thats too bad. I like hearing other opinions. what a boring world it would be if we all though the same things the same way. bleh!

Block is as easy as clicking on a person's name link and looking to right of screen. I see that crap with only brand new users. I block them the first time I see it and never see their drivel again. My skin is not thick, I do feel my emotions, and, to ME, life is too short for me to give trolls or hostility my attention, energy and time - even if I’m ignoring, scrolling by, etc.

I saw a post like this earlier and I couldn't bring myself to respond to it. While I understand some of the poster's frustration, I also felt like any reply I could have given would have devolved into a very unfriendly argument. I'm new to the site so I haven't had to actually deal with this yet, but depending on how nasty they were, I'd report them for being abusive if their retorts to opinions opposite of their personal point of view were uniformly aggressive and rude.

That's a shame. Hearing other sides and their stances is how I think we grow as people, and if we're convinced we even change our minds. I take pride in being able to change my mind because I see it as a strength and not a weakness.

I've only blocked one person in the time I've been here. Usually, I'll just keep on scrolling.

I would have to see the specific instance before knowing how to answer this. I'm not sure some general approach is advisable, so tend towards a case by case basis.

I used to be a member of a site that would not take any notice of complaints of trolls and idiots that sent dick pics. The more members they had the more advertisers they got. I'm hoping that Agnostic.com don't go that way. The site I am talking about closed down, because they were investigated because of pedophiles,trolls and hackers. It was a great website at one time, just as Agnostic.com is. It got fucked up because of their refusal to deal with complaints about fuckwits. It was a really good site that I had many friends on.

The best way to keep a site clear is by helping to patrol it yourself.

Report repeated hostile/inappropriate posts to @Admin (Sorry Admin don't know how else to write this.).
If you type it that way they will see it. There isn't an instant response all the time - especially if they are trying to do site updates at the same time. (Which are being done now).

And yes if someone is really nasty to you block them (as described in other posts here).
I've only had to do it once - and they bascially invited me to.

They also got reported for nastiness.

There always be a few people on any site that you'd prefer not to deal with because they hit your buttons or whatever - but we have some decent guidelines to follow and a lot of leeway because we do report abuse.

Flag the reply to your question or comment.

I tend to make statements of my feelings rather than ask questions, but anybody can argue with me or discuss the subject anyway. so there is no real problem re communicating feelings and beliefs.

Thanks everyone for your input. I decided to block the more aggressive and hostile bully and ignore the other one. Interestingly, the “other” one stopped badgering me when I called him out as a bully, so in some cases the direct approach works, too.

I must have been fortunate (or insensitive) as I haven't come accross that yet.

I have had a couple of quite heated exchanges with a couple of people who quite clearly have very different views to me. However, although we have quite robustly stated our positions and arguments and put forward differing evidence, those arguments have not deteriorated into name calling or abuse.

I will not block those that disagree and refuse to change their views to align with mine - I think it is healthy to see how others think, especially those that have a very different viewpoint to your own.

I tend to just ignore trolls who simply spew out vitreol (I like to see what's going on, but rarely respond). I would only block if the abuse became directly threatening or incited others.

Many of us have experienced this. Several topics are ripe for this behavior: guns, food choices and immigration. It can come from eith the left or right. I try to comment if there is a chance of some reason being used. Often it is, as you said, just name calling and bullying so I ignore the person. Rather than blocking them I think it is best others see some of these people for who they are.

I am curious if this is directed more at women, men or both equally.

go to their personal page. on the right side of the page is a box that lists attributes. Scroll down to the very bottom of that box and uou will see a tiny icon lableled block. Click that

I often get carried away in answering something and I give examples out of my own experiences in my answers. It makes me an open book to almost everyone. Either block the bad ones or contact an admin.

Interesting that I don't see an Admin response on this thread.

I raised a complaint about potential problems and got a reply from an admin! I was surprised and pleased that they were being on top of the situation, despite the fact that I was actually talking about another site and trying to be informative of how to spot problems of a certain sort (on dating sites, basically, how to spot scammers, I seem to attract them on other sites like a bug light... and hear echoes of "don't go into the light..." in my sleep).

Long and short is that:

If it were merely annoying, I'd ignore them.

If it were truly annoying, if they were effectively stalking me here, I'd block/squelch them.

If it were truly abusive (private messages which included threats), I'd report them AND block them... actualy, I might NOT block them so as to monitor their activity and be able to report more to admin.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and I hope I wasn't the one in question... hello? Um, hello? Hmm, Dave, does that silence have a deeper meaning?

Click on their username to go to their profile, then click the "block" button at the bottom of the chart on the right side of the page.

If someone is crude, rude, or lewd, that's what I now do.

I blocked one yesterday who was not interested in discussing anything and was rudely baiting commenters.
Go to their profile; there’s a block button.

you can also report them or flag them

No need to report a members....You can block him / her or simply ignore whatever that person is saying.

Block seems the best way.
On another issue, my first posts were all put as questions as I hadn't worked out how to get a larger font for the topic in a standard post.
silly me

I'm interested in what people think or believe but yet I think to each their own! I'll talk to anyone that will talk to me.

Pretty sure some come to vent and/or provoke. There's a trick to sussing out whether the animosity is genuine or just trolling. Either way, taking it personally is a sort of victory that they might relish in. I hope you find the level of engagement you intend to.