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I'm not a very nostalgic person and I consider "Everything was better in the good old days." utter nonsense. For one thing, everything couldn't have been better because we were offline. But lately, I find myself pondering over how the Internet is changing us if it is changing us at all.
Admittedly, cussing online has been with us since the beginning of the Internet, preferably overblown and vulgar. Online, anything's up for a heated debate and, surprisingly, I've encountered the most heated discussions when the topic was either the keeping of animals or nutrition. How the most amicable of characters can turn into animals and start a holy war when discussing the keeping of cats or the benefits of a vegan lifestyle will most likely be comprehensible to like-minded spirits only. This has the potential to turn into fanaticism and rot people's souls.
I don't find these cases all too worrisome, they are few and the blatant zealotism is easy to spot. Fanatics have been with us since the beginning of time. Whether it's musical styles, religion, political systems or hairstyles, people have always been insulted and compared to various creatures from the animal kingdom. That never gave me cause for concern and especially anonymity makes it easy to swear, we know that from soccer stadiums or daily traffic. But what I've been reading in the comments on Youtube, Facebook or traditional media sites lately points to a discomforting trend: All bets are off and anything goes.
Particularly alarming: Even when people have to state their full name that doesn't stop them. Family men who post charming photos of themselves holding their kids and smiling into the camera wish death on any and all dissenters. Has this always been the case or am I getting a little thin-skinned in my old days? Obviously, these people are convinced that any remark, no matter how vile, will go unpunished. I like to speak my mind as much as the next person but I'd feel ashamed if I let out that much hatred and bile. Is the Internet slowly turning into a place of lawless anarchy, a breeding ground for ruthless aggression? Where is this coming from?
The cynics among my friends believe that the stupid have finally arrived on the web. Those who know and have learned very little and feel a need to respond to everything they don't understand with violence. It was always clear that the Internet would develop from a serene oasis into a mass medium. Even the clueless that barely know how to switch on a computer can now surf the web on their smartphones and make contributions, sometimes as sensitive as a nail bomb. When arguments and punctuation go the way of the Incredible Hulk, you realize they just don't know any better. Shame.
What genuinely scares me are the guys that could easily be my neighbors. Guys that take good care of their loved ones, and their pets, and come across as the genuine nice guy. I recently saw a person whose remarks I know from Facebook at a supermarket. And while he was picking a pepper, I thought to myself "That's the guy that is rooting for Putin to become the world leader." I would barely have noticed him otherwise. When guys like him plow through the Internet and unleash a swathe of curses, allegations and insults on anyone who doesn't share their opinion, that is a cause for concern.
Is it the information overload that has made our view of the world so complicated and barely manageable? Is it the media that portraits events ever more hysterically in their quest for ratings and clicks? Or is it the world itself that is changing, calling many things into question that seemed so reasonable before?
It should be clear to everyone that aggression is an unsuitable means of supporting an argument. You won't win anyone over by calling their parents siblings. A friend once told be "Write as if the person were sitting in front of you. With a big club in their hand." This approach may seem a bit defensive but let's be frank: If we can't manage to communicate in a civilized manner on the Internet, it'll only spread us further apart than unite us. People will become more radical, ordinary folks and not just religious extremists that you hear about on the news. Maybe we'll become more distrustful of our neighbors once we read what they let out in a fit of rage. In this case, the Internet that was originally intended to unite us would have completely defeated its purpose.
Great article. I think that because the internet is global people feel that noone who knows them personally will recognise their outbursts and that anonymity frees them to be abusive as they would like to be in real life. Also the desperate need to be talked about means that they tend to be as outragious as possible to be noticed.
I also think that you only have limited number of clear, concise thoughts about any topic and the other 95% of what these people write is mindless dribble.
Great article. Summed (or is that sumed) up by the comment below- Common Sense is LESS common these days. Western Society did away with the "checks and balances" when we all became politically correct. Everything now points to the lowest common denominator (a race to the bottom ?).
For me, I could never understand why there was only ever a 'tick' to create a zillion 'likes' but never anything to create a 'dislike'? Obviously it could have let any number of morons loose to vent their spleen.
As mentioned below, Social Media sites are more like popularity contests than serious venues for human interaction.
The World has come a long way in the last 30 years. Unfortunately, most people were going in the Wrong direction and it is too late to turn around and retrace those steps.
Not too optimistic about the future but, we can only wait and see (and hope ?)
Only in Aware Solitude does Limitless Universe open up, and Human Character's correctable flaws present Personal Authenicitys Potential Joys to Live with new Knowingness' Brilliance!
Internet's narcissism smothers the unaware in their own quicksands !!! Benevolent Universe Smiles and Calls EACH OF US to Rise from our Muck !!!
The internet is the new car, you get on/in and everything outside is wrong - only you are correct. It is okay to abuse the other party, because I have this shield/door around me to protect me.
I agree people tend to run amok when posting. I suspect part of it is we think no one we know will ever see it. Even 20 seconds after they approved one of their friends to see their activity.
You can be the ugly neighbor all you want to be when you think you have a degree of anonymity, I won't click send until I have gone through what I have said at least twice.
But I agonize over what my third grade teacher would think of my penmanship on a credit card machine. She has probably been dead for at least 10 years, but you never know.
HI I AM AN ASHAMPOO CUSTOMER AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY I RECIEVED THIS INFORMATION,HAS YOUR BUSINESS TURNED POLITICAL ?
KEN
Hello Mr. Matthews, we (naturally) do not take any political sides. But I believe, a little more dialog instead of fruitless confrontations would benefit all parties involved.
The net has brought the people more information than we have had in history. The net was designed to share information and educate, which I believe it has and will. We can order a commodity at the push of a button and keep in touch with people the other side of the world with ease.
The down side, viruses,phishing,hacking,cyber bullying, friends request from people you don,t know. We are being tracked by advertising companies, Our personal lives are open and privacy has gone. The people can vent any type of feelings to the world, and they do. I agree with the comments made by John V, the net is a tool and how you use it is up to you . However beware of the consequences.
You are so right. It is a sign of the times in which we live. Common decency is lacking in many when they think they can get away with it - even face-to-face (especially if in a mind-altered state under drugs or alcohol). But, believe in Him or not - there is coming a day ... "Ultimate Reality". By our thoughts, actions and words we are aligning ourselves with one side or the other in a huge Cosmic Conflict.
I too was a BBS sysop for many years. Today I moderate, with several others, 2 discussion groups on Facebook. We have a 1 strike and your out rule. It works.
Too many comments are obviously cut and paste around the Net. When I am watching a video about Syria, as an example, the comments seldom reflect the content. The browser add-on called "lights out" blacks them out.
The Net has grown much faster than our system of education. Comments and photos that cross my moral compass are ignored, blocked and reported. Sven you hit another topic in your blog regarding the media. Most of the news is now written for entertainment purposes. It is up to every individual to make the Net a safer place. Build the best Net by being a leader. Great article shared with friends.
I agree and that is why I will have nothing to do with any of them and consider them especially facebook as the biggest load of rubbish ever
Here , here. what a sensible blog, no doubt there will be plenty who agree and just as many who don't, but isn't that what Democracy and Free speech is all about.
Hi Sven, I don't normally respond to blogs. Just like reading them and considering the person behind the thoughtds. This time, however, you really did strike a nerve.
The old saying "Youth is wasted on the young" never applied more than it does now. We have children and adolescents and young "adults" who cannot do basic multiplication and addition without a calculator; who cannot spell basic words without spellcheck; who wouldn't know what manners and ethics are; who live their lives in a constant state of requiring instant gtatification and who are slowly but inevitably becoming neurotic basket cases with more and more life pressures bearing down on the pool little mites.
Yet we tend to blame external factors like the internet, technology etc. Tecnoloogy does nothing. it is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. How you use the tool says more about you than does almost anything else.
Blame the tool and you indict your own lack of ability.
How about sheeting home the blame where it truly belongs just for once?
As is the parent so will be the child.
Emough said.
JV
I hole heartily agree with the author of above articular statments
Well I have been online since the Bulletin Board days. (Yes I am that old) When running the Bulletin board I was reasonably strict about bad behavior. Resulting in the person being suspended.
I have noticed that some people like to think there comments dont hurt people but they do.
I would like to hope in the future that if a comment contributes to a negative action. Then that person would get to contribute to what happens.
I think we expected way too much from the internet. The fact that it may be a fantastic tool for human communication doesn't mean it will be utilized for that purpose. With no censors but the internal, people tend to say the first thing that enters their minds, hence, we don't communicate, we just scream at each other.
The chicken and egg question arises thusly—has the internet turned us all into screaming lunatics, or has it just given us the ability to express that lunacy?
Consider the neighbor the author saw shopping, the one who wants Putin as world leader. Does anyone think he was sane before the internet, and he just embraced howling at the moon, batshit crazy to enhance his status on social networks? Of course not; he was always a nut. The internet just gave him a place to express that craziness.
What is shocking, really, is that social networks have exposed just how many nuts there are out there. Your next door neighbor, a seemingly likable chap with whom your perhaps exchange the occasional greeting, at whose house you may spend new years eve, and he at yours on the 4th of July, apparently reasonable and rational, sipping a beer and engaging in idle chat. And then you see him post on a forum somewhere that Hitler was right about those Jews and the aliens from area 51 are in control of the stock market, and the Illuminati are poisoning our water supply, and on and on.
These people existed well before the internet. You just didn't know them, or know that you did know them, and the frightening part is that their sheer (apparently growing) numbers suggest they may soon be the the majority.
Where did IT begin, swearing profusely in movies at the cinema, now flowed to movies on TV.
Who gave permission for this to happen when it was a no-no previously.
Political Correctness is non-correct and lacks common sense, laws and rules are changed without the consent of the population. Teenagers, 16 years old should not have a law stating that they are adults and can do and say what they want without question.
Road rage, serious incidents every day because a driver makes a mistake, the rager never makes mistakes and has the manners and courteous attitude of a brick.
This flows on to Facebook, a media article shows an un-marked police car to catch abusers of the road laws, this starts a chain reaction of vitriolic comments against the police force as a whole, and they have been advised to go into a police station and say the same things face to face.
Are the vitriolic, cranky, abusive, illiterate, ill-mannered people on Facebook being their normal selves, or are they the Jekyll and Hyde type people in their daily lives.
When one sees a media report relating to a man who kills his children and himself, with neighbours saying that they knew him well, he was a loving husband and father, a Jekyll & Hyde person, maybe.
They are on social media, neighbours, people in the street, strangers,
I use Facebook to keep in contact with family and a few friends, all in different parts of the world, I have all the security and blocks available and never 'look around' to see daily 'happenings' since the first week wasting time seeing 'garbled garbage' conversations.
I totally agree - this is a very troubling trend, in that un-informed people have an audience of potentially unlimited numbers (if something they say should take off). I can not believe the vitriolic hatred that people let out - I really think a sort of de-evolution is occurring. Should speech be free? Should fools be given a vast platform such as the internet? Has Animal Farm arrived in full bloom?
Sadly I feel that this is an ailment of human society. The current internet and mobile phone technologies are simply another means for some people to vent their distortions on society at large.
It isn't modern technology that is to be blamed - it is the total degeneration of moral standards that is the root cause. People have no respect for anything outside of their own little lives. People rant on and froth at the mouth when they feel their own personal " rights" are being infringed and have no consideration for the rights of others.
When I was young, I respected my parents, my teachers, the law, my elders. Not because I was afraid, but because it was the correct attitude to take. If I was chastised, then I probably deserved it because I had done something wrong. On the rare occasions when I was chastised for something I had not done, I did not swear revenge or harbour everlasting hatred - no, I accepted that we all have human frailties and sometimes "get it wrong", and then got on with my life.
No - you cannot blame modern technology for all the problems we have. The problems are all down to the meaness, corruptions, sickness of the human race. All the modern technology does is to provide a simple means of ingress. I won't even venture into the distortions and corruptions applied to religious beliefs.
Ah, hell, stop the world. I want to get off.
For a perfect example, try to politely correct some lunatic's spelling or grammar. 9 out of 10 times you will be viciously attacked.
i started out in irc chatrooms.wow how things have changed,or have i ?
Winnie - Well thoughtout, well written, very articulated. Kudos
I agree with this ..........I agree most wholeheartedly. All of the various so called social media networks seemed to have caused more problems than
anything else.
When children can think of nothing else but their mobile phones and are unable to have a conversation without constantly referring to their hand held phones, what sort of a future is there?
The damage that has been done from online bullying and even to the point where suicide is a final end to it all is incredible and no one even worries about it. good comment Max
Dear Mr Krumrey.
Civilised isn't ...civilised - it's viciously feral all the way through it's a system which is too conducive to the establisment of a top down pecking order society where the devil takes the hindmost and completely macerates them. We are constantly extolled to believe in the entirely specious wishlist presumptions of those in positions of authority. This drumroll gets repeated constantly till a majority of people believe in it automatically without questioning it at all.
Should I elaborate to someone who perhaps/maybe/presumably knows better than I. Maybe I know better than you and your fellows because the civilisation/organisation/system whose impositions I have no choice but to tolerate on this precious Island home of mine has existed as a basically undisturbed entity for a thousand years!
I am being constantly harangued by the London establishment through adverts and all the other presumed to be independent paraphenalia of the media which dominates our reality. It's baleful presence is what I must endure it shows me and my fellows no relevent degree of respect it only offers me a Punch and Judy show.
ou only get wise by questioning why and I have been questioning why with increasing regularity for some time now. I would not trust those in power with anything of value as I have come to see ....them I view that they view us with complete contempt! I sincerely wish civilisation was civil...
I agree most wholeheartedly. All of the various so called social media networks seemed to have caused more problems than
anything else.
When children can think of nothing else but their mobile phones and are unable to have a conversation without constantly referring to their hand held phones, what sort of a future is there?
The damage that has been done from online bullying and even to the point where suicide is a final end to it all is incredible and no one even worries about it.
I see very little that is good in the future for Australia with all the hatred and bile that is spewing out over the various air waves.
None of this is surprising. People are inherently angry and evil much more often than not, and it was only social mores and society that kept their bile in check, letting them seethe in silence.
Once they could post their venom publicly without having to look the object of their scorn in the eyes, the floodgates opened and a fire hose of hate came pouring out.
And it's only going to get much, much worse as the still bad economy and a feeling of powerlessness sweeps the country. People are feeling rage, but can't storm the castle like they used to do. But they can release their frustrations online.