of course. I’m not so subtly trying to stir contention while I recede into the background, along the same lines as you.

the times I haven’t kept my mouth shut I have deeply regretted

I’m trying to engage less with the politics threads bc I know this is a nightmare scenario and everyone’s past traumas are flooding out in a single channel and bumping up against each other violently - I don’t want to hurt or re-traumatize anyone with some dumb ass comment that came tumbling out of my head in the heat or the moment

I used to draft and delete more, bc thinking about something myself was more productive than discussing it here and it would be too much effort to express it all and then go round clearing up everyone's misinterpretation. Tend to just think, which ofc can include a degree of gnashing of teeth, or chat w pals elsewhere who I can communicate with more easily and openly.

Always used to wish other ppl would self censor more bc while ilx/discourse in general is at it's best & most fun when it's all open and breezy it's not always possible. When ppl studiously avoid posting what they actually think abt certain topics you often get a sense of their views anyway as feelings seep out (great thread btw), and then it becomes a weird farce where ppl pretend to be more ignorant or mysterious than they are.

Suspect the majority have felt the fatigue of negativity but it has different forms and the sort of v low investment and boring (tho sometimes superficially funnier bc of it) sniping is imo preferable to & less deluded and ridiculous than chiding moderation in the name of sense & rationalism, and overall less soul-crushing than bringing in, cataloguing and then lampooning the most miraculously foul turds.

I think I'm wrong about everything, even when I'm arguing on a topic I've studied for 10+ years and am certified on, so yeah, I delete a lot here.

crut otm

yes

“sniping is imo preferable to & less deluded and ridiculous than chiding moderation in the name of sense & rationalism”...don’t agree at all

ive run me polls about this place, and you at least got a turnout

"clicking on things is fun" = otm

so should I refrain from posting my opinion or what, should I start a poll for that

Curious if you voted itp and if you did, which option you picked.

I didn't, too many options

The only thing I categorically would never venture a public opinion on is the Israel/Palestine conflict (and even calling it that counts as an opinion probably)

Would you venture a public opinion on Fred B?

he's bad

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/1CoAAOSwQM9UaODT/s-l400.jpg

only one person shits up threads on purpose, and everyone else at least says they operate in good faith, despite claims otherwise

really makes you think

Which options indicate posting in good faith?

It is implied that one's "actual opinion", which is referenced in most of the options, is the opinion one holds to most closely reflect one's truth and is the opinion one would act upon, regardless of whether it were made known. That must be one's 'good faith' opinion as well.

If people are censoring their actual opinions that would indicate posting that is not altogether in good faith as such

I differ on that. Withholding a post is not the same as showing bad faith.

No, it's not bad faith, nor is it a declaration that one only ever posts in good faith

ctrl f poll options for "good faith"

no result

aimless correct imo, regardless

posting in good faith = not shitting threads up on purpose, I did not really expect this to be so contentious

I may actually have voted for that one out of pique but I can’t remember, if I did I didn’t mean it

this may be another occasion where I should stick with the spirit of my vote

I’ll be honest, it bugs me when dude posters are all “I have opinions I’m afraid to share because it’s against the ilx hivemind and ilx is too mean” because you know it’s some conservative bullshit, not just some opinion about a fucking Netflix show or something. no I’m not giving examples just passing through throwing bombs

0 votes for MAGA / BoJo. No one even dared troll about that so it could be worse.

ilx full of conservatives yep

we have an uncool conservative beliefs thread for that

i know i have a history of saying things that are insipid and/or tone-deaf and i have tried to learn from those experiences. i don't think that's the same as being a closeted reactionary

ilx full of conservatives yep

nevermind forget it, not what I’m talking about btw crut

agggh

I mean I get what you meant. Anytime I've had that feeling, it's cos I've held a sociopolitical opinion that isn't likely to be popular, not me saying Load is Metallica's beat option. Also the conservative thread isn't always a safe space.

*best album

brimstead is a troll

nah

yeah, not at all

no, of course

am I typing? I thought I heard my fingers

:)

I’ll be honest, it bugs me when dude posters are all “I have opinions I’m afraid to share because it’s against the ilx hivemind and ilx is too mean” because you know it’s some conservative bullshit, not just some opinion about a fucking Netflix show or something. no I’m not giving examples just passing through throwing bombs

― brimstead, Sunday, May 10, 2020 8:40 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I mean historically speaking it tends more to be "I like/dislike this band that everyone else dislikes/likes"

Missed this. Might've gone for this one.

I almost never censor myself, and when it does happen, I lose a bit of respect for myself

alphie and i haven't beefed in months fyi, there are more important and rewarding things

― imago, Wednesday, 6 May 2020 bookmarkflaglink

You hardly post on it much now? Besides, all you need to do is post "Job Done" now that Sir Kier opens his mouth.

Subconsciously, if I'm uncertain on something and consensus is a particular way. Thats a problem in general though

if u could control one poster's posts for just one day only each year, but in exchange, someone else got to control yr posts for a day (not the person who you're controlling).....would u do it?

and...why?

no, because I am a Scorpio with the accompanying trust issues

also a Scorpio, so i feel ya

What would u say if I told u that

I have been controlling yr posts this whole time

tbh theres ppl posting and theres little sign of anyone in control

i think i would definitely do it, but i would use the person i controlled to criticize my "own" posts (that someone else was controlling, for that day). hard to explain, but basically #inception

Can't spell 'controlling' without 'trolling' afaict

Is this controlling, am i being controlled?

I am he as you are he as you are me
And we are trolls together

Should've added 'I never post because every single one of my opinions would get blasted' and 'I no longer post because every single one of my opinions got blasted' as options.

The "ill just have a salad" dinner date of posters