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I'd say there are those that behave like that in real life, others not so much, especially when you look then straight in the eye and they can see things will turn nasty very quickly if they persist. Me - I don't believe in or feel the need to escalate or to provoke unpleasantness. I would rather defuse situations, including on the internet. Besides, many people do know who I am. I call them friends.
I guess it just disheartens me to see all the nastiness. I am not so naive to think that everyone on the internet would all have a Kumbaya moment all the time, but I had hope that the majority of people would at least be civil to each other. But it does speak volumes about humanity, I'm afraid.
FYI, I posted this thread in Great Debates and I think it bounced around CD because the mods didn't know where to put it. lol.
I think it is a good thing, because there is too much censorship in the world, too much pressure to edit what you would really like to say, and an "outlet" can really help one to cope with the world. I'm not saying that one should be nasty per se, but that too often people want to suppress your right to speak your mind almost in ANY fashion. I think it's telling that with people like Charles Barkley, a very outspoken personality, the common remark you hear with regards to him is how he supposedly "says what other people wish they could say."
The Internet, especially when one uses an alias in forums, gives them that ability. It's an outlet. To me, yes, if it happened on the Internet, it's pretty much irrelevant to the real world to me. I can tell you that I'm one that considers the Internet an "alternate reality" that has nothing to do with the "real world" whatsoever (unless you're, say, selling fraudulent goods and hacking someone's PayPal etc). It's a place where people go to "role play" and become someone else outside the REAL world of their normal life, sort of like when an artist puts out alternate music under a different name (like Garth Brooks when he has "Chris Gaines" material). It's like in the 70s when people talked on the CD radio under a "handle."
I look at it this way--which would you rather have, someone nailing a slow driver blocking the left lane on the road in real life, or just "ranting" in the forums about how much they hate that behavior and what they'd LOVE to do to them? There is so much junk in the world to deal with, you need an outlet of release. Some do it by running long distances hard and cussing as they do so, others play violent video games where you can get away with blowing up things but it's not real, some do it by "venting" in forums. Compared to actually harming someone, it's all fine as far as I'm concerned.
You have a point there, shyguylh. However, I still feel people should be respectful of each other so that would be in conflict with 'internet free expression'. I don't know you so I cannot be nasty or whatever to you. I cannot face you so once again I cannot say nasty or whatever things to you while hidden behind a computer screen. And I wouldn't do so if I did know you or could face you in real life. So to answer the OP's question, no it's NOT OK to attack someone on the internet!
Sometimes I feel the temptation to be nasty, but my philosophy is; If you wouldn't say it to their face, don't say it.
Same here. I try to be constructive and not get into nasty discussions. If I have a particular beef with a poster, I will leave them a rep comment but sign my name. I've angered a few folks that way but I do try not to get into a public flame war. Most of the times I try to walk away although I'm not always successful. I suffer a bit from a "white knight" syndrome where I will stand up for a poster, especially if they are being unjustly bullied.
I've come to the conclusion that many folks are very, very angry about things and that can come through in how they behave in a public forum. Even the most innocuous posts can result in some vicious attacks. I've attempted to start a few "humorous" threads on these forums but after the posts deteriorate into attacks, I don't even try. One got so bad I asked the mods to take it down after people started insulting my intelligence and reading comprehension.
Another phenomenon I've seen on discussion boards are the obvious "trolls." They take a deep satisfaction in starting topics that will rile up other posters. Many years ago I had a buddy that would do this. Trolling was his hobby and so many folks would take the bait. He was a decent person personally but I never understand his other online persona.
I have seen so many nasty comments on the internet. The comment section on my local newspaper website was so bad that they disabled the comment section. YouTube comments are bad. And if you discuss politics, it is even worse.
Why do people think it is ok for such nastiness? I wonder if the people making such nasty comments if they do the same thing if they were face to face with someone or is it just because the internet gives us anonymity? I know it is easy to hide because the computer but if people are like that on-line, isn't that who they really are?
Thoughts? Comments? (And no nastiness, please.)
Cat
Can't speak for the local paper, but keep in mind that on YouTube, you have a lot of young people on there, school aged kids. School aged kids will say nasty things right to your face, as well, they aren't hiding behind anything, that's how some of them are on and off the internet. You also have people from all over the world, not just local people.
I think that people do talk like that in real life. I know people like to say that they are hiding behind their keyboards and that they wouldn't say that if they were face to face with each other, but I believe that peole would indeed do just that.
I've heard enough in real life to have a firm, strong belief that people are nasty all the time.
The term keyboard commando should be taken with a grain of salt. The most effective form of communication is face to face communication. They say people write what they cannot say.
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I call them friends.
