Why are we so rude online?

Why Are We So Rude Online? [wsj.com]

Quote : Why are we so nasty to each other online? Whether on Facebook, Twitter, message boards or websites, we say things to each other that we would never say face to face. Shouldn't we know better by now? Anonymity is a powerful force. Hiding behind a fake screen name makes us feel invincible, as well as invisible. Never mind that, on many websites, we're not as anonymous as we think...

What do you think? Is this simply a matter of social awareness, or is there something intrinsically dis-inhibiting about communicating online?

I think the truth is that we are nastier than as we appear to be in person. In person, you are inhibited by repercussions for your actions, so your true feelings don't come out. However online, that inhibition is absent due to the anonymity

Quote from burninator : Why Are We So Rude Online? [wsj.com] What do you think? Is this simply a matter of social awareness, or is there something intrinsically dis-inhibiting about communicating online?

I'm probably nicer on the internet than I am in person. Writing things down forces me to think about my words.

Speak for yourself burninator.

I am much nicer online than in person because of the banhammer. I don't make any statements online that I don't make to people in person as well.

Quote from BigBananaMess : Speak for yourself burninator. I am much nicer online than in person because of the banhammer. I don't make any statements online that I don't make to people in person as well.

The article, of course, speaks in general terms. I highlighted one particularly interesting excerpt, but the whole thing is illuminating.

Quote from burninator : Why Are We So Rude Online? [wsj.com] What do you think? Is this simply a matter of social awareness, or is there something intrinsically dis-inhibiting about communicating online?

That's exactly it.

To paraphrase Heinlein, manners are good when one may have to back up his words with his teeth.

Picture is worth a 1000 words.

can you punch another person out through the computer..... its pretty easy answer

I thought words don't hurt, at least that how the old saying goes...

The vitriol here does not surprise me. Anonymous web forums allow people to hide, and therefore reveal themselves to be fully what they are. This much we knew. What I think is interesting is when people are rude to each other on platforms where they appear as themselves like facebook. Beyond that, they deal with people they know personally, and apparently still act crazy. There was a time when parents taught their kids that it was inappropriate to discuss politics and religion in polite company... facebook has blurred that line.

I don't think facebook is a good place to discuss politics. For those kinds of discussions to be in any way constructive you really need some private space where you can deal with the individual. In person, via e-mail, on the phone, these are the kinds of settings where political conversation could take place. We require a setting where the humanity of the other person remains evident at all times.

Quote from Elmer : To paraphrase Heinlein, manners are good when one may have to back up his words with his teeth.

That is an interesting theory, but when is the last time you or someone you know got punched for something they said? That's the kind of thing that happens a lot up through college and almost never after that.

Realistically what is the worst that happens? People avoid you at the water cooler? Don't invite you to lunch?

Quote from BigBananaMess : That is an interesting theory, but when is the last time you or someone you know got punched for something they said? That's the kind of thing that happens a lot up through college and almost never after that. Realistically what is the worst that happens? People avoid you at the water cooler? Don't invite you to lunch?

I don't think he meant it literally. When you say something vile to someone's face, there will be consequences like the ones you mentioned. Whether you think that's enough to be polite is up to you.

I am not going to lie, I am much nicer in person than I am online.

Apparently people like threatening to knock someone's teeth in?

Seems odd to me.

Quote from vaultaddict : Apparently people like threatening to knock someone's teeth in? Seems odd to me.

Perhaps the lack of negative consequences isn't the major factor.

When are you on your best behaviour and most polite? When you want to have sex with someone.

Given that is not a possibility on SD (as far as I know) then what is the point of being nice? (other than fear of the banhammer, of course)