I don't see why anyone should have to put up with others being deliberately insulting or in-yer-face unpleasantly"-ist", IYSWIM. Certainly, there's a lot of grey area between friendly jibing and intended hurts, but frankly, I feel that those who think the answer is to tell those on the receiving end of the bad stuff that it is THEY who have to change their behaviour are missing the point. And being bloody foolish, to boot,
Aye, human nature. Been there, seen lots of it, got the T-shirt. So it's time for the bad'uns to be told in no uncertain terms to STFU and bugger off, so that those who aren't socially delinquent don't have to put up with their continual idiocies.
What you're advocating, Poopster and others, is to cut the cancer out of the patient, and throw the patient away, keeping the cancer. That cannot be the ultimate answer. Given everyone is here to try to have fun, why should it be the ones that are DELIBERATELY trying to upset others that are left alone, whilst their victims are basically told to grin and bear it or go? Would youcondone virus creators and spammers, and tell the rest of us to just stop using the internet? Of course you wouldn't, unless you're an idiot or a Luddite. Same principle here.
Aye, I know the difficulties with "policing" any online community, but perhaps it's about time someone somewhere started thinking about better ways to create online communities such that miscreants CAN be more effectively ejected.
Esme