Posted on 01/06/2010 7:33:38 PM PST by GOP_Lady
Rude and abusive online behavior should not be met with silence.
In less than 20 years, the World Wide Web has irrevocably expanded the number of ways we connect and communicate with others. This radical transformation has been almost universally praised.
What hasn't kept pace with the technical innovation is the recognition that people need to engage in civil dialogue. What we see regularly on social networking sites, blogs and other online forums is behavior that ranges from the carelessly rude to the intentionally abusive.
Flare-ups occur on social networking sites because of the ease by which thoughts can be shared through the simple press of a button. Ordinary people, celebrities, members of the media and even legal professionals have shown insufficient restraint before clicking send. There is no shortage of examples—from the recent Twitter heckling at a Web 2.0 Expo in New York, to a Facebook poll asking whether President Obama should be killed.
The comments sections of online gossip sites, as well as some national media outlets, often reflect semi-literate, vitriolic remarks that appear to serve no purpose besides disparaging their intended target. Some sites exist solely as a place for mean-spirited individuals to congregate and spew their venomous verbiage.
Online hostility targeting adults is vastly underreported. The reasons victims fail to come forward include the belief that online hostility is an unavoidable and even acceptable mode of behavior; the pervasive notion that hostile online speech is a tolerable form of free expression; the perceived social stigma of speaking out against attacks; and the absence of readily available support infrastructure to assist victims.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“Everyone can put aside some of their restrait (sic) and that is the whole point”.
I know.
Kind of reminds me of that hippy mentality in the 60’s-—”Let it all hang out”
If putting aside restraint is actually the whole idea—and not just “ideas”-—as you posted previously-—then I am more convinced than ever that it’s all about doing what one can get by with under the veil of anonymity.
I was a Mod on a major site for four years. NEVER again. What a bunch of leftist nutjobs there are out there. Yeesh!
And no sign of our favorite troll today? Interesting. :)
LOL:-)
I think the internet was primarily created by and for zit faced nerds that spent their formative years not getting laid and being pushed around by football players. The internet gives them the power to say and do things to people that they would never be able to say or do otherwise. at least that’s how I explain the over abundance of mean spirited key boardists out there.
Whoaaaaaa......;^)
Silence Is Golden
MGHinTN, sounds like you are suffering from an "absence of readily available support infrastructure to assist victims."
Sorry about that.
“Silence Is Golden”
Unless it isn’t.
Guess I’ll never be golden...
This should be the splash screen at every FR login.
Thanks hennie pennie.
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