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I would add that, to a lesser degree, being unable to communicate with someone in person dehumanizes them. Commenting online isn't the same as hearing their vo

I would add that, to a lesser degree, being unable to communicate with someone in person dehumanizes them. Commenting online isn't the same as hearing their voice and standing in front of them. That makes a huge different in how some responds and stops a lot of hate and trolling.

kibwen 9y ago
Sure, but I'd argue that it's societal unfamiliarity with the ramifications of mass communication (anonymous or otherwise) that causes this effect. The interface to this site may imply that this comment here is a response to you, and it even feels that way in my head sometimes, but in reality all of our comments are publicly broadcasted to the thousands and thousands of people on this site (hi, everyone!). That's a bizarre effect of the web that even veterans often allow themselves to forget. In the past, the people who needed to understand the difference between private and public speech were those who spoke for a living: orators, salesmen, politicians. Yet the power granted by the internet has made this knowledge crucial for everyone, but nowhere is it really taught. And even though this dynamic is enabled by the internet, the internet is not limited to it. One-on-one communication is quite possible. Video chat becomes more accessible every year. Even sites like ChatRoulette and Omegle were once great ways to have actual, honest conversations with strangers (still are, if you can wade through the sea of literal wankers). This conversation has given me a lot of food for thought of what it would look like to make one-on-one video chat a core feature of public forums like Reddit.
- petra 9y ago
  I think there was a research talking about the emotional value of instant messaging(close to zero emotional value), a phone call(some emotional value), and face to face conversation(full value). as for video chat - they also diminish the emotional experience(trust), because of lack of eye-contact. but once you offer full eye contact and body language, for ex. via telepresence, this improves dramatically, probably very close to real-life conversation. So how do we create such a system fit for consumers ? and since text, etc is more convinient and addictive, can we design something that consumers will love to use ?
  - intended 9y ago
    please can we stop making addictive code?

kibwen 9y ago

Sure, but I'd argue that it's societal unfamiliarity with the ramifications of mass communication (anonymous or otherwise) that causes this effect. The interface to this site may imply that this comment here is a response to you, and it even feels that way in my head sometimes, but in reality all of our comments are publicly broadcasted to the thousands and thousands of people on this site (hi, everyone!). That's a bizarre effect of the web that even veterans often allow themselves to forget. In the past, the people who needed to understand the difference between private and public speech were those who spoke for a living: orators, salesmen, politicians. Yet the power granted by the internet has made this knowledge crucial for everyone, but nowhere is it really taught. And even though this dynamic is enabled by the internet, the internet is not limited to it. One-on-one communication is quite possible. Video chat becomes more accessible every year. Even sites like ChatRoulette and Omegle were once great ways to have actual, honest conversations with strangers (still are, if you can wade through the sea of literal wankers). This conversation has given me a lot of food for thought of what it would look like to make one-on-one video chat a core feature of public forums like Reddit.

petra 9y ago
I think there was a research talking about the emotional value of instant messaging(close to zero emotional value), a phone call(some emotional value), and face to face conversation(full value). as for video chat - they also diminish the emotional experience(trust), because of lack of eye-contact. but once you offer full eye contact and body language, for ex. via telepresence, this improves dramatically, probably very close to real-life conversation. So how do we create such a system fit for consumers ? and since text, etc is more convinient and addictive, can we design something that consumers will love to use ?
- intended 9y ago
  please can we stop making addictive code?