Why online comment are so toxic

***Calvin*** · 08-05-2012, 11:26 PM

Online anonymity creates a sense of a culture without consequences.

Quote:

In the year that I wrote for a blog about Brooklyn real estate, I was regularly plagued by "trolls" -- online commenters who write inflammatory or derisive things in public forums, hoping to provoke an emotional response. These commenters called me, and one another, everything from stupid to racist, or sometimes stupid racists. And that was just when I posted the menu of a new café.

The most infamous and offensive of these commenters was a man (we assumed) who called himself "The What." His remarks ranged from insults to threats. "I know where you live and I'm coming for you and your family," he once wrote. The intrigue around The What's identity warranted a cover story in New York magazine. What kind of person would spend so much time, and so much energy, engaging in virtual hate?

The consensus among sociologists and psychologists who study online behavior is that all kinds of people can become trolls -- not just the unwound, the immature or the irate. See your perfectly pleasant work neighbor, furiously typing next to you? He might be trolling an Internet site right now.

"Most people who troll are people who are just like you and me, but just a bit more intense," says Olivier Morin, a cultural anthropologist who has written about trolling.

One Web site breaks trolls into categories: the hater, the moral crusader, the debunker, the defender. But trolls might not retain those qualities in real life. It's just that the Internet's anonymity makes it impossible for them to resist spewing vitriol from the protective cave of cyberspace. Psychologists call it the "disinhibition effect," in which "the frequency of self-interested unethical behavior increases among anonymous people." Non-academics refer to it as "John Gabriel's Greater Internet ****wad Theory": the combination of anonymity and an audience brings out the absolute worst in people.

"Social psychologists have known for decades that, if we reduce our sense of our own identity -- a process called deindividuation -- we are less likely to stick to social norms," wrote Michael Marshall in New Scientist . "The same thing happens with online communication... Psychologically, we are 'distant' from the person we're talking to and less focused on our own identity. As a result we're more prone to aggressive behavior."

Online disinhibition ranges from benign -- oversharing of personal information -- to toxic, virtual hit-and-runs in which you call writers stupid racists, or in which you write, in response to the shootings in Colorado: "What kind of idiot parent brings their 3-month-old to a midnight movie. Morans." Hey, no one ever said you had to be a good speller to be mean.

Only a psychotic person, incapable of empathy, or someone perpetually engulfed by rage, would say such things in public. But people feel alone when they're typing on a computer, even if they're in a public "place," -- a chat room, on Facebook or within the comments section of an article. MIT professor Sherry Turkle calls this "being alone together"; the Internet causes "emotional dislocation," so we forget about the together part.

Anonymous, unethical behavior started way before the Internet, of course: Plato wrote of the ring of Gyges, which bestowed the gift/curse of invisibility, leading men to thieve. Who wouldn't swipe stuff if he knew he couldn't get caught? Well, said Plato: no one.

But we're not talking about thieving anymore. We're talking about cyber bullying that leads to teen suicides, and trolls that leave photographs of nooses on tribute pages to those dead teens. "Trolling normalizes abuse, and that's what's frightening," says Morin.

Online anonymity creates a sense of a culture without consequences. Think of that tween who posted a video on YouTube of his own abuse of a 68-year-old bus monitor. The Internet limitlessly expands the possibilities for unkindness and waywardness and misbehavior (and, yeah, for community-building, too -- Internet users raised $700,000 for that bus monitor, and now she's retiring). Lots of folks who would never step foot in a whorehouse happily watch Internet porn.

Anonymous comments once embodied the promise of the Internet, the supposed democracy of the place, and their defenders say that privacy is what we must prize the most. But I'm not sure donning an alternate identity, hiding behind a screen, is the same thing as privacy. There is a movement to eradicate, or at least reduce, anonymous commenting, in the hopes that it will seal up this space between our lives online and off. Many sites require readers to log in through social media to comment, so that they are, in theory, linked to their real-life selves.

Personally, I resist such cross log-ins. I'm not much of a commenter myself, save for when the New York Times covered the controversy at my local food co-op over whether or not to carry six Israeli-made products. And all I said was: Why is this story in the New York Times ? (It turns out that a disproportionate number of New York Times employees shop there, and thus were under the mistaken impression that this constituted news.) But I don't necessarily want all my Facebook friends to read that comment -- that was, I hoped, for the Times' editorial staff.

One of the strangest things about the commenters from that Brooklyn blog was that many of them had in-person relationships. They held regular meetups in local bars, attaching a face, if not their real names, to their screen personas. And for a few days after these gatherings, the comments would be less vitriolic, as if the civility of the evening leaked onto the virtual pages of our site.

Did The What ever attend, skulk in the background and sip brandy while watching the blog devotees socialize? He could have been anyone, of any race or either sex. But he never attached a face to his online name.

Perhaps, like a lot of people, The What simply wanted to articulate his worldview. You can't ask why trolls do what they do without asking why people argue in general, and people do that, says Morin, because they want to assert their own rectitude. "They really want to be right, and prove a point," says Morin. "And the magic of the Internet does the rest."

Why Online Comments Are So Toxic | Alternet

Something to read about...

Steinhauer · 08-05-2012, 11:29 PM

Thank you for posting this Calvin

**Jiro** · 08-05-2012, 11:46 PM

exactly. that's the problem many of us in here have met in person but it appears that a few people in here who never met any of us in person or bother to meet us are the troublemakers or agitators.

sad really.

**Rio** · 08-06-2012, 12:03 AM

Wirelessly posted

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiro

exactly. that's the problem many of us in here have met in person but it appears that a few people in here who never met any of us in person or bother to meet us are the troublemakers or agitators.

sad really.

You have ties with the big A

**Jiro** · 08-06-2012, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rio

Wirelessly posted

You have ties with the big A

so do many of us. and it's silly to think that we both have a red phone.

**Rio** · 08-06-2012, 12:26 AM

Wirelessly posted

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiro

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rio

Wirelessly posted

You have ties with the big A

so do many of us. and it's silly to think that we both have a red phone.

True, you all live in the same area. We had chance to meet up lol oh well, maybe another time.

I agree, most members did or done meet ups and got to know each other outside of AD. If there was a loose screw hanging out here it would be obvious and catch them immediately.
Real life issues surrounding our world will always consist of church and state no matter what. Both parties who agree/ disagree will see stuff they don't like that's reality can't sugar coat something.

**Jiro** · 08-06-2012, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rio

Wirelessly postedTrue, you all live in the same area. We had chance to meet up lol oh well, maybe another time.

I agree, most members did or done meet ups and got to know each other outside of AD. If there was a loose screw hanging out here it would be obvious and catch them immediately.
Real life issues surrounding our world will always consist of church and state no matter what. Both parties who agree/ disagree will see stuff they don't like that's reality can't sugar coat something.

actually - most of us came from all around USA... including another country

SimonJ · 08-06-2012, 03:36 AM

Which country?

**Jiro** · 08-06-2012, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonJ

Which country?

Australia

**Rio** · 08-06-2012, 10:28 AM

Wirelessly posted

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiro

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rio

Wirelessly postedTrue, you all live in the same area. We had chance to meet up lol oh well, maybe another time.

I agree, most members did or done meet ups and got to know each other outside of AD. If there was a loose screw hanging out here it would be obvious and catch them immediately.
Real life issues surrounding our world will always consist of church and state no matter what. Both parties who agree/ disagree will see stuff they don't like that's reality can't sugar coat something.

actually - most of us came from all around USA... including another country

Yes, that right and met him too the guy from down under.

rockin'robin · 08-06-2012, 12:14 PM

To my knowledge, I've never met anyone here at AD in person....I've only invited some friends of mine to join AD...some did, but never posted....saying they were "too busy"...or "not knowing what to say"...or "don't like debates"....excuses go round and round....

Jiro did come to my hometown, (believe it was last year or so), but at that time I was in the process of moving...so I did apologize...plus, I keep very busy within my own family, plus health issues that are ongoing....

And whenever I do meet a "new" Deafie...I do ask if they are a member at AD...no luck there tho'...I just give them the website and say "Come on!"...You might enjoy it....as I do.

**Jiro** · 08-06-2012, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockin'robin

To my knowledge, I've never met anyone here at AD in person....I've only invited some friends of mine to join AD...some did, but never posted....saying they were "too busy"...or "not knowing what to say"...or "don't like debates"....excuses go round and round....

Jiro did come to my hometown, (believe it was last year or so), but at that time I was in the process of moving...so I did apologize...plus, I keep very busy within my own family, plus health issues that are ongoing....

And whenever I do meet a "new" Deafie...I do ask if they are a member at AD...no luck there tho'...I just give them the website and say "Come on!"...You might enjoy it....as I do.

oh don't worry at all. we may have been butting heads here and there like a pair of rams

but you're certainly not a troublemaker or an agitator

**TXgolfer** · 08-06-2012, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockin'robin

To my knowledge, I've never met anyone here at AD in person....I've only invited some friends of mine to join AD...some did, but never posted....saying they were "too busy"...or "not knowing what to say"...or "don't like debates"....excuses go round and round....

Jiro did come to my hometown, (believe it was last year or so), but at that time I was in the process of moving...so I did apologize...plus, I keep very busy within my own family, plus health issues that are ongoing....

And whenever I do meet a "new" Deafie...I do ask if they are a member at AD...no luck there tho'...I just give them the website and say "Come on!"...You might enjoy it....as I do.

"Are you on All Deaf? Is usually the first question I ask when I meet a deafie. I have met several that say they come here to lurk. Nobody at Mozzeria had heard of AD....I pulled it up on my iPad a couple of nights and showed them.

**Jiro** · 08-06-2012, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXgolfer

"Are you on All Deaf? Is usually the first question I ask when I meet a deafie. I have met several that say they come here to lurk. Nobody at Mozzeria had heard of AD....I pulled it up on my iPad a couple of nights and showed them.

they most likely have never heard of it or are not interested in it because they're more into meeting with real people like DPHH/DHH or deaf video blogs (whatever it's called). cool to spread the words though.

airportcop · 08-06-2012, 12:45 PM

We all need to be a little more careful about what we say when we post and who it will affect and how. At times it seems like we are just defending our personal beliefs but we can also be a bit overbearing and aggressive towards others. We are all not made from the same mold thankfully and each has his or her own unique and different qualities and opinions. We must respect each others views and at times we need to agree to disagree. No need to throw zingers and rocks and belittle or bash. Name calling and finger pointing are silly and a waste of time. Matter of fact it causes the threads we enjoy to become locked. Healthy debate causes us to learn more about each other and when looked at with the proper attitude and mindset can be fun. So I'll end with this popular line,"Can't we all just get along!" Good day AllDeafers!

**Jolie77** · 08-06-2012, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by airportcop

We all need to be a little more careful about what we say when we post and who it will affect and how. At times it seems like we are just defending our personal beliefs but we can also be a bit overbearing and aggressive towards others. We are all not made from the same mold thankfully and each has his or her own unique and different qualities and opinions. We must respect each others views and at times we need to agree to disagree. No need to throw zingers and rocks and belittle or bash. Name calling and finger pointing are silly and a waste of time. Matter of fact it causes the threads we enjoy to become locked. Healthy debate causes us to learn more about each other and when looked at with the proper attitude and mindset can be fun. So I'll end with this popular line,"Can't we all just get along!" Good day AllDeafers!

There's nothing wrong with defending our personal beliefs as long as we are able to keep it on a civilized manner. Unfortunately, some of the time there will be stuff that are being said very well strikes a nerve or two. We all have been there and I know I've been there too. If we had agreed on everything, it would be dead BORING. That's for sure.

When I see threads that are closed, it takes the 'fun' out of it. It's a buzz-kill. I say, let us all duke it out because we get to learn a thing or two out of it instead of having it being stopped in the middle. Learn and process through it, instead of going around it. Why start something when we can't finish it? If there's troublemakers or agitators, it's the moderator's job to handle it.

**Rio** · 08-06-2012, 01:48 PM

Wirelessly posted

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jolie77

Quote:

Originally Posted by airportcop

We all need to be a little more careful about what we say when we post and who it will affect and how. At times it seems like we are just defending our personal beliefs but we can also be a bit overbearing and aggressive towards others. We are all not made from the same mold thankfully and each has his or her own unique and different qualities and opinions. We must respect each others views and at times we need to agree to disagree. No need to throw zingers and rocks and belittle or bash. Name calling and finger pointing are silly and a waste of time. Matter of fact it causes the threads we enjoy to become locked. Healthy debate causes us to learn more about each other and when looked at with the proper attitude and mindset can be fun. So I'll end with this popular line,"Can't we all just get along!" Good day AllDeafers!

There's nothing wrong with defending our personal beliefs as long as we are able to keep it on a civilized manner. Unfortunately, some of the time there will be stuff that are being said very well strikes a nerve or two. We all have been there and I know I've been there too. If we had agreed on everything, it would be dead BORING. That's for sure.

When I see threads that are closed, it takes the 'fun' out of it. It's a buzz-kill. I say, let us all duke it out because we get to learn a thing or two out of it instead of having it being stopped in the middle. Learn and process through it, instead of going around it. Why start something when we can't finish it? If there's troublemakers or agitators, it's the moderator's job to handle it.

Good post! I agree, take the troll aside in private by a mod and let them deal with that person and let the rest continue with our healthy debates where we can learn a thing or two!

CrazyPaul · 08-08-2012, 10:10 AM

As I came back from work today, I noticed newer posts have been removed so what's up with that?

**Rio** · 08-08-2012, 10:35 AM

Wirelessly posted

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyPaul

As I came back from work today, I noticed newer posts have been removed so what's up with that?

A mod did some house cleaning IDK just a thought

rockin'robin · 08-08-2012, 10:42 AM

Guessing the mod took the member aside (who made the comment against other members)....then deleted some posts ???....'Cause all I said was that I felt the member was "out of line" for calling some members troublemakers and agitators.....

CrazyPaul · 08-08-2012, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockin'robin

Guessing the mod took the member aside (who made the comment against other members)....then deleted some posts ???....'Cause all I said was that I felt the member was "out of line" for calling some members troublemakers and agitators.....

Alright, that's what I suspected. Hope we are cool now.

AlleyCat · 08-08-2012, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockin'robin

Guessing the mod took the member aside (who made the comment against other members)....then deleted some posts ???....'Cause all I said was that I felt the member was "out of line" for calling some members troublemakers and agitators.....

Did he name who?

CrazyPaul · 08-08-2012, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlleyCat

Did he name who?

It doesn't matter. We are all friends on AD. Period. Respect each other. I still respect him. Everybody makes mistakes.

AlleyCat · 08-08-2012, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyPaul

It doesn't matter. We are all friends on AD. Period. Respect each other. I still respect him. Everybody makes mistakes.

That was rather my point. I'm not sure why RR feels that someone was calling out other members, especially if nobody was named. Myself, I do believe some go out of their way to be troublemakers and agitators. Others here think so too. Why is somebody "out of line" for saying so?

Let it go, people.

**Jiro** · 08-08-2012, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyPaul

It doesn't matter. We are all friends on AD. Period. Respect each other. I still respect him. Everybody makes mistakes.

me? mistake? what mistake?

the only mistake in here is people making a ruckus over a valid opinion and observation..... and the most comical thing is that you, RR, and rolling are "seeing" that I have specifically called out somebody as agitator and troublemaker when in fact I didn't. that is a big mistake.

exactly how can I apologize to unnamed person when I have not specifically accused a person?

CrazyPaul · 08-08-2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiro

me? mistake?

Not only you, everybody including me, RR and rolling. Happy?

**Jiro** · 08-08-2012, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyPaul

Not only you, everybody including me, RR and rolling. Happy?

again.... me? mistake? what mistake?

FYI - it's best if you don't edit my post in your reply. It's dishonest.

CrazyPaul · 08-08-2012, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiro

again.... me? mistake? what mistake?

FYI - it's best if you don't edit my post in your reply. It's dishonest.

Ok. I admit making that mistake. Sorry for that. I should have done it differently. You also make mistakes in your life no matter where or when, online or offline. Alas, we are not perfect. Like Alleycat said, let it go.

**Jiro** · 08-08-2012, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyPaul

Ok. I admit making that mistake. Sorry for that. I should have done it differently.

already forgotten

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyPaul

You also make mistakes in your life no matter where or when, online or offline. Alas, we are not perfect.

right. who said I'm perfect? I'm the most imperfect being in this perfect world

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyPaul

Like Alleycat said, let it go.

right. that's what I've been repeatedly saying for the whole time and some of you were still dragging it on. I hope this is the end of it

rolling7 · 08-08-2012, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiro

exactly. that's the problem many of us in here have met in person but it appears that a few people in here who never met any of us in person or bother to meet us are the troublemakers or agitators.

sad really.

To all AD members,

According to Jiro, if you have never met "us" in person or bother to meet "us"
you are a troublemaker or agitator.

08-05-2012, 11:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
Jiro Aparecium Deletrius Legil Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: The Soprano State Posts: 60,502	exactly. that's the problem many of us in here have met in person but it appears that a few people in here who never met any of us in person or bother to meet us are the troublemakers or agitators. sad really. __________________ - Don't forget to buy Jiro's Special Edition Sunglasses for $19.95

08-06-2012, 12:45 PM	#15 (permalink)
airportcop Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Springfield, MO Posts: 1,088	We all need to be a little more careful about what we say when we post and who it will affect and how. At times it seems like we are just defending our personal beliefs but we can also be a bit overbearing and aggressive towards others. We are all not made from the same mold thankfully and each has his or her own unique and different qualities and opinions. We must respect each others views and at times we need to agree to disagree. No need to throw zingers and rocks and belittle or bash. Name calling and finger pointing are silly and a waste of time. Matter of fact it causes the threads we enjoy to become locked. Healthy debate causes us to learn more about each other and when looked at with the proper attitude and mindset can be fun. So I'll end with this popular line,"Can't we all just get along!" Good day AllDeafers! rockin'robin and Steinhauer like this. __________________ Romans 12:12 (NIV) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

08-08-2012, 10:42 AM	#20 (permalink)
rockin'robin Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 15,278	Guessing the mod took the member aside (who made the comment against other members)....then deleted some posts ???....'Cause all I said was that I felt the member was "out of line" for calling some members troublemakers and agitators..... MushyCookies likes this.

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08-05-2012, 11:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
Steinhauer Banned Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 8,191 Blog Entries: 1	Thank you for posting this Calvin

08-06-2012, 03:36 AM	#8 (permalink)
SimonJ Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Perth, WA Posts: 733	Which country?

08-06-2012, 12:14 PM	#11 (permalink)
rockin'robin Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 15,278	To my knowledge, I've never met anyone here at AD in person....I've only invited some friends of mine to join AD...some did, but never posted....saying they were "too busy"...or "not knowing what to say"...or "don't like debates"....excuses go round and round.... Jiro did come to my hometown, (believe it was last year or so), but at that time I was in the process of moving...so I did apologize...plus, I keep very busy within my own family, plus health issues that are ongoing.... And whenever I do meet a "new" Deafie...I do ask if they are a member at AD...no luck there tho'...I just give them the website and say "Come on!"...You might enjoy it....as I do.

08-08-2012, 10:10 AM	#18 (permalink)
CrazyPaul Registered User Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 2,975	As I came back from work today, I noticed newer posts have been removed so what's up with that?