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Why Trolls and Flames Happen
AnonymousHack writes "New Scientist examines why people are in general more rude and abusive online. 'Psychologically, we are "distant" from the person we're talking to and less focused on our own identity. As a result we're more prone to aggressive behavior' says one psychologist, who also cites research showing messages received by email are always perceived more negatively than on the phone." Just more proof for the Greater Internet F***wad Theory.
Ooh, more DISTANT. I hadn't thought of THAT before. Jesus Christ. Idiots.
--I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
-- See?
My coworker sits right next to me. He's not distant at all, and still trolls every comment I post.
WTF? People are rude everywhere. Now don't get me wrong, dear reader. Of course I do not mean you, but the two idiots on either side of your cubicle, yes THEM, those hideous bastards and their soccer practicing spouses.
Clearly, this research team did all their research reading emails inside a nice warm coffee shop in Seattle, AND if you lift the rock off their heads, I'm betting both ears are flattened.
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There... that ought to do it.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
>Recently there has been a sharp increase in the amount of abusive language on the New Scientist website.
Oh, how very fucking _interesting_! Sounds just like the kind of impartial, thoughtful introduction that heralds a fucking well-balanced scientific curio doesn't it? It's on an intellectual par with Schrödinger postulating about quantum mechanics because his damned cat wouldn't stop shitting on the carpet. Bra-fucking-vo.
>My pet theory about why people behave so rudely is that online commenting is treated, by most people, like a pub conversation
Oh yeah? Well _my_ pet theory is that you're fucking retarded. What's your local pub? The "make up spurious claims & expect people to be interested in them"?
>After being described a few weeks ago as "a self-lobotomised liberal who can't face the facts", I decided to look into the psychology of online behaviour a bit further.
You don't need a shitting psychology decree to know that's called fucking rampart narcissism, you self-interested jackass.
>Psychologically, we are "distant" from the person we're talking to and less focused on our own identity. As a result we're more prone to aggressive behaviour, he says.
Well that's fucking retarded, all I can think about when reading your mastabatory drivel is how awesome I am in comparison.
>Another factor influencing online communication, according to Epley, is simply the risk of miscommunication involved with text-based messages, which are inherently more ambiguous.
Nothing ambiguous about how much of a shit-eating moron you are, you must be a master of textual precision.
>Another obvious factor is that, if you insult someone online, it's unlikely you'll face any physical retaliation for it.
Look at brave Mr. New-Scientist-Blogger! People won't insult him in _real_ _life_ because if they do, he fucks their shit up for them! If he invents a way to stab people in the face over the internet, I'm in real fucking trouble.
>I'm not sure what we can do to minimise miscommunication and abuse online. But being aware that we're not as good at communication online as we'd like to think seems like a good start. I know I often have to restrain myself from joining in.
Didn't fucking restrain yourself hard enough did you? Didn't fucking restrain yourself hard enough, or I wouldn't be reading this peice of vomit you call an article.
There will always be a few however, who take exception at everything. there's no helping these individuals.
I'm one of those individuals, you insensitive clod!
Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.