How do you react to negative posts on RallyPoint?

For me, I have found most of the post of the negative comments humorous. I find down votes troubling if the person does not explain why they are doing it? I do not intend to be negative, and apologize to anyone who thought that I was. Actually, I have been accused of being 'fake' nice, but I think they just disagreed with what I was saying without intellectual foundation and it is always easier to attack the messenger than the message…when it is founded in logic and facts.

We should all try to avoid being cereal down-voters.

I try not to feed into the negative responses, but I've come across a few people here who had me re-thinking my views on using the thumbs down feature. I try to be positive in my responses and feel that I should get the same in return, even if we don't agree. After my last experience I also avoid commenting on certain topics that tend to get heated because of some of the things I've experienced on here.

PO1 (Join to see) I know I am wrong and more often that I would like to admit to. That said, I am not going to let someone tell me something that is wrong pertaining the field I am trained in. And I am not talking about 'heat lightning' or some other urban myth. But actual scientific terms which are categorically wrong.

Even if one is right you can't bend their fingers or their minds. They are not reasonable or are being recalcitrant. For example, I would never climb a power pole just because I saw it on Dirty Jobs or try to wire my house because I like Holmes on Homes. If I think I know a bit about everything, it is pretty certain I do know enough to make specious comments.

The problem with online communications is they can be hasty or poorly articulated and while spelling is an issue for some (present company included) some people have transposition problems. A friend of mine has a sister and to overcome her problem her mother worked with her night and day. That girl is now a doctor and so were both her parents. So, taking some things into consideration might make a person less likely to jump on another.

Good topic Jacob.

In the past I have posted comments that if I were still in uniform I would never have said to a senior ranking service member. Many officers and senior enlisted take the approach that "yes, sir/sergeant" is the only appropriate response and consider anything else disrespect.

The joy of being a veteran is that I now have more latitude in expressing my opinion, and I tend to take the mindset of speaking to an equal when debating something here on RP. Some consider that as me being aggressive or abrasive, because all they see is the rank next to my name and not the merit of the message itself. Hell, I once had a SFC (retired) scold me by saying that down voting him was disrespectful in and of itself and that I was essentially a worthless sack of excrement for doing so. Some people are going to see a dissenting opinion of any kind or a down vote as aggression/disrespect and they are the type of people that I'm thankful I no longer have to be around on a daily basis.

In short, haters are gonna hate, and if you're going to post something that might get peoples hackles raised then be ready to deal with the heat that will be heading your way soon after.

Timely topic. 

No big deal to me, I know who I am and what I post. Everyone has something different over most post anyway, good way to learn from others.