Sometimes I post hostile comments.

Mostly I'd say I don't.

However I reserve my right to my hostility when it happens. Not everyone is a troll and not everyone is just trying to argue, argue, argue until we're all shouting over each other. I don't agree that "pessimists here die out." I'm a pessimist. About what, I choose to generally keep my mouth shut because that's my own business and I don't want or need to offend anyone, nor do I want or need to defend my pessimism.

I do not think hostile vs. non-hostile comments are as simple as a matter of maturity or age. There is a lot of room for interpretation and misinterpretation in those spaces in between words and lines. I think that a few long, passionate comments back and forth on a controversial matter can sometimes help hash things out. When I have made more than 2 or 3 replies to the same person on the same topic, that is when I get tired and decide the debate is no longer worth it. It may have gotten negative by that point or it may not have. I try to avoid getting negative and lashing out but I have to own up to hostile comments, comments which maybe no one else would even think were very hostile but, since i have the advantage of knowing exactly what I meant when I posted them, I know and feel are hostile.

Sometimes it happens. I think the maturity comes from knowing how to read and engage in a discussion. I will write a page-long take-down of a comment when it is, in my opinion, very wrong, very misguided, or so on. However, users should try and read the thread. Is someone else already handling the rebuttal? If so, don't pile on. Are you getting too heated? If so, walk away. Is the discussion going nowhere except incendiary language and popcorn drama? Know when to fold 'em. Are you embarrassing yourself? Run.

I think that is perhaps one of the best tools Hubski has at "keeping commenters in line." There is no other online community where I have worried that making my aggressive responses/opinions would cause other users to think badly of me. I respect the other users I know and want them to respect me. When you engage in a flamewar on Hubski, it's very public. I have repeatedly thought, "Everyone is watching/anyone can see this." Sometimes it has made me cringe. Sometimes, it's made me stop.

If you care about your Hubski rep you don't troll. And if you don't care about your Hubski rep, do you care about the community? And why are you here?