How often do you censor yourself?

I was just writing replies to a few threads and ended up deleting them all.

Why?

Was I worried that I would be "called out"? That maybe I was wrong? Maybe I was a little obnoxious? Perhaps my opinion was too uninformed? What if I was on the other side of public opinion? Does it mean I am indecisive? What do I have to fear? Why should I care what strangers think of me (although this defeats the purpose of being a member of a forum or asking for opinions - i realise this - it just had to be mentioned)

I find that I do this quite often, particularly with Facebook comments.

Why do I feel the need to repress my opinion or feelings? Even on a largely anonymous forum like ATS? Why do I feel the need to only post "valuable" insights? What would threads be like if we all just posted exactly what we thought or felt? Why do we feel like we need to be seen as "intelligent"? Why can't we admit our own faults?

Is there a particular topic that you feel yourself "censoring" most on?

How often do you do this? I'd just like to know I wasn't alone in this...

All the time in fact let me tell you about the most recent example...

Actually I better not, Ive said too much already

reply to post by SerialLurker


I used to be like that especially on Facebook. I'd always make these goofy joking comments that were incredibly stupid and would sometimes delete them because of nerves and fear of humiliation. Then one day I talked to this one girl on Fb, we got to talking about the status messages and she told me the best part of her day was reading my goofy updates. They always made her laugh her butt off.

Moral of he story you never know how valuable your opinion is to others, so in limiting yourself you may be causing them to miss out.

reply to post by SerialLurker

Yes, of course, I sensor myself when writting on the forums.

I would have been banned long ago if I did not measure my words carefully.

In real life I try to be diplomatic but I don't hold back and shoot straight from the hip.

I may start expressing my feelings a bit more forcefully now thgat I am almost 65 and I am very ill.

SerialLurker, I believe you and I would benefit if we would not dwell on what anyone thinks about what we have to say.

Just say what you feel and let the chips fall where they may.

Peace..

reply to post by Poker


You know what, in high school, I used to blurt out anything that came into my head... I found out recently that my friends funny stories largely revolved around my own "amusing comments" and behaviours... perhaps it's not a bad thing, alot of "inappropriate" or funny comments I read are things I'm thinking or wish I had the gall to say

Originally posted by dizziedame
reply to post by SerialLurker

 

Yes, of course, I sensor myself when writting on the forums.

I would have been banned long ago if I did not measure my words carefully.

In real life I try to be diplomatic but I don't hold back and shoot straight from the hip.

I may start expressing my feelings a bit more forcefully now thgat I am almost 65 and I am very ill.

SerialLurker, I believe you and I would benefit if we would not dwell on what anyone thinks about what we have to say.

Just say what you feel and let the chips fall where they may.

Peace..

Thanks for your response Dizzie, I have read alot of your comments on various threads and respect your opinions... you DO always seem (see, why do I say seem?!) to say what you think or feel and, well, that's why I respect your opinion.

I guess here we are conscious of the "banhammer".

I think younger folks (I almost censored myself again here, taking into account the fact that you are quite a bit older in years than myself - but no measure of perception of age of course) would benefit from asserting ourselves more often.

Well, easily put...

Because we all think we "know" something...

Knowing something is the exact reason our consciousness is confined to our physical body. For, if we did not know, and we just we're, we would not be able to exist in this physical manifestation.

After years(10+) of talking with my friends about every conceivable topic possible(Note: I live and grew up in an area that has some of the worst racial divides in the country), I find being PC(what you consider PC is a good question to ask. Its different for different people) limits what ideas are discussed. I have the good fortune of having good friends from many different cultures as well as different economic backgrounds. We have conversations and debates about race and money all the time. Its great!!!. In our circle the "IDEA" of being PC doesn't exist(other than hate speech). But when used in context, inflammatory words(racist, sexist, anti-religious, etc..) are sometimes used to get an idea or piece of history across. All of US use this kind of talk. But only when it is necessary. My point is, talking about race doesn't make you a racist.
If I was worried about censorship I may not have had the mind opening conversations that i have had. In the least, our personal journeys are different. We have a lot to teach other.

I always have to censor my posts, If I let rip on this site like i wanted i would have been banned a while ago, but we all censor ourselves in real life, we think before we say and if we dont, we can find ourselves in trouble.

You should be happy you censor yourself, all of you who do. It means you value this place enough to show it respect.

I wish more people did.

reply to post by Saidin


If only more citizens had thought as you....

We might still have the Rodina as she was.

I often pass away comments on controversial topics where everything is mostly one-sided and I am in the minority side. No matter what I say they would be too emotionally invested on their side to see it from a different perspective. The posters here are more emotionally unstable than the "sheep".

There is an innate fear of being accused of something that we didn't do, usually, we try to aviod saying things that can be used against us, generally, as we assume that the average person is trying to get at our core "self" - a self, that if the "system" can immitate, for example, by a kind of mimmicry, then the very foundation of what we call our "self" can be challenged.

Generally, we fear that our words are misinterpreted, that, if said incorrectly, will have a meaning that we did not intend it to have, generally, we can only really trust those who can see things at a deeper level, and are weary of those who only can observe things on the surface...

Essentially, there is an inner self that makes a decision, and then there is the expression of an individuals self, when read by external individuals, if the message is read incorrectly, then the false-feedback generated by thier skewed perceptions threatens to alter the foundation of what we have carefully constructed as our own "self"...

I often get the feeling, that, others wish to find out my "secrey" - as if, there as a machine that could immitate me and discover who I was, and in doing so, could obliterate me.

reply to post by SystemResistor


Or the fact that people try to psychoanalyze you over the internet. So if you state that homosexuality is nurture, they accuse you of being a repressed homosexual. Or if you say that simulated child pornography is not actual child pornography they accuse you of having child pornography. It's crap like this that makes ATS annoying.

I rarely self censor, wither on forums Facebook or real life. What is the point? I love the challenge of being called out to defend what I bleat on about!

I think, for me, since I have spent most of my life having to carefully watch what I say and do so as to not bring the wrath of society down upon me (as it has happened), that it is so very difficult for me to say "the heck with what you all think, this is my opinion and I have the right to express it" (within reason, of course.).
/breath.

reply to post by SerialLurker


Because you do not have a sense of your own authority, or perhaps you were simply honing a message to a particular audience

I censor what I post and sometimes go back and delete things if I feel like I provided too much personally identifying information. I would like to remain anonymous to the other posters on different web sites.

I censor and delete things I think about posting on occasion because of the grammar or it's just too wordy for the audience. It's when I don't censor myself in real life or on the internet especially if I happen to be real tired or angry that I may come back to regret saying something poorly worded or something that others misinterpreted what I was attempting to talk about.

I censor myself all the time. When I go over my posts they have to express my feelings about the topic to the T. I want no confusion about what I'm saying. If my posts can be taken in a way other than intended it is fixed or not posted at all.