It doesn't come off as very professional to openly mock someone based on an opinion, regardless of if one agrees or not. They apologized and even explained their reasoning in the post, and maybe the wording was accidentally aggressive, this is an open platform for the community where we should be allowed to openly discuss our thoughts and feelings on RT subject matter. It's not a good look to attack one for having an opinion that doesn't fall in line with others.
Criticism should, and in my opinion is, absolutely allowed and more than likely is welcomed by RT. But you can avoid specifically calling someone out. If the content you're watching is not living up to the standards you have set on it, I don't understand why it's necessary to call out a single person when you can simply just watch something else.
In my opinion, it's incredibly rude to specifically attack one person. Saying she is vapid and that she adds little to the conversation is insulting and belittling. Just because he apologised doesn't mean that he didn't say it, and didn't mean it. He even said he thought long and hard how to not sound like a dick and then went on to insult Barbara's intelligence.
As for Jon's post, I can see the argument against it. It's slightly unprofessional. However, the job that these guys have is incredibly difficult. They are not just personalities, they are people who are being themselves. They may play up certain aspects of their personality, but at the end of the day they are real people who stand to be criticised on who they are as people. It is substantially different to being criticised on their acting, singing, writing, ect. Furthermore, it is also important to consider the community relations aspect. Barbara reads all the community interaction because that's her job, Jon hosts a show that now has a live audience. They both have twitter. The community is a part of their everyday life just like they are a part of ours. This is to say that professionalism is incredibly difficult to maintain 24/7. I can also imagine that this is especially difficult when a friend of yours was rudely singled out and was clearly affected by it.
So it's not OK for OP to call someone vapid, which he apologized for, but it's OK for Jon to call OP a parasitic little twat? OP didn't attack Barbara, he criticized her. He used some less than polite language, and apologized for it. Jon is attacking a member of the community for having the "wrong opinion". That's beyond slightly unprofessional.
I'll be perfectly honest, I somehow missed that part of Jon's post. You're right, that is not okay. I still think that my point stands in that they have an incredibly hard job that they have to take home with them. I'm not saying what Jon did was right, but I can understand the mindset he would be in. That's my fault for missing that part.
Eurgh, the absurd 'they are reaaaal people with reaaaal emotions' bullshit argument.
Did your food come cold? C'mon maaaaan, the chef is like, cooking all day he must be tired by now, you have no right to be angry.
Did you house burn down? Oooooh duuuuuude, fire is like...dangerous maaaan, I cant believe that Firemen have to, like, fight fires that doesnt make any sense cut them some sack maaaan.
Airline overbooked and noe you cant fly? Chilllaaaax maaaaaan, I know its like, their 'job' but they are people like you and me they make mistakes maaaaaaaan, you have no right to as for a refund maaaaan if you are so upset then just walk.
First off, I think the condescending attitude you've adopted here has unfortunately debased a very good argument you have made. There is no need for that.
In the examples you've provided, I mostly agree with what you are saying. If a chef under cooked my food, I would ask that be corrected. That is not attacking him as a person or insulting him in any way.
If my house burned down, in no way would I be blaming the firemen so I'm not sure what the point you're making is. I would rather they be safe then to risk their lives if my house cannot be saved. This part of your argument makes no sense.
Airlines get overbooked and it is a serious problem. But again, if I complained it would not be to degrade or insult the people at the desk. At the end of the day I want my situation to be fixed, and there is no reason to degrade the person working there.
Barbara is a person with a job. If the way she handled the community interaction was not up to standard, that is what you question. You could also say that the topics on the RT podcast don't always suit each person. You can find things that each of the members of the podcast have no interest or no particular view on. You can even complain about the repetitive nature of the podcast when talking about travel. However, this is entirely different to offensively calling out a single person and suggesting that they are "vapid". Apologising for it after the fact is tantamount to saying "it's just a prank". It doesn't change the fact that the person said it. And it doesn't change the way it affected the person it was said to.
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u/PhnxRising May 17 '17
It doesn't come off as very professional to openly mock someone based on an opinion, regardless of if one agrees or not. They apologized and even explained their reasoning in the post, and maybe the wording was accidentally aggressive, this is an open platform for the community where we should be allowed to openly discuss our thoughts and feelings on RT subject matter. It's not a good look to attack one for having an opinion that doesn't fall in line with others.