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Patrick Effeney set up The Roar’s run in to the Rugby World Cup with a call to put negativity aside, and bring some support and ‘parochialism’ for the Wallabies to the table.
This has reignited a valid, but misplaced debate about the role of comments and the right to disagreement.
This in turn has caused me – a long time listener, first time caller – to dip my toe into the water and revisit a long-running conversation about comment-based forums and the nature of the internet.
A comment forum is not by its nature a conversation forum unless its users make it one. For better or worse, especially on a site such as The Roar – where commenters are not screened, and comments are by and large left untouched by moderators – anybody can say anything.
This is a double-edged as while The Roar can – like a great sports bar, where the screens are clear and the beer flows – encourage a diverse and interesting range of views and demographics in its comments, it can also veer farther and farther away from anything actually resembling conversation or discussion.
The underlying truth of forums and the internet is anonymity removes accountability. This is not an issue specific to this site, there are many worse examples in play than continually derailed conversations on a sports opinion website.
However, on The Roar most of us will never meet in person, which means we have the opportunity to be our worst, most opinionated and offensive selves – taking us about as far from classic bar-side sports banter as one can get.
Disagreement is fundamental to discussion, and it is fundamental to The Roar. It is worthwhile and important. But what does disagreement serve if you cannot view counter arguments as both relevant and valid, if you cannot synthesise, or if you cannot respect other people’s opinions enough to at some point stop constantly spilling the same tired diatribe.
At some point the contributors need to take responsibility collectively and individually for the nature and culture of the discussion.
This is not the first time the site has looked at this issue, and The Roar has lost some brilliant writers and doubtless many readers and contributors to the aggressive, vitriolic and personal side of comments that can too-often fill up the threads.
We who use The Roar, both individually and collectively must take responsibility for this. Treat the comments section as a big and disparate bar room conversation – make it a conversation, bring some respect, some perspective, and buy your mate a beer.
And, lastly, up the bloody Wallabies.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.