Very nice. (Specifically in the manner of number 6.)
Picking up on what lysapadin was saying about people not being "real" enough to warrant courtesy, I think that they're also not "real" enough to threaten retribution for rude and petty behaviour. The feeling of anonymity on the net not only prevents a person from thinking he/she can hurt the other non-people with whom he/she interacts, but also that he/she can't really be held responsible for bad behavior--and therefore, he/she can't be hurt in return. There's no immediate threat of punishment like there is in real life situations, and I can't count the number of times I've seen people who prance around online essentially saying, "Can't catch me!"
It's a lot harder to be a shit-disturbing asshole to someone who might reach across a counter and slug you in the face (or otherwise chastise and humiliate you for acting like a moron) than it is to be a dick to someone who might report your isp (which may result in nothing) or sign you up for bestiality porn. It ends up feeling less like a matter of stunted empathy and more like a matter of having the perfect opportunity to get away with crap.
Of course, you mentioned socialisation, and most people are likely to back down after throwing a good hissy fit, but there are others who really don't care, and they don't respond to the will of the community, because, quite simply, they are in it for the 'mean' in the first place.
Oh, yeah. That makes me think of something someone said a few weeks back about sociopathic fandoms, and not wanting to be in one. In regard to HP, if I recall correctly. Because actively denying the mechanisms of socialization and communal-will-expression just about sums up sociopathy, and there sure is some of that going around.
I wonder if part of the problem isn't telling which of the positions you mention the offender is coming from. Because I can see a lot of people writing off even an attempt at chastizement as not worth it, if they think that most of the offenders really are... well, abusers that way. Really are taking advantage of the virtual environment to deliberately be cruel and malicious.
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branchandroot) wrote2006-01-07 02:43 pm
no subject
Picking up on what
It's a lot harder to be a shit-disturbing asshole to someone who might reach across a counter and slug you in the face (or otherwise chastise and humiliate you for acting like a moron) than it is to be a dick to someone who might report your isp (which may result in nothing) or sign you up for bestiality porn. It ends up feeling less like a matter of stunted empathy and more like a matter of having the perfect opportunity to get away with crap.
Of course, you mentioned socialisation, and most people are likely to back down after throwing a good hissy fit, but there are others who really don't care, and they don't respond to the will of the community, because, quite simply, they are in it for the 'mean' in the first place.
Yay, fandom.
no subject
I wonder if part of the problem isn't telling which of the positions you mention the offender is coming from. Because I can see a lot of people writing off even an attempt at chastizement as not worth it, if they think that most of the offenders really are... well, abusers that way. Really are taking advantage of the virtual environment to deliberately be cruel and malicious.
*wry* Yay, fandom, indeed.