I'm Ashamed of WATMM Sometimes

Just got a request for a recently joined member's account to be deleted. When asked why:

  Quote

It’s the general negativity of the place and particularly using autism spectrum condition as an insult that makes watmm a place I don’t need to be associated with. I’ve worked for an autism charity for many years and find the use of autism as an insult on here crass and tasteless. I know it’s not everyone, but still it something I rather avoid. 

Some friendly and interesting people on here, and have come across some great new music , but overall don’t find this watmm something I want to be an active part of. 

I apologised on our behalf and thought this was worth bringing to everyone's attention - and this is not the first kind of request like this I've had to honour for similar reasons.

Let's all try to be a bit more empathetic towards each other and not let this kind of behaviour define us as a community.

damn man if only someone could do anything about this

I've felt this now and I'm not using that word anymore.

  On 8/15/2019 at 12:45 AM, KovalainenFanBoy said:

damn man if only someone could do anything about this

That’s just it - we don’t want to be so heavy-handed with the moderation that it stifles discussion and we can’t be everywhere and read everything...

my hope is that most of you exercise restraint most of the time, but I guess that’s too much to ask?

  On 8/15/2019 at 12:49 AM, Stickfigger said:

Did we ever find out what that burger emoticon was for ?

It’s an old WATMM meme - just thought it was cute to bring back

Something that weirded me out from the beginning. Glad you make this a topic

Found search results

autistic 608
autism 528
autist 69

might be younger people coming from sites like 4chan (like me). (I only visit/mu/ occasionally, rest of the site is pure toxicity) there it's used in over half the threads I've seen. i think it's tasteless, but on there you really can't do anything about it. that might be how people are conditioned to feel it's acceptable/funny to use in casual conversation.

  On 8/15/2019 at 1:13 AM, Stickfigger said:

Ah, i had heard that the widespread understanding of said meme was that it referred to aspergers. 

Exactly 

Or assburgers, to be specific. Always liked that one, tbh. If someone acts like an ass, you can always put him between two halfs of a burger. 

I have noticed watmm members have seemed more negative toward each other than usual lately. But as JR mentioned in another thread, it seems to come and go in cycles. If I had just joined, I probably wouldn't stick around either. But then again, the 2019 me wouldn't be joining an IDM forum anyway. I need to go find a dad rock forum to hang out in. Or maybe a Tycho sub-forum.

unfortunate thing, that message. part of it is that watmm is so sympathetic to autism that some take license, consequently. it's bad practice for a reason, though.

anyway, i definitely think that history is moving toward sensitivity. these edgy folk read as crass.

  On 8/15/2019 at 12:45 AM, KovalainenFanBoy said:

damn man if only someone could do anything about this

Yeah, like maybe not calling people autistic or treating it like an overtly negative trait. Shit, I shouldn't have to explain to my supervisor at work that calling things "retarded" is not a acceptable but boy does he keep doing it anyway.

damn.. if only all the cool people who made this place funny and chill weren't kicked out

One Very Important Thot

i'm probably stupid but seems like half the time here calling someone autistic or "autism intensifies" is some kind of an endearing compliment. but i guess that means the other half the time it's used to frame something as a negative and that's not cool. 

i think the negativity is cyclical and comes when the outside world and all its ills and divisiveness are amplified.. which seems like it is. thanks zuckerberg. 

i've never thought of this site as toxic but i tend to hang out in 5 same threads or something. there's far more toxic and shit show places on the net even just considering the music and gear relative forums. 

anyway.. i wouldn't fret.. after all, watmm is dying according to something i read on the internet.  btw, how far above sea level are the watmm servers? 

Yeah, I don’t think I contributed to this in a positive way at all earlier.

It’s hard to be empathetic when you’re tagged in a post over a post reaction and being called “autist” from the get go.

That being said, I didn’t have to react the way I did, pretty juvenile tbh.

  On 8/15/2019 at 4:00 AM, ignatius said:

i'm probably stupid but seems like half the time here calling someone autistic or "autism intensifies" is some kind of an endearing compliment. but i guess that means the other half the time it's used to frame something as a negative and that's not cool. 

i think the negativity is cyclical and comes when the outside world and all its ills and divisiveness are amplified.. which seems like it is. thanks zuckerberg. 

i've never thought of this site as toxic but i tend to hang out in 5 same threads or something. there's far more toxic and shit show places on the net even just considering the music and gear relative forums. 

anyway.. i wouldn't fret.. after all, watmm is dying according to something i read on the internet.  btw, how far above sea level are the watmm servers? 

Expand  

it's entirely dependent upon context, location, and intent.  if someone is writing a post insulting someone else and calls them an autist, it's intended to be negative.  if someone is writing a post praising someone and calls them an autist, it's generally positive.  some areas of the internet use it as a compliment, in some locations it's even "the" compliment.

most places are heavily biased in favor of extroverted normals, so outside of niche areas it's generally used in an insulting manner, and when they try to use the word they almost always use it wrong because they can't comprehend using it right.

  On 8/15/2019 at 2:47 AM, zero said:

I have noticed watmm members have seemed more negative toward each other than usual lately.

internet culture in general right now seems to have a disappointing sort of "edgy" quality to it where people needlessly treat each other people with a sort of cynical masochism for teh lulz.  people are all trying to be so clever and funny, but so many people don't really understand context, comedy, and how to treat other people, so it all comes out in a unnecessarily snarky and mean way.  some people are genuinely smart and funny on this board, but they're the exception rather than the norm.  mostly, it seems that everybody wants to be some sort of jaded cynic, but that's such an annoying and negative archetype to play into.

i do think things are slowly moving the other direction across the internet in general, but if people started treating other posters on this board as actual real people,  i think a lot of the stupid middle school behavior would disappear, and everybody would benefit.  but that's just me..

I just hope I'm not coming off as an asshole in general. I'm trying to be more cautious and sensitive with my posts these days, especially with the tension in the air in the past month or so.

IDM Interesting musics and dankness just happen to be two of my favorite things tho. Part of the reason I stick around.

That's a shame but yeezus, people are so sensitive. We are on an idm forum... a fucking idm forum, think about that for a second before getting offended and didnt the frigging aphex twin say he's got autism?

  On 8/15/2019 at 1:13 AM, Stickfigger said:

Ah, i had heard that the widespread understanding of said meme was that it referred to aspergers. 

No, it’s in relation to (and I don’t remember the genesis of it) “are you going to fix that burger?” And the response was “i’m Not gonna fix that burger”.

I hear you on this. There could be people on this forum taking care of someone, taking real responsibility and time out of their lives to to look after a disabled person, and I can only imagine their reaction to the online usage of words relating to autism. It's something to appreciate. But at the same time, I grew up in an extremely politically incorrect environment and the kind of random stuff you could expect to hear was refreshing and aired things out well. Chaos(free speech) is the way to go, even if people say bad stuff. Like Eugene caused some controversy in that Epstein thread, but none of us are worse off for it. We all said what we needed to say, no one's morality was influenced and we reaffirmed our beliefs. No harm done, really. It's a beautiful thing, this free speech. It works itself out in a way that can surprise us and renew our faith.

  On 8/15/2019 at 6:46 AM, Candiru said:

I hear you on this. There could be people on this forum taking care of someone, taking real responsibility and time out of their lives to to look after a disabled person, and I can only imagine their reaction to the online usage of words relating to autism. It's something to appreciate. But at the same time, I grew up in an extremely politically incorrect environment and the kind of random stuff you could expect to hear was refreshing and aired things out well. Chaos(free speech) is the way to go, even if people say bad stuff. Like Eugene caused some controversy in that Epstein thread, but none of us are worse off for it. We all said what we needed to say, no one's morality was influenced and we reaffirmed our beliefs. No harm done, really. It's a beautiful thing, this free speech. It works itself out in a way that can surprise us and renew our faith.

pictured you reading this out loud in front of a framed 8x10 of tom brady... 

Hm, i lived under the impression it's just IDM slang for "meticulousness" or something along those lines, in any case connotated rather positively really. Wasn't there even a thread where everyone basically boasted with their autism spectrum test results??

Edit: I mean sure, arguably still kinda tasteless. Just sayn.

lol that this is an actual thread