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Thursday 27 March 2014

Violence & Aggression in the On-line world

Have you noticed the increasing aggressiveness of people who frequent forums and/or leave comments on the Internet? 

C'mon now, I know it's not just me! 


I am a Comment/Review/Opinion-type person so I often find myself perusing the most interesting & intriguing part of Any article: The Comment sections of the On-line world i.e News Sites such as; Huffington Post, CBC; Health/Diet/Lifestyle: MindBodyGreen, MarksDailyApple, Wellnessresources.com; Consumer: Amazon; Sports Sites: TSN, ATP ect, ect. 

You get the picture, I get around on-line! 

What I've been noticing lately is an increasing trend towards aggressive & foul language and overall meanness in the tone of some comments. To be honest, I enjoy swearing from time to time, Ok daily, But I don't bring my potty-mouth into the realm of the public domain- why? Think about it, do you enjoy reading expletives in comments? I don't & I like to swear especially when the situation really begs for it which is usually when I'm by myself, driving, or when I want to emphasize something or impress my closest friends!

Swearing casually, especially in public, is unattractive & a clear sign of social-ineptness, low self-worth & down right pathetic! However, in some situations I'll admit that it can be just a simple case of frustration, sometimes extreme frustration (speaking from experience!)...but that's NOT what's going on in the internet world-for the most part. 

What's happening on-line is downright scary & a complete turn-off! 


I've personally witnessed on-line attacks that where so intense they'd qualify for police intervention if it weren't for their anonymity. Maybe the police were involved, I have no way of knowing but my point is that it is growing unceasingly UnSafe in this Cyber-World. 

Often those who 'expose' their opinions on-line, in a seemingly innocuous article or post, are the most vulnerable to ambush or attack. 

Words by themselves are without judgement but when aggressively hurled at others, usually strangers, without pause of consideration are like ammunition & do go-off like bombs in the minds & hearts of others.

As a side note: Some scientist now postulate that a new species of human being has emerged, within the past 50 years, they call it The Psychopath. This new type of human being is almost identical to it's predecessor with one notable exception: this new breed lacks a conscience. 

Their rate of occurrence is approximately 1 in 4 persons however this ratio is steadily increasing.

I'd say the evidence is everywhere including on-line where there appears to be roaming groups of highly aggressive, rude and even violent comment/forum-crashers.  

My Rule:  Before I Comment /Criticize Anyone, I do some research first. This often results in a 'Pause' which then helps me reflect on the author's words & ideas. Once I've formulated my reply I write it out, think about it for a while then & only then do I post it. This rule or routine actually intercepts any compulsion to reply immediately which I think is the problem for some people. They rant & write before they think, they don't seem to have the elusive stop-gap strategy for whatever reason while the more aggressive types are not interested in saving anyone's feelings their aim Is To Hurt. 

Yes, even after all that, I'd still love to know what You think;)
Michelle xo






2 comments:

  1. I think the explanation is simple: we are gradually forgetting that human beings are at the center of human beings interest.
    As humans we drift toward using things, alienation, cyber world...
    As society we focus of productivity, profits, opportunities...
    And it leaves less and less space for being humane.

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  2. Thank you Michal, I think you have hit a major point here. The phenomenon of 'Gradually Forgetting' our humane-ness is indeed the precursor, for most, towards bad behaviour. I say most only because I believe what some scientists have been postulating for some time: that we are in fact witnessing the fallout of a new species of human being-The Pyscopath.

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