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Misguided yet understandable conclusion. People enjoy doing things for others. It's a deep Need people have. If mass violence and wars, natural disasters of al
by hos234 7y ago
Misguided yet understandable conclusion.
People enjoy doing things for others. It's a deep Need people have. If mass violence and wars, natural disasters of all kinds through the ages, have not been able to make us more selfish and wipe out that need, internet drama is not going to either.
The process is messy sure, and if you are experiencing it for the first time it can be confusing, repulsive and misleading. It's not a good idea to follow those feelings and make conclusions. Because those conclusions will obscure from your view, the reasons why anything good happens in the world.
- _Codemonkeyism 7y agoPeople enjoy power over other people. The benefit of closing questions or moderation on Stack Overflow is questionable.
- mellosouls 7y agoIf sure you didn't intend it, but your tone "misguided", "if you are experiencing it for the first time..." is rather condescending. Bear in mind there are many of us with many years in the online trenches who have reached the same conclusion - participation is one thing; giving over a huge part of your time and energy is more questionable. Also the idea that people do it out of an altruistic need to help may be true in some cases but neglects the significant motivation of validation, the need to feel noticed and appreciated through upvotes and other reputation buzzes, and the following increase in "power" and "status", which isn't so obviously positive and healthy.
- scarejunba 7y agoOh no, I've been around this stuff for decades and I contribute to Wikipedia. It's the tying your self-worth and identity to it that's going to lead to unhappiness. I like contributing to Wikipedia. If I were banned, I'd just eat it and go away. It wouldn't hurt me.