Why We Are So Rude Online

[Sam I Am]

DIE DIE DIE!!!

=========================================

Why We Are So Rude Online

Jennifer Bristol recently lost one of her oldest friends—thanks to a Facebook fight about pit bulls.

The trouble started when she posted a newspaper article asserting that pit bulls were the most dangerous type of dog in New York City last year. "Please share thoughts… 833 incidents with pitties," wrote Ms. Bristol, a 40-year-old publicist and animal-welfare advocate in Manhattan.

Her friends, many of whom also work in the animal-welfare world, quickly weighed in. One noted that "pit bull" isn't a single official breed; another said "irresponsible ownership" is often involved when dogs turn violent. Black Labs may actually bite more, someone else offered.

Then a childhood pal of Ms. Bristol piped up with this: "Take it from an ER doctor… In 15 years of doing this I have yet to see a golden retriever bite that had to go to the operating room or killed its target."

That unleashed a torrent. One person demanded to see the doctor's "scientific research." Another accused him of not bothering to confirm whether his patients were actually bitten by pit bulls. Someone else suggested he should "venture out of the ER" to see what was really going on.

"It was ridiculous," says Ms. Bristol, who stayed out of the fight. Her old buddy, the ER doctor, unfriended her the next morning. That was eight months ago. She hasn't heard from him since.

Complete Story

[Reality]

People are rude because they are incapable of articulating their differing opinions in a well thought out manner or they are insecure in their opinions. They are rude online because they are so used to everyone else being rude and they want to build a following of support to help reduce their insecurities and doubts.

My grandfather was a people person, but he was also a debater. He would debate with just about anyone on any topic and he would go on and on about it. My father was even more opinionated than my grandfather, but I noticed my father rarely got into debates with anyone including family. Whenever he disagreed with someone, he usually stated his point, responded to the first response he received, then he let it go.

When I was young, I was more like my grandfather in that I would debate endlessly. I asked my father why he tended to let everything go or even worse, let other people have the last word in debates. Beyond his normal "You can't fix stupid" saying, he said that debating to win is a lost cause. You should debate to inform, not to win.

I firmly believe in that philosophy now which is why when I get into a debate with someone online, I typically do not respond more than 2 times to the same person. There are some exceptions, but they are rare.

I do the same in the offline world as well. I don't have the "I must prove I'm right" mindset. If I believe I am right, that is all that I need. I do not need confirmation of it from anyone else nor do I have even a remote desire to convince others they are wrong. I believe you believe what you believe and the only person who can convince you to change what you believe is yourself.

#reality

[Sam I Am]

Lets discuss what it means to "go viral".

[Reality]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Lets discuss what it means to "go viral".

I will debate a topic more than a couple of times over multiple days usually because the points of the topic have shifted in that time. I will also debate the same topic with multiple people over time as well.

As for "go viral" .. I accept that most people have absolutely no idea how the internet works. They assume they do because they use Facebook and other similar services, but they really have no understanding of how it works.

Even in the offline world, people draw conclusions based on the end result. For example, the favorite songs of most teens is the one that local radio stations play the most. They assume the radio stations play the songs so much because of demand, but in reality, the songs are played to create the following, which in turn drives it even more creating more demand .. perpetual marketing for the win!

That is why I am not a fan of mass advertising. If the Kony video was really viral, then so would be AOL from the late 90s and early 2000s. Never mind the fact that you could find an AOL CD in every magazine or our mailboxes every other day.

When something gets popular through mass marketing and media saturation, people sharing it after that does mean the content is truly viral. It just means that skilled advertising agents and/or bored media editors took advantage of their market reach.

It's just like news sites who have a "What's Viral Today" column .. if it was viral, they wouldn't have to tell you about it.

Oh .. and Sam .. you suck!

#reality

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Reality

I believe you believe what you believe and the only person who can convince you to change what you believe is yourself.

#reality

Believe it.

[Faerluna]

I've never once said anything online that I wouldn't say straight to someone's face, without regret. It's simply not who I am.

However, I see this all the time working in online support via email. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

[Rynie]

It's because people aren't face-to-face, so they feel like a mighty keyboard warrior, while hiding behind a computer screen.

/thread

[vta]

Originally Posted by Rynie

It's because people aren't face-to-face, so they feel like a mighty keyboard warrior, while hiding behing a computer screen.

/thread

Truth. Anonymity allows for the true person to come out.
Oh and we're all rude at some point.

[casmith07]

Originally Posted by Rynie

It's because people aren't face-to-face, so they feel like a mighty keyboard warrior, while hiding behind a computer screen.

/thread

Quoted for Truth.

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Originally Posted by Rynie

It's because people aren't face-to-face, so they feel like a mighty keyboard warrior, while hiding behind a computer screen.

/thread

This.

[Sam I Am]

Originally Posted by Rynie

It's because people aren't face-to-face, so they feel like a mighty keyboard warrior, while hiding behind a computer screen.

/thread

[Rack Bauer]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Why We Are So Rude Online

I'm actually nicer online than I am at work. At home I just kind of go brain dead and let the happenings of the work day dissapate.