[quote=sdrealtor]
Ren
I dont think pointing out naivity is mean spirited. Give me a better word for it and I’ll use it. FYI, The tone I use online is calculated. Its the only way to be heard consistently in a forum like this. Particularly as a realtor. If I wasnt abrupt I would have gotten eaten alive a very long time ago.
[/quote]

My point is that you didn’t have to use any word at all. The rest of your post said everything you needed to say. Adding the naive comment changed an informative post into a malicious one.

I disagree that you would be eaten alive simply for being relatively pleasant. There are several friendly realtors here who earn respect by posting intelligently. If someone gives you crap for your opinion, then by all means you should get nasty and use your knowledge to back it up. Otherwise, it’s just counterproductive.

In my experience, vitriol is a lot like cussing. It should be used sparingly not because it’s bad, but so that it has more impact when you finally do use it. The idea is to have people fear what’s under the surface while still valuing your opinion – not to have them avoid you completely.