8 ms·
As long as there are no consequences to being a dick to people over the internet, "toxic internet" is here to stay.
by castis 9y ago
As long as there are no consequences to being a dick to people over the internet, "toxic internet" is here to stay.
- devmunchies 9y agoSticks and stones. More concerning is the large scale propaganda and marketing.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Slansitartop 9y agoExactly, but only as long as you take precautions that no one can escalate online harassment to something that's a real-life problem. I'm pretty comfortable online, but mainly because I only post under frequently-changed pseudonyms and never leak much personal info. If someone gets obsessively mad at me, I can just abandon the account and be done with it.
- castis 9y agoThis has nothing to do with "getting your feelings hurt". If someone is a dick to you IRL, you just go about life without them and its of zero consequence to you. Imagine if they stayed in your life outside of your own accord and just yelled dumb shit at you from the sidelines. Not everyone is built as strong as you, it bothers some people.
- superkuh 9y agoBeing someone who choses to take offense and get upset about every little thing is their problem. Not everyone elses.
- castis 9y agoGenerally speaking, you and I agree on that much. However, we're talking about how filters and algorithms won't stop people from being dicks to each other.
- intended 9y agoThats untrue - in that what you describe is the kind of trolling we would wish for because its benign. Trolls actively target forums for support groups. Today they can attack groups and classes of people. At this point, expecting people to "grow a thick skin" is not an option, because a major aspect of their life is fighting for their rights against people who are attacking them, or people who have hurt them. At this juncture the troll loses all rights over the definition and interpretation of how their action should be perceived. Instead most normal people just see it as vandalism and stop caring about whether it was for the lulz or not. --- And as stated in the article - NOT responding to a troll who is attacking someone makes you complicit.
- castis 9y agoYour definition of 'complicit' appears to be flawed. Choosing not to be involved is clearly not the same as actually starting the behavior to begin with.
- gowld 9y ago"propaganda and marketing" are "words", the kind that, as you imply, cannot hurt you. To say otherwise is "free speech, only if I like it"
- ranie93 9y agoIgnoring bots/ads/spam commentators, I think the emergent toxicity in online discussion is a result of a fast-paced feedback loop and (ultimately) low empathy. All people commenting online; liberal, conservative, depressed, mentally ill, whatever-- they all have ebbs and flows to their behavior. Online discussion exposes the sum negative aspects in the behaviors of all actors. Instant feedback loops (esp. 1-to-many interactions) speed up the rate of negativity.
- oflannabhra 9y agoI agree. There are strong psychological and sociological inhibitions that the internet strips away. Turns out those inhibitions are a good thing, and likely evolved for a reason.
- draw_down 9y agoI think there are definitely layers here. One of the things happening is that people who ultimately support all sorts of awful things like genocide and racial cleansing get upset when people are rude to them on the internet, as if that were the real problem. There are a lot of priorities out of whack.
- SimbaOnSteroids 9y agoWhat if a sampling of your comments floated around you in AR. Dystopian? Probably, but it would force you to face consequences.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoIf you can't be a dick to people in a virtual online world then perhaps you feel you have to test your ideas by being a dick to them IRL? This appears to be the parallel catharsis argument to that used for why ultra-violent FPS don't encourage, provoke, increase violent behaviour. [I don't really buy it in either case, but I'd argue it online to see what other think.]
- john_moscow 9y agoThe only consequence you should get for being a dick should be people realizing it and not taking you seriously. IMO, that's one of the things you shouldn't really outsource, unless you want someone else to pretty much decide everything for you.