Stradavarius37 Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 As an active participant in TV for over 8 years, especially in the news forum, I have come to witness an interesting phenomenon. During times of political crisis (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013), there appears a very curious strain of poster on the TV News Forum - the TV Red Shirts. These posters seem to spring up to "pop off" only during these times of crisis, and them just as quickly fade away after the crisis settles. The are characterized by a few noticeable traits. 1) Denial - They will never say anything bad about Thaksin, Pheu Thai Party, or the Red Shirt movement, regardless of any fact or argument presented. In fact, their typical reaction is the classic "ignore, and the misdirect". They refuse to discuss or debate, but instead rely soley yelling their point again and again, ad nauseum. This type of poster who only sees their side as "all right" and the other side as "all wrong" make most of the news threads during crisis times a chore to wade through. It's also a childish worldview to insist that only one side in a discussion is at fault. People who live in this type of "bubble" and profess these beliefs can be found on both sides of the discussion, but the majority are can be found in the TV Redshirt brigade. 2) The False Equivalency - this is a particular favorite of theirs. They like to state that "Both sides" are equally guilty of corruption, malfeasance, etc. While it is certainly true that there is corruption on both sides (in this case the PTP and Democrats), any reasonable look at the hundreds of billions being funneled away and lost in the rice pledging scheme (to name one example) dwarfs any program the Democrats ran that had corruption issues. Both sides being corrupt does not mean that one side cannot be MORE corrupt. 3) The Yellow Shirt Label - most of the reasoned, thoughtful news posters are well informed, polite, and welcome open and honest discourse. This discourse goes out the window during these crisis times. They most common response to a Red Shirt directed criticism is "Well the yellow shirts did this and this and this", as if the poster they are arguing with is a yellow shirt sympathizer. In fact, most the the well-reasoned thoughtful TF news forum debaters do not self identify with either movement, but instead try to look at things through the lens of "Thailand is my adoptive country, and even though I can't vote here, I want it to find sustainable success". The "If you comment on my post you must be a yellow shirt" is a] worn tired cliche. 4) Name Calling - While any crisis brings out an increased TV readership ("Those "Breaking Alert" things that flood my inbox), the people who pop in, and pop out after the crisis tend to be much more vitriolic, and more willing to offer insults when their comments are commented upon in any negative fashion. I was just called a "<deleted>" by one particularly delightful "Pop-in TV Red Shirt". These folks are certainly good for the TV ad revenue stream, but really don't bring anything tangible to the conversation. I could go on, but my fingers are tired of typing, and I suspect this will be one of the more interesting threads going forward. Lets see how many of the Crisis "Pop In" TV Red Shirts come to visit, and show us examples from my list lol. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thailiketoo Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 If you have been around for 8 years one would think you would know that political threads are not allowed in the General Forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stradavarius37 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 Not really a discussion of politics, but of posters and their habits....more of a sociology topic imo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkerry Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 "As an active participant in TV for over 8 years" I think you need to have a word with the administrator of this forum as there is a typo in your profile... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisinth Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I understand your observations S-37. I would have to class myself as a 'pop-in' Falang who, while interested in what is going on around me, knows that in the depth of my heart, getting involved in another country's politics, where I don't have the slightest say in what is going on, usually ends up as a totally pointless exercise. Much to busy anyway, that is why I don't interfere................... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stradavarius37 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 "As an active participant in TV for over 8 years" I think you need to have a word with the administrator of this forum as there is a typo in your profile... No, its quite correct, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario2008 Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 No political threads in general forum. CLOSED. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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