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Which is how it became a unicorn because it turns out that humans get addicted to being angry
by dustingetz 8y ago
Which is how it became a unicorn because it turns out that humans get addicted to being angry
- harryf 8y agoEspecially when you can deliver insults without the threat of receiving a smack in the face back
- mc32 8y agoI dunno about you, but most people don’t react to insults with physical injury, though in extreme cases that does happen. Not that baseless insults should be encouraged.
- morgancmartin 8y agoYes, but in person insults are less likely to happen because of the _implication_ of violence.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- stickfigure 8y agomost people don’t react to insults with physical injury I'm not quite so sure about that. Most people don't hurl insults face-to-face. If people acted like their twitter personalities IRL, I would expect to see a massive uptick in fistfights.
- mc32 8y agoIt depends on what you consider “insult”. From taking public transit, waiting in bus stops and walking through blue collar neighborhoods most insults are either ignored or get another insult in return.
- matwood 8y agoMaybe we hang out in different circles, but I've never heard the level of insults IRL that I have read on Twitter. I have a feeling the large majority of those doing the insulting would be terrified to say those things to someones face because they know a physical altercation would end up being the common response.
- mc32 8y agoOk. Let’s put forth some baselines. In real life most people don’t grievously insult each other (discount passive aggressiveness, microagressions, bravado, boasting and other ultralight insults) Most people on Twitter don’t insult each other. A low percentage of people do in both cases. Does Twitter facilitate and provide a more lubricated vehicle for insult? Possibly?
- rchaud 8y ago> Most people on Twitter don’t insult each other. A low percentage of people do in both cases. Does Twitter facilitate and provide a more lubricated vehicle for insult? Possibly? Possibly? Absolutely. The foundation of Twitter is the retweet. Without it, there is no sharing, and stuff can't 'go viral'. Most people don't insult each other, but they sure do like and retweet insults, false facts and other negative stuff ruining online communities. Retweeting is the ultimate cop-out, because you didn't have the guts to say those things, but had no issue having it show up on your feed and those of your followers. You were just "sharing".
- darkpuma 8y agoI think I get what you're saying. I've seen people call others "fat fucks" (heard that one yesterday) and shit like that in person in public, which is fairly extreme by face-to-face standards but very tame by twitter standards. I've never seen somebody accuse somebody else face-to-face of being a cannibalistic child rapist, but I've seen that on twitter! I think that's the kind of insult that would stand a decent chance of starting a physical altercation.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
- Mirioron 8y ago>Most people don't hurl insults face-to-face. I think you're wrong. I think most people do hurl insults face-to-face. They just don't do it often. Most people, especially of the working class, can very easily get into these kinds of spats in the real world.
- vishnugupta 8y agoFrom what I've seen, at least in the sports arena, most of the physical fights start off with verbal insults. That could also be because sports already has an element of Us vs Them built into it. However, the speed with which things escalate from verbal insults is quite amazing.
- mc32 8y agoBut even in those situations primed for antagonism fistfights and other are the exception. Ignorance and retorts are the most common reaction.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoThat's like foreplay in those situations, the verbal abuse is as much about working the offender up - and sizing up their opposition - as it is about actually abusing anyone.
- TIMECUB3 8y agoSports arenas -- at least in the U.S. and several other Western countries -- also serve alcohol, which aids in escalating such situations.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoIn the UK you can get arrested for tweeting in opposition to the groupthink, not a smack in the face as such, ...
- Ntrails 8y agoCan you cite some examples of people being prosecuted for saying things on twitter that aren't, you know, bomb threats or holocaust denial etc.
- hartator 8y agoTommy Robinson got jailed for filing outside of a court room.
- pjc50 8y agoContempt of court (attempt to unduly influence court proceedings); perhaps unduly strict in the UK but in no way Twitter or Internet-specific. And getting arrested was I suspect part of the protest.
- paganel 8y agoHere it goes, from a few days ago (I'm not the OP): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6687123/Mother-arrested-children-calling-transgender-woman-man.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6687123/Mother-arre... Sorry for the Daily Mail link but it looks like the mainstream press hasn't catch up on the subject. Afaik transphobia is not on the same level with "bomb threats or holocaust denial" but apparently people get arrested for it.
- pjc50 8y agoDaily Mail reporting will be grossly inaccurate on this subject. I suspect this was not for a single incident but as part of a campaign of harrasment. There's a lot of that going on against trans people at the moment, often enabled by twitter and the gutter press.
- switch007 8y agoPerhaps not a "smack" from the /target/ of your insult, depending on your local laws... In the UK we have the wonderful mix of various repressive speech offence laws [0] and an underfunded police force that like to scan Twitter [0] https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/human-rights/free-speech-and-protest/speech-offences https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/human-rights/free-spee...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- avip 8y agoIt's mostly bots insulting each other, while we humans seat aside and laugh.
- ConceptJunkie 8y agoWill those Russians stop at nothing?