I would love someone to give a rational explanation of why the game we real fans love is capable of bringing out the very worst in some people. The threads on the article closed down by the moderator today say just about everything. Is it not possible that, while remaining rivals, we cannot conduct ourselves in a decent & civilised manner? I can think of no other sport(?) where people gloat at the misfortune of other clubs. Do these people live hitherto normal lives where they extend the courtesies of life to neighbours, family & work colleagues? Someone please give me an explanation before I loose all faith in human nature
I don't get why some fans seem to care more about hating their rivals than supporting their own team and this hatred seems to define their very identity as a football fan.
A lot of football fans should be frogmarched to a rugby game. England-Australia at Twickenham, for example. One of the biggest rivalries in world rugby, and the fans somehow manage to act like human beings, instead of barely upright apes.
I would consider myself a football fan all round. Yes I support Southampton, but I don't actually have anything against Portsmouth... I actually despise Brighton more and that's simply because their manager thinks he is god... I like non league and I pay close attention now to L1 and L2 ever since we have been there. The Premier League is same old rubbish, The Football League is much more exciting and unpredictable
There are two fans, one from each of our respective boards, that are head and shoulders above all the rest, in acting like complete pains in the necks. We all know who they are. So maybe if instead of getting on the case of the one on the opposite side of the Park gate fence, we all instead, take to task, the idiot that supports the same team we do. You never know, it might work. If they keep getting shunned, lectured, and harried by their own supporters rather than those of the opposition, who they are trying to Wum anyway, they could give up and go away. (If only)
Ahh, the philosophical question. The anonymity of the keyboard warrior being able to vent his spleen. I think the answer is saintsalive that it is just human nature - the real trick is not rising to the bait. This majority of the posters on this forum are almost invariably very well behaved but there is the thing where something which is written comes over as seeming harsher than it would if it was said as the tone of voice (and the body language) makes all the difference between teasing and being insulting.
Well said. Also, don't forget, if you'd rather bypass such WUMs completely, there's always the ignore button.
Brings out the best and the worst cause of crowd mentality, imho. You generally do something if everyone around you is doing it too - it's more acceptable. 'Caught in the moment' ****.
Dev, but some people feel they shouldn't have to use the ignore button. Any decent user on this site shouldn't have a problem but when you get SB3 creating a hundred WUM threads every minute it starts to get frustrating. I know he's not the only WUM on here but he the one that annoys me most. WUMS IP addresses should be looked at and banned because that is the problem, should they get banned run they just create another account. Hope the above makes sense
Actually, I think that the discomfort is located further South! Absolutely agree with you. It's all about intent and I think that often it's the fellow supporters who find their own WUM most regrettable as its gives a figleaf of justification to the other. It's also a shame that people who have shown in the past that they can be entertaining fail to see the line as they cross it. Disappointing.
While I have never looked at the Portsmouth News website, many subscribers have said on this site that the vitriol from both cities is nothing short of disgusting. I would have the snooze should be a bit ashamed that they are used as a vehicle for such poison - surely they could - if they wanted to - obliterate this kind of stuff. Over to The News for a response.
Rest assured, they won't have a home here, any time soon. Poltroons, the lot of them. Maybe the news needs a new moderator. Glad it ain't me.
If the mods at the News were more strict, then I would expect people to complain about the lack freedom of speech. Two points, firstly the News is a private website so they can decide whether to moderate a comment or not. Secondly, freedom of speech can not not be used an as a way to justify hate-filled comments or speech.
Strange that The News site is infiltrated by a large number of "fans" from down the road, YET from what I have seen of The Echo site, it would appear to be mostly Saints fans on there, with none/hardly any interlopers from the blue side of Hampshire. Mind you, a lot of Pompey fans on The Snooze site could start a fight in an empty room !!
If you're losing your faith in humanity saintsalive I'd advise you not to look at the news website. What starts as decent discussions are quickly destroyed, unfortunately by idiotic comments by Saints fans, and descend into....... the only description is gratuitous verbal violence. Too many Pompey fans are happy to join in and as Wooperts has said, some of the Pompey fans argue amongst themselves. Some articles have 100-200 comments but they are all from the same people. Most of the decent posters just avoid it now. The news have said a new website is on its way to deal with the problem.
What always annoys me about the "what about our right to free speech" Johnnies, is usually the fact that, were their chosen twisted politics the way of things, the first thing out of the window would be, well you know the answer I'm sure. It's a paradox and no mistake.
If you want freedom of speech then responsibilty has to come with it. The rub is that those who demand the former the most also tend to lack the latter the most. Julian Assange and Wikileaks spring to mind.
