Jump to content

How the internet created an age of rage.


Recommended Posts

I read this article from The Observer today and was struck by the similarities with the situation on Sheffield Forum which has become unbearable recently.

 

In particular the phenomenon of "deindividuation" which happens when social norms are withdrawn because identities are concealed and allows all the animosities to develop on an online forum. The kind of aggression here would never happen in face to face discussion and it's only possible because everyone is hiding behind online names.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/24/internet-anonymity-trolling-tim-adams

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very interesting article.

 

I like the Schoepenhauer quotation at the end. You can see that phenomenon happening in the tabloid press - the worst stories in the Mail are always credited to 'Daily Mail reporter'.

 

Is depressing. Sometimes the only thing to do is switch off the computer and go and breathe some fresh air.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Internet hatred and rage - how can it be positive?

 

Depends on your interpretation of rage. As for hatred I couldn't find it in your post or the title.

 

You may interpret a communication as rage but in fact it isn't. I may come over as a bit hot blooded on here but believe that's far from the truth.

 

Other than pm's threatening me with death or my children to be struck down with cancer then it's all in a days play. The internet didn't create rage, two people unable to communicate is the usual culprit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you feel it's a positive or negative? Generally speaking that is.
Hiding behind an online persona has both positives and negatives

 

I always liken SF to a local pub. The dynamics are pretty similar when you stop and think (and how many scraps break out in pubs? :D )

 

The only time this theory falls down is when a forum gives people the confidence to bare their soul or air a problem knowing that their friends (and strangers) can politely ignore the discomfort of the content if they so choose, whereas the same topic tabled in the pub would send some people to a different boozer on a permanent basis for fear of being faced with something so embarrassing again!

 

PS - I'm happy to air a view contradicting the general consensus on a thread, but I'm not hiding behind an online persona. I'm a real person who usually knows a good portion of the posters in that thread in real life ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read this article from The Observer today and was struck by the similarities with the situation on Sheffield Forum which has become unbearable recently.

 

In particular the phenomenon of "deindividuation" which happens when social norms are withdrawn because identities are concealed and allows all the animosities to develop on an online forum. The kind of aggression here would never happen in face to face discussion and it's only possible because everyone is hiding behind online names.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/24/internet-anonymity-trolling-tim-adams

 

But this is nothing new, I knew about this back in the early 1980s when we were sending messages from computer to computer and before that it was telephones and before telephones it was something else. The Internet has only magnified the issue. It is people which is the problem and not technology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say that this really worries me. Just take a look at the comments on Sheffield Star's website: people post the most obnoxious comments under the cloak of anonimity. The things that are posted are the things that very few people would say to a close friend, never mind saying it in public.

 

If I write a letter to a newspaper, they'll make a decision on whether to print, and I'd have to supply a name and address (usually). Why should it be different with internet forums/comments pages on newpaper websites? I can't help but feel that in a small way that this type of obnoxious posting of right wing comments has contibuted to the tragic situation in Norway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.