Why Do We Act Harshly in Online Discussions?

[Ken Natton]

I wouldn't agree that someone can have two personalities such that anonymity make them behave different.

There is another obvious example of people behaving differently with a removal of immediate contact that is much less than that achieved with contact over the internet – I am talking about driving on the public roads. It has, of course, been pointed out before how people are prepared to behave with an aggressiveness and an ignorance of others when behind the wheel of a car that they would never dream of in immediate contact with other people. Contact over the internet amplifies that disattachment several fold and that is a primary cause of some of the very odd behaviour you come across on forums, it seems to me.

To the greatest extent, the fact that we know nothing of each other on forums is actually a positive thing. It is a great leveller and a remover of so many prejudices and other barriers that plague ordinary human contact. And of course, its main advantage is the opportunity it offers to connect with a much wider group of people who share a common interest in whatever it is that is being discussed. But it is a shame that it sometimes tends to the kind of exchange that is likely to be of little interest to anyone other than the actual participants. I for one wouldn’t advocate us all being overly nice to each other, or worse in any way insincere. The whole point of the discussion, it seems to me, is different perspectives and even open disagreement. But it might help to improve the general standard if people always kept in mind that their contribution is likely to have little value if there is no prospect of it being of any interest to third party readers.

 

[Darken-Sol]

i have been thinking about the anonymity thing. i used to telemarket, selling providian gold cards, even sweet old ladies can be pretty rude over the phone. in a verbatim script i had little control in my rebuttles, but occasionally i would just wing it. id ask "is this such and such at...?" then read them their adress. this would usually be followed by silence then a distinct change of tone. it seems the idea that i knew their wherabouts and even their middle name robbed them of the desire to spout profanity and insults.

 

[SamirS]

lighten up man, sheesh. sometimes people just want to talk, they're not looking for a problem-solver. especially the ladies.

Yeah well I have no problems with the ladies. I'll just start correcting them after I got what I want. If she, however, starts talking about her sign, well...

I'm in a relationship that's lasted 11 years so far and I'm rather proud that my girlfriend is much harder to fool than she was before she knew me. If less people would "lighten up" in the face of esoteric babble, more people would actually think about what they say before they say it.

 

[VikFloyd]

I think people are mean on forums because they have low self esteem. I think correcting someone when it comes to having incorrect information is normal but when they keep correcting someone for grammatical errors is annoying. Like this is the internet not a formal English essay that is being sent to a formal environment...

 

[DanP]

You come across threads every once and a while where there is an obviously belligerent poster, who seems to want to shame anyone for anything incorrect they say. I just caught myself doing this at another forum, but, upon realization of the fact I was being a total douche bag, I went back and edited out anything nonfactual. Why is it that people, such as myself, feel a want to do that?

Is there some complex or something that I'm likely to have? Or, am I just a douche bag?

- anonymity
- diffusion of responsibility
- aggressiveness in various forums, this is a important prerequisite, it may be aggressiveness caused by something another person online did, or simply displacement agression.
- in spite of popular belief that humans are nice creatures, we often harbor aggressive and transgressive feelings.
- lack of fear of social rejection (some ppl identify with a virtual group. Others don't give a dime. Their social identity do not resides with the on-line group hence the fear of rejection is in-existent and conformity does not operates at full strength)
- authority has low power against large numbers (more jerks in the system, less power to do anything)
- low relationship with authority (after all, is internet. What they can do to you ? Ban you from a forum? For a punishment to mean anything, it has to be relevant. If you don't care ... well. )

Online behavior is pretty much the resultant of an interaction between authority (or total lack thereof in some cases) and competing impulses present in all of us. To answer you question, I have no freaking idea if you a re a douche bag or a nice person. Nor do I care. What I can say with certainty is that you are human :P

 

[DanP]

I'm in a relationship that's lasted 11 years so far and I'm rather proud that my girlfriend is much harder to fool than she was before she knew me. If less people would "lighten up" in the face of esoteric babble, more people would actually think about what they say before they say it.

And you think, she has to thank you for that ? 11 years of life experiences are lot, for all I know being with you may account for less than 1% of her changed behavior. Then maybe not.