[Jamila]

Ok, so I have a little dilemma...I have one online course in which we post discussions on a certain topic. As a student it's our job to post and reply to at least one other person. The reply can be an agreement, questioning the poster, or disagreeing with what they've posted.

I replied to a post which seemed somewhat incorrect. After a while the individual that posted the discussion sent a message telling me...

"I wouldn't take these discussions personally, I would take them on intellectually."

...At this point I'm like...ok..we're supposed to reply to a discussion ...So I reply to her back with

"Of course, though it is mandatory to respond to at least one dicussion. I found what I thought was a fault in your discussion, thus came my response."
She continues to message back with

"I suggest you research a bit more before you try to form an educated argument. Also, when reading your posts, it's very obvious that the grammar you use is not your everyday language. It is very obvious the words you use in your post are synonyms you looked up for the words you would actually use."

Ok, now I'm a little pissed..she's insinuating that I don't know what I'm talking about. At this point she is also stating that I must in fact have a small vocabulary..What's her reasoning behind this?. I live in a pretty small town so racist ideals still exist, though I don't know if that's a factor. She hasn't seen me, but I'm sure my name sounds "ethnic" enough..hahaha

There were more messages exchanged in which she is in some way insulting my intelligence. As if there is no way that I have the ability to use certain words or form educated opinions...Wow..lol She's sent four messages in total and at this point I'm wondering if there's anything I should do or anything I can do....in the last message she stated...

"I don't have to know you to know you use words that are out of context and obviously to big for your vocabulary. You are ridiculous. Get educated. I'm done, you are not even worth my time!"

What would you do about this? I feel sort of like this is high school bullying...though the culprit is a 25 year old female...

[Wish4Invisibility]

Idk. It's unnecessary to even reply. But if you really want to, just say something neutral like for example, "I would like to point out... the person who first instigated a 'private message' to "chat" was not I. I agree with you that these conversations are possibly a waste of time. Have a good day and good bye!" And I don't think she'd say anything after that lol but if she does, ignore her.

Her reasoning? She's bored, bitter, unhappy, had a rough day, racist, judgemental, arrogant, has low self-esteem, etc. It could be anything. Or she first wanted to let you know not to take discussions too seriously but in the end, she started taking it too seriously herself and got frustrated and fed up. It's ok, there are people like her everywhere lol. Tolerate it, ignore it, and move on. It's a small matter from someone you don't even know and probably will never meet in real life.

Just don't sink to her level and you should be fine. (Her level as in: insulting you when she doesn't even know you lol.)

edit: If it makes you feel any better, the messages you quoted from her reveals that she has trouble telling the difference between "to" and "too." And she stresses the word "obvious" a lot lol. I am trying to say that although she may insult your grammar and claim you have a "small vocabulary," she is being hypocritical because her own writing skills... are not that great either.

[Jamila]

Yes, I did mention that she messaged me first telling me not to take it personally..Obviously she was taking it personally thus came her message. I told her to have a good day and god bless..She keeps sending messages so..idk *smh*..I feel like she's going to try to point out every one of my mistakes in our open discussions (though I make sure mine are correct). I guess I'll just have to stay on top of things! lol

[Wish4Invisibility]

Sorry, I edited my post a lot.

I guess, the only thing you can really do is ignore her. She's either lonely, has nothing to do, or just wants to pick on someone through the Internet. Yeah. She is totally not worth your time. Don't even bother reading her future private messages.

She sounds real annoying btw. lol.

Good luck and best wishes :] Sorry you had to deal with such a horrible person. If I had to deal with someone like that, my day would seem a bit gloomier :[

[baboxxyun]

"I wouldn't take these discussions personally, I would take them on intellectually."

"Of course, though it is mandatory to respond to at least one dicussion. I found what I thought was a fault in your discussion, thus came my response."

"I suggest you research a bit more before you try to form an educated argument. Also, when reading your posts, it's very obvious that the grammar you use is not your everyday language. It is very obvious the words you use in your post are synonyms you looked up for the words you would actually use."

"I don't have to know you to know you use words that are out of context and obviously to big for your vocabulary. You are ridiculous. Get educated. I'm done, you are not even worth my time!"

i would just ignore it.
The person you are talking to doesnt know crap.
She criticizes your WORD USAGE (she mentions grammar. grammar and word usage are two different things), yet her post have grammatical errors of its own (she has misplaced modifiers).
IMO, if you criticize someone's grammar mistakes, you shouldnt have any of your own.

In real life, she is probably one of those bombastic little SOBs that absolutely insists his or her opinion overrides the opinion of others.

PS, you gotta love the irony!! haha

[felinius]

I replied to a post which seemed somewhat incorrect. After a while the individual that posted the discussion sent a message telling me...

"I wouldn't take these discussions personally, I would take them on intellectually."

What?? That makes absolutely no sense. You're not attacking the person, you're attacking the post, right? Sounds like this person was in the wrong in the first place.

If this person keeps harassing you in your posts, report her to the professor of the discussion. There should be absolutely no reason that you feel like you can't make mistakes because of one idiot who has nothing else better to do than start a fight. :/

[Jamila]

What?? That makes absolutely no sense. You're not attacking the person, you're attacking the post, right? Sounds like this person was in the wrong in the first place.

If this person keeps harassing you in your posts, report her to the professor of the discussion. There should be absolutely no reason that you feel like you can't make mistakes because of one idiot who has nothing else better to do than start a fight. :/

Exactly~~~I wasn't offensive in my reply to her post, so I'm not really sure why she took offense. She came at me in a way as if to say I was taking things too seriously. All I was doing is what we're supposed to do in the course regarding the discussions (we’re graded on these discussions). It sucks that she took things the wrong way, but I really meant no harm. If she continues to send more messages I’ll report her. Thanks!

[SouthernBelle82]

If you can't work it out between the two of you I would go to the professor of the class. Usually professor's don't like to deal with this since we're supposed to be adults and all but sometimes you need help.

Yes, I did mention that she messaged me first telling me not to take it personally..Obviously she was taking it personally thus came her message. I told her to have a good day and god bless..She keeps sending messages so..idk *smh*..I feel like she's going to try to point out every one of my mistakes in our open discussions (though I make sure mine are correct). I guess I'll just have to stay on top of things! lol

Maybe you can just ignore the person unless you really have to reply to them.

i would just ignore it.
The person you are talking to doesnt know crap.
She criticizes your WORD USAGE (she mentions grammar. grammar and word usage are two different things), yet her post have grammatical errors of its own (she has misplaced modifiers).
IMO, if you criticize someone's grammar mistakes, you shouldnt have any of your own.

In real life, she is probably one of those bombastic little SOBs that absolutely insists his or her opinion overrides the opinion of others.

PS, you gotta love the irony!! haha

So true. It's like when people call you a name and they either don't spell out the whole word or they spell it wrong lol.

[V12Juice]

You essentially instigated the argument by calling her out on her response. It's an online class, meaning everyone is there to read the responses made by everyone. Why would you try to start a flame war in an online discussion class? She's clearly just being defensive about her post that you attacked.

"I don't have to know you to know you use words that are out of context and obviously to big for your vocabulary. You are ridiculous. Get educated. I'm done, you are not even worth my time!"

This means just stop replying to her and get over it. It's an online class, meaning you won't have to see her IRL.

[Jamila]

You essentially instigated the argument by calling her out on her response. It's an online class, meaning everyone is there to read the responses made by everyone. Why would you try to start a flame war in an online discussion class? She's clearly just being defensive about her post that you attacked.

I don't see how I instigated the argument. It's something that we're supposed to do..we don't have to agree with the post... We can ask questions, agree, or disagree with the post..I didn't do it in an offensive way. Also, the class isn't based on discussions, it's a small part of what we're supposed to complete weekly. I replied to her post and she sunt me the first private message which continued with more private messages..I don't see how it's a "flame war" the messages were private. I replied to the first message because I didn't want her to think I was just picking on her post for no reason (her first message to me gave me the impression that she took offense)..I've replied to other individual's posts and none have taken it this way. I did not attack her post, only wrote a few sentences regarding what was incorrect. Sure she can defend her post but I feel the direct insults were not necessary.

[b0ra]

You should email the instructor and bring her comments to the professor's attention. They're inappropriate and derogatory. In my physics class, we have a list server in which everyone can send mass emails to each other asking for help or discuss hwk, etc. My professor has banned students if they make inappropriate comments (like insinuating another student is stupid or a slacker). Hope it works out & don't take her comments too seriously.