Internet (anonymity) brings the worst in people

[OrdinaryCitizen]

I have been looking to find a place to connect with people online for a while since i have no idea how to do it in real world.
Not really big fan of typing or reading on the forums so i look for a voice chat room or something meaningful to talk about.

What i found so far is terrifying people online act like bunch of weirdos i been checking Discord since its gained popularity recently and regardless where i go autistic server or NT's i see all the same behavior Nonsense in text chat, Porn, Hentai, Anime, Gamers, (NPHAG) i understand its mostly younger people and this is terrifying what internet turns them into.

I think main problem is anonymity and that people copy behavior of others to be accepted in the group, and yeah fooling around sometimes cool, but this thing going on in there 24/7.

Is this new sub-culture or what you think causing this?

 

[Fino]

Maybe a perceived lack of consequences (or maybe actual lack?) allow them to feel comfortable with expressing impulses they normally would be discouraged from or punished for expressing. But I've never actually encountered this, so I'm just guessing. For some reason I'm terrified of speaking to people through electronic devices, such as phones, computers, etc, especially when it involves some sort of face-time thingmabob.

 

[Gritches]

I think it's actually an interesting study of the true nature of humans - what people are actually like when they're not afraid of being sanctioned.

 

[SusanLR]

I'm not very social in real life, and feel more comfortable in a forum type setting.
I've seen a few crude posts, but, not many.
What I see out of people in everyday life is much more rude and aggressive.
A lot of angry disgruntled people out there with nothing much to say except foul words every other word.
Silly sounding to me.

 

[Suzanne]

Lack of consequences for actions, makes it incredibly easy to be what ever one wants to be.

I mean, despite people committing suicide due to online bullying, still governements are dithering on whether to make it a crime.

I guess no one imagined the internet would become as huge as it is and have a huge platform and it happened so fast as well and most in governments are not that young and thus, probably have no idea how to deal with it.

When I discovered that I am more natural online, I made a silent vowel, that I would be as I would be in life as it were.

I was just in youtube and scrolling through comments and for the first time, I came across a series of enterchanges between two people. One made a comment. The other felt slighted and said so. The other said that they are sorry and the first commentor accepted the apology and goodness me, the other said: no, it is me who should apologise, because my comment was ambigious and thus, an agreeable end to a potential heated and very crude language and I was so impressed with that.

Are we ones to inflame a fire or put the fire out?

 

[Progster]

I'm not a gamer and don't use Discord, so I can't speak for this population, but I do write in forums and very occasionally in a live chat.

I actually find that writing in forums and chats gives me the incentive to write in a more articulate and clear way, to improve my communication with others, because what you write is a permanent record and it subject to scrutiny. So I'm very careful about what I write and how I word things. Don't imagine that I speak in real life how I write here, in real life I'm not nearly as succinct or articulate and don't communicate with such ease.

Anonymity does make it easier to talk about personal issues I wouldn't normally disclose, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to mess around or write nonsense, and I would never do it to fit in, that's just not me. If the group I'm socialising doesn't suit me, I'll leave and go and look elsewhere rather than try to behave in a way that isn't me. Or just not join in, just let them get on with it. I don't feel the need to act to fit in, especially when I don't like the style of the group. But I can only speak for myself, other people think differently. For most people, community, the need to belong, to feel part of a group is often more important than self.

 

[OrdinaryCitizen]

Guess when overall expectations of you are low and everyone in that community is talking on a primitive way then you have no incentive to work harder and just do what everyone does. This turns into some form of socialization guess it works for them, but not for me.

There's also factor of acceptance, to be accepted here you have talk on certain level or standard. In there (discord) if you talk different from others you might be considered "not cool" or "boring" so others choose to blend in just for acceptance.

For some reason I'm terrified of speaking to people through electronic devices, such as phones, computers, etc, especially when it involves some sort of face-time thingmabob.

There actually very little of face to face thing going on there mostly text chat room, there's voice chat rooms, but they mostly empty.

Lack of consequences for actions, makes it incredibly easy to be what ever one wants to be.

I mean, despite people committing suicide due to online bullying, still governements are dithering on whether to make it a crime.

Actually that places i been to are moderated just like this forum, if you start bullying someone most likely get you kicked out, its just a way they express themselves is below what i consider normal, but other than that its a functioning online society where members having fun. However at the same time they get degraded and lost from normal part of human kind IMHO.

 

[Streetwise]

I'm not very social in real life, and feel more comfortable in a forum type setting.
I've seen a few crude posts, but, not many.
What I see out of people in everyday life is much more rude and aggressive.
A lot of angry disgruntled people out there with nothing much to say except F*** every other word.
Silly sounding to me.

In the town I live in,they say the F Word so often ,I don't even think they realise they are saying it,it still shocks me every time

 

[Suzanne]

I'm not a gamer

Me neither!

in real life I'm not nearly as succinct or articulate and don't communicate with such ease.

Same and thus, I stopped "associating" with ones I know in real life, online, because for one, they would say: wow, you are so confident etc and then, when I see them in real life, all that goes out of the window and it was way too surreal to me, so I stopped that in its tracks ie associating online with them.

The very few times I met ones I had met online, it has gone really bad for me and thus, I rather keep online "friends" online.

 

[Mr Allen]

Indeed, and the "freedom of speech" laws, especially in North America, mean that anyone can say and post almost anything they like with no comeback.

Completely wrong on several levels IMO.

 

[Suzanne]

nothing much to say except foul words every other word.

My brother used to have this filthy word in each sentance he uttered and the amount of times, I would cringe and beg him to stop, I could be rich lol

Thankfully, he "grew out of it" and that is good, because he is coming to stay with my husband and me for a week and not seen him for 8 or so years.

 

[Bella Pines]

I think consequences.

Anonymity gives the (perhaps illusion) of being able to act without consequence. No one is going to remember what you say, no one really cares anyway, you can change your avatar and start fresh. What the kids these days could do with learning is that we do affect people and what we say ripples out, even if it doesn't come back to us directly. Also anonymity brings a feeling of freedom that we don't get in real life, so the temptation to act up is increased.

 

[Bella Pines]

Thankfully, he "grew out of it"

Oops, not quite there yet, I often string multiple creative expletives together in the same sentence... maybe next year!

 

[OlLiE]

75% of people are more animal than enlightened human being,
their life rotates around hormonal machismo, frustration, food and sex

when it comes to frustrated hormone infused youths, i would assume the percentage is even higher

by association 3 out of every 4 chats is likely to be garbage

gamers are predominantly young, discord is made for gamers
hence moronic forums etc

aside from offering genuine people the anonymity to discuss topics that may otherwise be uncomfortable, anonymity regrettably also offers less than mannered/educated scum the chance to deposit their garbage freely, but again why is it worth caring what these people say?

as this forums proves, there are good ones, dump the bad, search for the good
in gaming there usually are guild with older players too, those are often more fun

 

[OlLiE]

PS what saddens me the most is that, by having anonymity, the internet/social media reflects the true nature of humanity,
despite the minority of kind and well intentioned people there are many more that are:
- vulgar
- ignorant
- prejudiced
- nasty and vicious
- vengeful
- self absorbed
- vain
- judgemental
- cowardly

i'm happy to stay out of society and just stick to the limited group of people around me that i trust

 

[owlet]

I don't personally see the problem with people having a good time (which may involve writing in a silly way). The main issue of internet anonymity is when people use it to harass others, like making nasty comments or trolling, which can actually cause harm to people. There has been some move towards laws that hold those people responsible for their actions, but they're not really finished properly yet and often they would involve a court case that many couldn't afford.

 

[Mattymatt]

I am very conflicted on anonymity. I believe the number of people who abuse it are in the relative minority. I don't think that a few bad actors should ruin it for the masses. A few bad actors should not bring about collateral damage.

 

[Theta.G]

Well... Discord is designed for gamers and heavily promoted as a game-chat app, to make up for the lack of functionality numerous games have when it comes to communication. Where there are gamers, there are anime fans. As for porn and hentai usually would play games that have a more mature audience (complex strategy games) so there hasn't been any of that in our groups and the focus of conversation is usually the game becausethat's what discord is primarily for. Idk which chats you been joining but if the game was something along the lines of Overwatch which is heavily sexualized could see how that would easily develop into hentai or porn posts.

 

[Theta.G]

The way social platforms have been designed and manipulated...It encourages reactionary activity. Straight from thought to the keyboard. It's like somehow the conscious mind is bypassed completely and you're just getting unfiltered thoughts. Most noticeable on Facebook. The ex CEO of Facebook came out and admitted that they changed the way people think and act online. Admitted to other psych experiments performed while being employed by FB. They've been in the news for performing psych experiments (and getting caught). With a platform like that and the worlds best psychologists involved with your business... easy to govern the minds of it's users. I use Facebook as an example because it's the most pervasive and notorious social platform which set the tone for others.

Not sure about the need to conform online either but there is a human need to talk and/or connect with others. Combine that with the above hi jacking of online social interactions and the social platform replaces the person in their life that they would tell those things to.

 

[Graphin]

First, there are big differences between platforms. The in my opinion best popular example would be reddit.

Also, even on platforms with bad reputation, if there are sub communities like discord servers it often really depends.

On youtube discord or various internet forums which all have a bad reputation in that regard, I've seen many beatiful communities develop. People actually discuss productively between eachother, bad manifestations of the sense of anonymity are more of an exception.

As it seems, in the darknet there seems to be a much stronger sense of anonymity, it goes into many partially positive extremes.