"Computers are the devils work! Praise Jesus!"
"Technology is against my religious beliefs."
"Technology bores me. Mobile phones bore me. Connectivity bores me. Accessibility bores me. Television bores me. Survey monkey both bores me and tires me, and reminds me that connectivity demands accessibilty and inaccessibility is inconcievable in this little world of ours. I think I'm going to move to the country and each peaches. Though that may bore me."
These are just a few of the many "interesting" responses and comments I receieved when a classmate and I emailed a short survey to our school. If you were to walk into the school I attend you would find that the students are polite and intelligent people, but when they take to the internet the case is entirely different. I feel this is the case for most people, not just my classmates. Take chat rooms for example. Many debates and arguments that have taken place online would have never occured had these people had actually been together. The people that are the most outspoken on the Internet, at least to me, are most commonly timid in person. Although they may thinking things that are not polite they refrain from speaking their minds due to the fact that they knows it rude or they are just plain intimidated by other people.
The Internet is a place where these shy people can thrive. In addition, it is like a blank canvas for the aggressive, waiting to be voilently splashed with paint. All types of people seem to grow a spine when posting their thoughts on the Internet. I can almost gaurantee you that 95% of the rude comments I received on my survey would have never been said to be in person. This is becasue people know better, and most likely know who I am. I am not saying I intimidate people, but I know that people have more respect for as a person offline rather than on.
Ask yourself this: if you were to express negative feedback would you rather do it in person or through writing? To most the answer is simple, and it is through writing. Not only is it less awkward, but your thoughts flow more easily as you feel no restraint. What I wonder is whether this theory I have is true. I want to know how people feel about things when it come to the Internet. Do they feel stronger when seen as an anonymous Internet user, giving them the drive to say things they would normally keep to themselves? To be honest, I have been that aggresive person before. I feel that we have all had out lashing outs on the Internet whether it be a disagreement with an arat review to an argument with a friend via instant messenger. The Internet is like a fair ground to anger in some sense, and while it is a place to express honest opinions, should this be restricted?
The comments I received were mildly rude. Being the person I am, I was able to laugh them off with little shock. It was the initial receiving of these messages that triggered these feelings I am blogging about, as I never could have predicted such reactions from my peers. What I wonder is this: what if the level of the comments had escalated? What if they were a hundred times more intimidating? Honestly, I would have become extremely upset. What people have to understand is that on the other side of this Internet relationship is another REAL person with REAL emotions. I react to anger in the same way, whether it is written or verbal and believe that the Internet should not be open grounds to aggression. If someone wants to disagree with something, be my guest but do it in an educated and well stated way. As people we have to respect boundaries, even if they may be hard to define when they are not visible.
(photo credit: http://www.electronichouse.com/images/uploads/kids-computer.jpg)
-A
People aren't necessarily timid, but they certainly wouldn't act so courageous without the Internet.
ReplyDeleteThis is entirely true. Think about Honesty Box on Facebook. Who would say something so honest to anyone in person? They wouldn't. That's the purpose of Honesty Box, to find out what people really think of you, because people are a lot more gutsy online.
Though, expressing negative comments through writing isn't exclusive to technology. Think about peer editing someone's writing in English class. I would be very hesitant to give a lot of negative comments if I had to speak them aloud.
These people are just jerks - don't listen to what they said, I'm sure they're just doing it for a laugh anyway. And just like Alex said, people are way more likely to say something on the Internet than they are to say it to your face. People just get dumb on the internet.
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