Monday Manners:* Polit[e]ical Discourse

Since day one, the conversation has turned nasty, sometimes even getting personal. It's as if the members of the listserv have transmogrified into hybrid kindergarten bullies/mudslinging political candidates themselves, rather than informed, intelligent people with opinions that they feel deserve expressing. This, boys and girls, is the fault of the internet.

So accustomed are we, today, to faceless, sometimes even nameless, interaction over the internet that we feel that we can say and do things online without the consequence we would expect from similar behaviors offline. We feel insulated, not just from the others around us, but from ourselves and our inhibitions. This is why flame wars get started on blogs. This is why commenters on Philly.com feel perfectly comfortable playing fast and loose with racist hate speech regarding local crime stories. And this is why a simple political discussion has devolved—I'm not even kidding here—into "yo' mamma" jokes.

This is not, I know, a problem limited to this one listserv. And, as the video embedded above proves (starting at 2:31), it's not a new or uncommon one. So, for the sake of all of you social media types who participate in online discussions in any way—over listservs, on message boards or blogs, etc.—here are a few tips on making internet discussions on politics a little more mannerly. It's still not real life, but it could stand to be closer.

Know what you're getting into.
Before you sign up for a listserv or forum, it's good to know what it's for. Key words to look for are "announcements" and "discussion." If the former exists without the latter, political discourse probably isn't welcome. If the latter exists without the former, it's safe to assume that nobody cares if your cat is about to have kittens. And if both exist, anything goes, so don't be upset when messages about apartments for rent follow messages about Hillary Clinton's legal career.

Make your topic clear from the beginning.
Instead of titling your thread on the message board "April 22," try something along the lines of "Hillary or Obama?" or even "Primary Election." Although the election is a big deal, it's not the only thing happening on that day. Likewise, don't make your email subjects something vague like "Hi" or "What's Up?"—people should be able to decide whether or not they want to read your message without having to open it.

Reply directly to the message you want to reply to.
Some people, tired of email from a specific person or messages in a specific thread, set up filters so that those messages all automatically get thrown away. Every time you change the subject, those people have to set up another filter. Not only that, but as GMail becomes more and more the status quo, changing the subject line of an email when you reply to it can screw up the continuity of the thread, so that you end up reading a reply to a message that you haven't yet seen. Not having your discussion over email? It's especially important to keep your title the same on a forum, or else your messages may get lost entirely.

Learn how to ignore unwanted messages.
When a message you don't want to read hits your inbox, delete it. If you're on a listserv and you're fed up with the sheer number of emails you've received, change your settings to "digest" (it's available on most listserv hosts, including Yahoo! and Google), so that you only receive one or two messages daily, and select which posts on your digested mail you wish to read, then ignore the rest. If you're on a forum, just ignore the threads that seem to have a political bent, or scroll past them. Posting messages to your listserv or forum asking people to stop sending messages on this topic will only result in more such messages being sent, and tons of vitriol being directed your way—which kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Don't try to alienate the conversants.
Twice now, Theatre Alliance listserv members have tried to create splinter listservs to move the discourse elsewhere. Neither of the people who created these listservs did so because they wanted an exclusively political forum. Instead, they did it to try to silence the listserv members who were already discussing politics on the main list. But unless the moderators of a listserv or forum expressly say that a discussion must be moved elsewhere, doing this, much like asking people to stop their discussions (above), will only make the volume of email grow, and make you the target of wrath for several First Amendment lovers. Better idea: start your own listserv or forum that is exclusively for announcements. That way, you're not alienating people, but instead you're giving an opportunity for those who don't want to belong to a hybrid announcement/discussion listserv an alternative. Be inclusive, not exclusive, and you'll find yourself the subject of gratitude rather than ire.

Stay on topic.
If you want to talk politics, that's fine. Talk politics. But don't make it personal. Just because you strongly disagree with someone's opinion doesn't automatically make that person wrong, or stupid. Instead, pull an Evelyn Beatrice Hall and take the high road, explaining why you don't agree. You can make it passionate. It can be totally heated. But you're discussing political platforms, not personal ideology, so keep the attacks in your head and the issues on the computer screen.

Do not ever, ever make threats.
Calling people stupid for what they believe makes you an asshole. Threatening people for what they believe makes you an asshole with a warrant out for your arrest. Terroristic threats, and I don't mean the kind that you commit when you're caught trying to ignite a shoe bomb, are illegal. So think carefully before you send your message—is it really worth going to jail? No, I didn't think so, either.

Don't martyr yourself.
It may, perhaps, be unmannerly of me to say this, but here goes: Nobody cares if you're going to leave the group. Sending a message out saying something to the effect of: "If you don't stop sending messages about John McCain out over the list, I'll be forced to unsubscribe" will just earn you a lot of "good riddance" messages. (Along those lines, folks, if somebody does send a message like this, just let it go. You really don't need to send a message to the entire list that you're glad to see him go.) If you think you're going to be missed when you're gone, chances are you're sorely mistaken. So, if you feel so passionately about threads of late that you can't fathom spending another day subscribed, don't. But don't make it look like you're making the ultimate sacrifice, either. Because really, you're not.