Technology

No, fuck off, how very dare you suggest such a thing you horrid bastard you, just you wait, I’m going to punch you in the elbow and knock over your second-favourite house plant for insinuating such lies

Here's the thing.

The last 10 years have proven that organized online hostility is VERY EFFECTIVE at dictating public opinion.

That's how we got the new fascist movements. Trump and the like. Because right wing hostility and bigotry went not only unchecked institutionally but unchallenged socially.

No solution has emerged for that from an institutional level.

So yeah, my socialist ass is fighting back. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend the rest of my life under these fucking wastes of flesh and their bullshit antiquated opinions. I'm done taking it and I'm done tolerating it. Fuck every last republican and homophobe and transphobe and complicit liberal. All of them. And wouldn't you know it, little by little they're backing down when we stand up to them like the cowards they are.

Yes, I am deliberately far more hostile online, because it WORKS. And clearly nobody with institutional control cares enough to try anything else.

I’ve always been a terse asshole.

Fuck you!

Who the fuck says I'm hostile ? Fuck you

“Why are online discussions about politics more hostile than offline discussions?
A popular answer argues that human psychology is tailored for face-to-face interaction and people’s behavior therefore changes for the worse in impersonal online discussions…
Across eight studies, leveraging cross-national surveys and behavioral experiments (total N = 8,434), we test the mismatch hypothesis but only find evidence for limited selection effects.
Instead, hostile political discussions are the result of status-driven individuals who are drawn to politics and are equally hostile both online and offline.
Finally, we offer initial evidence that online discussions feel more hostile, in part, because the behavior of such individuals is more visible online than offline.”

This fits with our understanding of personality disorders, which is that they are a small percentage of our society—around 10.5 percent, according to the recent DSM-5-TR.3

I try to avoid all politics online because it's all raging and it's honestly depressing that 10.5% can dominate a space like that.

fuck no we aren't.

anyone who says otherwise can fight me.

IMO, the reason is because scientists haven't found a way to punch someone in their face over the internet yet.

The full study for those interested: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354152560_The_Psychology_of_Online_Political_Hostility_A_Comprehensive_Cross-National_Test_of_the_Mismatch_Hypothesis

Back in the day I just assumed everyone was lying. Or trying to get people worked up, and we called them trolls.

Learning how to ignore the trolls, and not having trust for strangers on the internet, coupled with the ability to basically not care what random people said is a lost art.

Somehow people forgot to give other the people this memo, including the "you don't fucking join social networks as your self". Anonymity makes this all work.

Eternal September newbies just didn't get it.

I have. I honestly try not to be. There's just so many uncaring shits online. It makes me sick to think of how fucked up these trolls are to relish causing others distress. Then I become a dick

I'm trying to be better

No, we're just done with things like the orange man nazis, advertising, paywalls, borders, illegal for thee but not for me billionaires.

Bit once that's fixed we'll go back to clicking on links to help prince Abu Abowah of Nigeria to settle his bank account once and for all.

IMO online commenters are increasingly showing pathological binary thinking - the attitude that there are exactly two sides to every issue - the Right one and the Wrong one. Questioning ANY aspect of the Right one means you're obviously a hardcore supporter of EVERY aspect of the Wrong one. You're either morally and ethically pure or your character is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. To me it's a really paradoxical way of thinking about diversity and acceptance - more like we're supposed to either wholeheartedly embrace people or despise them.

Seems to be a positive trend happening. Instead of just nothing but toxic trolls. People are starting to push back on the mindless bullshit that is ruining the world.

No I just hate you all equally

What a terrible headline. All of us? No. Next.

Yes, and it's a good thing. The Paradox of Tolerance. If we want a world where people are free to choose and believe and live unique and different lives, we cannot stand by and do nothing while intolerant assholes live their lives.

I go more for 'tiresomely cynical', but whatever.

I’ve been facing a lot more personal harassment over disagreements on the internet that should never lead to that level of harassment. Like taking photos of me from my profile, photoshopping them, sharing them labeled as a pedophile because of my appearance, and Last weekend I had an angry racist threaten to dox me to my employer that I— called out racism?— trying to get me fired.

I feel like the paid trolls have gotten really aggressive since the election.

yes and i don’t think it’s limited to politics either.

This fits with our understanding of personality disorders, which is that they are a small percentage of our society—around 10.5 percent, according to the recent DSM-5-TR.3

Idk, I consider 10% to be pretty high. If you add in selection bias, you could get an actual majority in a community having personality disorders just because the non-jerks largely self-select themselves out.

That said, I still think the conclusions here shouldn't be taken at face value. The data was from surveys, and while I haven't read their methodology, I would certainly hesitate to accept results of a survey for something like this (and for <10k responses). I personally find I'm more confrontational online, though I hope I'm generally still way more respectful than your common jerk.

The results are certainly interesting though.

It depends on what communities you subscribe to. You’re not going to get much hostility in a gardening sub, but you will get it in political sub. With that said, my reddit score is very polite. Always has been. My secret is being aware of my emotions and not responding when I’m being egged.

No fucking shit we are. How did you crack that nut, Einstein?

Yes. Next question, you SOB!

I think there are two sides to this. Yes, online aggression has probably peaked in recent years with the rise of worldwide pro far-right misinformation campaigns, no argument there. They were specifically targeted at the people more vulnerable to buy into hate speech propaganda.

On the other hand, I have personally noticed more constructive discussions, even after I deleted most of my anti-social media accounts and substantialy decreased my usage of Internet forums in general. It seems there's some positive trend in the middle of all that.