RedRooster Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 (edited) I don’t know how much agreement I’ll get with this viewpoint, but I think the UKFF Awards should drop the negative awards aimed at posters, even though I’m well aware that they’re meant in good humour. This year I’ve dealt with some mental health issues, specifically depression. Thanks in part to advice and encouragement from some fantastic people on this board I actually reached out to a GP for the first time and it’s wound up being life-changing for me. But I do feel like when I was at my lowest ebb, picking up an online award telling me I was a dolt or that I spoke a lot of crap would have had a really severe impact on me. I know it’s the online world versus the real world and most people will take it for what it is, but when you’re feeling depressed - certainly when I was - it becomes really hard to rationalise things and your opinion of your worth plummets, even if there’s no logical reason for that. I think in 2020, with all we know about depression and mental health, the potential negatives, for me, outweigh any arguments in favour of keeping them. Even a prat deserves good mental health. Edited August 15, 2020 by RedRooster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Cod Eye Posted August 15, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 15, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, RedRooster said: I don’t know how much agreement I’ll get with this viewpoint, but I think the UKFF Awards should drop the negative awards aimed at posters, even though I’m well aware that they’re meant in good humour. This year I’ve dealt with some mental health issues, specifically depression. Thanks in part to advice and encouragement from some fantastic people on this board I actually reached out to a GP for the first time and it’s wound up being life-changing for me. But I do feel like when I was at my lowest ebb, picking up an online award telling me I was a dolt or that I spoke a lot of crap would have had a really severe impact on me. I know it’s the online world versus the real world and most people will take it for what it is, but when you’re feeling depressed - certainly when I was - it becomes really hard to rationalise things and your opinion of your worth plummets, even if there’s no logical reason for that. I think in 2020, with all we know about depression and mental health, the potential negatives, for me, outweigh any arguments in favour of keeping them. Even a prat deserves good mental health. No, keep them. The vast, vast majority of folk on here are great people who can usually tell the difference between someone going through a shit time(I have mental health issues , as do many others)and someone who is a shit poster. I know if I was posting crap posts constantly, I'd want people to tell me so I can take a step back and think about if I want to continue posting on here or not, and if I do I could change my posting style up. Edit: Sorry to hear you're having a tough time mentally. The "Mental Health" thread on here is a big help to those that are happy to post their issues(totally understand if you don't feel happy to post on a public forum). Also, I've done a bit of work with Mind in the past and I'm happy for anyone to PM me if they want a totally unattached stranger to talk to, or even just to vent to! Edited August 15, 2020 by Cod Eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted August 15, 2020 Author Share Posted August 15, 2020 1 minute ago, Cod Eye said: No, keep them. The vast, vast majority of folk on here are great people who can usually tell the difference between someone going through a shit time(I have mental health issues , as do many others)and someone who is a shit poster. I know if I was posting crap posts constantly, I'd want people to tell me so I can take a step back and think about if I want to continue posting on here or not, and if I do I could change my posting style up. The thing is though, that everyone’s experience of mental health is different and it’s not particularly safe to say ‘it wouldn’t have bothered me, so...’ While that obviously works two ways, I don’t think it’s breaking news to say that for a lot of people dealing with mental health issues it’s hard to rationalise things in the way that you suggest, and if you have low self worth, having people vote in a public poll to confirm your worst fears could be quite damaging. In a world where a bad day at work and abuse from strangers can trigger downward spirals or episodes of self-harm, I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that this could be damaging to someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Cod Eye Posted August 15, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 15, 2020 10 minutes ago, RedRooster said: The thing is though, that everyone’s experience of mental health is different and it’s not particularly safe to say ‘it wouldn’t have bothered me, so...’ While that obviously works two ways, I don’t think it’s breaking news to say that for a lot of people dealing with mental health issues it’s hard to rationalise things in the way that you suggest, and if you have low self worth, having people vote in a public poll to confirm your worst fears could be quite damaging. In a world where a bad day at work and abuse from strangers can trigger downward spirals or episodes of self-harm, I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that this could be damaging to someone. We'll have to see what the more regular posters say. I usually only post things when I have something I feel strongly about or I have something specific I want to add to a conversation, so my opinion on the matter obviously isn't that important. I do get where you are coming from though, but I think the awards do serve a purpose sometimes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavemanLynn Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 (edited) I don't agree with getting rid of the "negative" awards. Admittedly, I'm one of the more "white noise" posters here, but I think most people realise that those types of awards are either tongue in cheek or honouring a moment of admitted boneheadedness. I agree that a forum online should be a safe space, but it's also a place for discussion, so if someone posts something contentious or offensive, they should expect to be pulled up on it. Some of the pile-ons on here get boring pretty quick, but that's why we have PMs - if someone takes personal umbrage, they can take it off thread rather than dragging things off topic for pages. I've posted some shite in the past and rightly got pelters for it. It might sound strange, but one of the reasons I prefer this forum is because it genuinely feels like it has higher standards than others. You don't get entertaining reviews like in the I've Just Watched thread or informative and well written arguments like BomberPat's posts in other forums. And yes, that time the forum went down nearly broke my brain not because of the lack of poo chat, but the lack of correct use of punctuation and capitalisation. #SPG4Life Also, if someone realises they're shit posting due to their mental state, this forum is a community, and there are people here with experience, both professionally and personally, that can help if they reach out to them. I don't think someone's condition or situation should give them carte blanche to post whatever they think without consequence, if it spoils the enjoyment of this forum for other users. But these are never personal attacks, just voices on the Internet, and in my experience, the amount of good here massively outweighs the bad. Edited August 15, 2020 by CavemanLynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bellenda Carlisle Posted August 15, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 15, 2020 Bring back downvotes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted August 15, 2020 Author Share Posted August 15, 2020 9 hours ago, CavemanLynn said: Also, if someone realises they're shit posting due to their mental state, this forum is a community, and there are people here with experience, both professionally and personally, that can help if they reach out to them. I don't think someone's condition or situation should give them carte blanche to post whatever they think without consequence, if it spoils the enjoyment of this forum for other users. But these are never personal attacks, just voices on the Internet, and in my experience, the amount of good here massively outweighs the bad. I’m not suggesting that it should, I just think that a public vote to tell someone they’re a dolt isn’t the best way of doing that. You’re right, the vast majority of people would take it in the spirit it’s intended. But by saying that I assume you accept there’s a minority who would not. And since this is a forum we don’t know who they are or what their circumstances are. Do they have learning difficulties? Are they depressed? Are they suicidal? I think if you ask yourself ‘what’s the worst that could happen if they stayed and the wrong person won a negative award?’ the answer is pretty grim. It only needs to happen once, and incidents like that have happened on other forums/on social media. And I’ll explicitly admit this again - had I won a negative award when I was struggling I wouldn’t have seen it as a favour and I wouldn’t have been able to rationalise it, not at the time. Mental health problems aren’t beneficial and rational thoughts don’t always come hand in hand. Ultimately I think that the risks outweigh the reward and I am speaking from personal experience - I would have counted myself as being in that minority at my lowest ebb. I wouldn’t now, thankfully. Obviously it’s up to other people as to how they feel about the awards, I just don’t think it’s worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted August 15, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 15, 2020 Why is this even being discussed in an on-topic miscellany thread? There's a whole forum dedicated to the awards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted August 15, 2020 Author Share Posted August 15, 2020 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: Why is this even being discussed in an on-topic miscellany thread? There's a whole forum dedicated to the awards. It didn’t really seem appropriate for any of the pre-existing topics there, and you can’t obviously create a new one. Plus, it was quite literally a random thought. Edited August 15, 2020 by RedRooster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted August 16, 2020 Moderators Share Posted August 16, 2020 They aren't going anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 RedRooster’s posts are spot on and its disappointing to see push back against them. Surely no one is so amused by the Dolt of the year poll that they’d want it to remain at the expense of someone’s health? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Anyone getting a negative award has likely had plenty warning through the year and it shouldn’t be a surprise when the imaginary award arrives. If taking a slagging isn’t for you, then forums aren’t for them as it’s part and parcel of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 (edited) The last thing I’ll say on the matter is that it would be very easy to inadvertently name a child or someone with learning difficulties dolt of the year. If you want to look at it another way, it’s a tabloid newspaper headline waiting to happen. There have been suicides and cases of self harm linked to internet forums and social media, but the outcome wouldn’t have to be that tragic for it to be a sad one. I’m not going to harp on about this further, but I do stand by my opinion and I hope it’s something people consider. When moderators have functions available to them to warn, suspend or ban annoying posters I don’t think a public vote is anything close to being necessary to deal with problematic posters. Edited August 16, 2020 by RedRooster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted August 16, 2020 Moderators Share Posted August 16, 2020 Annoying posters get banned and rejoin every day (Hi Boydy!), I can't see a child winning an award here either as I think the youngest member here is about 35 these days. We specialise in WWE demographics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 The negative awards are the highlight of the year, it’s our Wrestlemania. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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