2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Let's talk content. AMA.
How will you determine what constitutes harassment?
Would this work?
"Harassment is when you're following someone around after they've made it clear they don't want any involvement with you and have done everything they can to break off contact"
If not, what's wrong with it?
Even better, how would you improve it?
Comment by Warlizard at 16/07/2015 at 21:13 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I wrote this the other day, but I think it helps explain my view on harassment:
There's a massive difference between harassment and calling people out on their bullshit.
Let's say someone says, "Global warming is crap, it was made up by scientists looking to get funding!"
If I reply, "Oh great, another fucking whacko addicted to Faux News" then go to their twitter feed and tweet them 20 or 30 times, telling them what a fuckwit they are, cross-link their comment to /r/ShitRedditSays, go into their account and downvote everything they've said, RES tag them so I can always argue with them no matter where they post, go through their post history and pull out every controversial comment they've ever made and reference that (e.g. "Aren't you the guy who always wanted to try pegging?"), and make it my purpose in life to drive them off Reddit, wouldn't you say that's harassment?
I would.
Let's say, instead, I use RES to ignore them because I'm a fan of peace, not drama and I never see them again.
That's another way of dealing with them.
Now, instead, I wonder if they're trolling or serious, look through their post history and see that they're usually pretty reasonable, so I ask them if they're interested in having a real conversation, because there's quite a bit of evidence to suggest that the prevailing opinion on global warming wasn't pulled out of a vacuum, then link a few studies that might help them understand.
At this point, they can choose to have that conversation, or they can just accuse me of being another pinko commie liberal knee-jerk environmentalist whose head is so far up his ass that he can't see the truth.
Now, depending on the response, I can choose how I proceed.
In NONE of those cases, should that person be kept from voicing their opinion. It's just that, an opinion, and I've had many closely-held beliefs change over the years as I've matured and educated myself.
Being able to say anything you want doesn't preclude my calling you out, but it should end right there, at that comment.
The moment I decide that your statement in one area requires me to follow you everywhere and bug the shit out of you, I'm harassing you.
That's what I'd like to see Reddit move toward.