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Internet is Getting More Civil, a Study by Microsoft Says (fortune.com)
While social media may feel like a trash heap at times, Microsoft released a new study on Tuesday that claims civility is spreading on the Internet... at least slightly. From a report: Microsoft's Digital Civility Index fell two points, to 66, in 2018, signaling that Internet users around the world are treating each other slightly better, although there's still plenty of room for improvement. The closer the index is to zero, the more civil people are toward each other. The survey measured the perceptions of teens and adults in 22 countries about their online experiences and the risks they face when spending time online. If the news that the internet is apparently becoming more civil comes as a surprise, U.S. readers may want to hold onto their seats. The civility index in the U.S. fell ten points in the past year to 51, showing the biggest improvement, according to a blog post from Microsoft.
It's just that people are now aware that it's massively under surveillance, that anonymity has been thrown out the window, and that anything they say, even under a pseudonym, can come back to haunt them. So the worst offenders are becoming more PC because they don't feel totally free to say any old shit anymore.
Exactly the same effect as when people realize they're being watched on CCTV cameras in supermarkets : many don't dare scratch their butts discreetly behind an aisle like they used to.
It's quite chilling actually, if you ask me... I preferred the wild internet to the self-censored one: at least you could see humanity raw, as it really is.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
There is no common ground anymore, so there is no point in trying to discuss things with people at the other end of the political spectrum.
I dont even try anymore, if youre a Trumper, youre not worth my time.
Your sentiment is probably indicative of what is happening here. You don't want to talk to "Trumpers" and they almost certainly don't want to talk to you either.
Certainly with news sites we're seeing polarization occurring. You can't just have news anymore- you have to have liberal news OR conservative news. People go to their own sites. There is enough internet for everyone now that conservative people tend to congregate around conservative sites and liberal people congregate around liberal sites.
If there is more civility, it's because we're isolating ourselves more now. We're going places where we are comfortable in our ideology. We don't meet in middle ground anymore, there are special havens online for people that think like we do.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Sunday nights there is a radio show called Beyond the Beltway hosted by a guy named Bruce Dumont.
It has a reasonably wide market I think on AM radio. He usually has an evenly matched panel of self professed liberals and conservatives of various stripes.
Last Sunday he had a young woman on who worked for Democrats causes in one form or another and made a crazy statement...
She had not heard of Northam's comments regarding infanticide, which pretty much blew up the internet for a few days until he went all black face.
The reason she hadn't heard it, and didn't believe it (she stated such on the show) was that it wasn't on NPR, PBS, and a short list of far left sites she frequented.
Perfect example of what you mention.
And I should mention, only one side has stopped talking. The side that dismisses anyone who disagrees with them as racists.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
People "have" to treat each other nice online or they end up getting sued and yes, printed digital documents will stand up in a court of law.
I suppose you could say that the internet is more 'civil' than in the past, but the reasons why aren't what you think. If my small circle of friends is any guide, it's because everyone is scared to death to say ANYTHING that can be considered 'non-PC' or taken the wrong way by the internet lynch mobs. So they just keep their comments private among a chosen few or don't bother saying anything at all. Why risk saying something, even the most benign comment, that can be used to get you fired or destroy your life by a bunch of nameless people on the internet looking for trouble? It's just not worth it anymore, so the sane people just drop out. Even my 'woke' friends (hate that term, but they seriously do use it) walk on eggshells these days.
So yes I guess the internet is more civil than in the past, but only because a small but vocal group of people have effectively silenced the rest (this isn't a left/right conservative/liberal thing, this is something much more sinister). I really had hoped that people would eventually start getting tired of the latest outrage de jour, but people just seem to feed on it so it continues to grow to ever larger and more bizarre forms of outrage. After all, outrage and victimhood is power these days. Who would willing give that up?
"The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line."
From mass permanent public shaming for singular statements or 30-year-old acts of indiscretion, people will simply drop out from internet communication if they think earnest honesty, openness, or youthful rebellion will come back to ruin their lives.
Personally, I have become a lot more civil. I'm trying to set an example for the younger Slashdotters out there.
But the haters and losers can't seem to handle my civility. That's OK, because like Ghandi, I can withstand their trollish nonsense and allow them to fuck right off. Plus, I've fucked most of their mothers, so it's all a wash in the end.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I dont even try anymore, if youre a Trumper, youre not worth my time. You dont believe in objective reality, and since thats what all my arguments are based on, there is nothing really i can say to you that will click.
You know what's really funny? Idiots like you that think their crap doesn't stink are the reason the orange putz became president in the first place. You walk into a conversation already believing you're better than everyone else and then call someone a nazi as soon they disagree with you. You may think you're a big man but you're really just a tool.
If you listen to the full interview it is obvious that Northam was discussing a baby who was born with a disability. It is quite common for pro-abortion supporters to bring up fringe cases like rape, incest and disabilities because they get more support by ignoring the fact the the vast majority of babies are aborted because they are inconvenient for the mother to bring to term and raise. Yes I said inconvenient. The vast majority of abortions do not happen because of economic issues.
Now the question becomes: Is it alright to allow a child to die, which can be medically saved because they have a disability? Sure it is more expensive, physically harder and more intrusive to your lifestyle to have to care for a child that is disabled. But do we really want to live in a world where the law allows inconvenient people to be killed?
Most people don't think so, which is why some pro-choice Democrat probably leaked the yearbook photo.
And for the record when you kill a child after it is born that is infanticide.
And the other side consists of Anti-Fascist authoritarian terrorists and violent anarchists.
Or we could just admit that some people on one side believe that we shouldn't try to erase history and some people on the other side believe we shouldn't build monuments to traitors and slave owners. But that would require actually talking to each other and coming to some kind of accommodation. I don't know like a big brass plaque next to a confederate statue that says something like: This racist monument brought to you by the Democratic party. The party that tried to destroy the Union in support of slavery. They built this statue after the war when they retook the government by denying civil rights to people of color. Let us never forget.
I think you'll find that most conservative pundits/hosts/whatever, when they take questions after a speaking engagement, will ask those who disagree to go to the front of the line.
Rush welcomes Liberal callers.
Fox almost always, if not always, has a representative of the Left included in discussions.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
When you have celebrities going after white males students for simply being white and male, it certainly makes me want to walk on eggshells. The fact that it gets clicks / likes / retweets to keep those addicted to the attention is sad.
Covington was a test, and showed the worse of the so-called progressives. Most are out of touch... but it makes sense the the more extreme left are just a bunch of signalling middle class white folk
There are good people on both sides, and there are bad on both sides. It seems like the left is more willing to defend their bad actors... or at least the media is.
I remember reading the local free news paper a few years ago. In it there was an article by a local reporter just starting out. The reporter had been given some expensive tickets by their parents to a BBQ put on by a local politician for fund raising. Obviously the reporter hated the politician with red hot anger, as the rest of the article went on to describe how they choose to boycott the whole ugly affair. But then they spent their time tracking the politician on facebook finding photos of the event. They then proceeded to rip everyone in the photos as the cause for all the cities troubles and for supporting the candidate. The final point of the author was that the politician was trash and that not going was the best decision they every made, they also threw in that the politician should be removed from office for all the types of people who attended.
Now my take away from the article was; what an idiot they were! Your parents already paid for the tickets, so the politician got the money anyway. You not attending didn't harm them in anyway. You stood in your corner yelling how awful they were and anyone associated to them must be as well. Instead why didn't you use that opportunity to confront the political at an event they couldn't just walk away from? Or how about you call them out in front of their friends and let them explain themselves? Or possible why not have a decent conversation and try to understand their motivations and reason, maybe talk some sense into them.
Whenever looking at politics I keep thinking back to this story. Politics is now just a game of "us" preventing "them" from doing bad things. Lets not sit down and try to understand each others views and come to some common ground. Nope, now we spent huge amounts of time looking for a way to shame or dismiss "them".
And yes I purposely was vague and left out details such as gender, race, and party affiliations; because it really doesn't matter.
That was not a productive reply. I used to be a Democrat and became a Republican when Democrats decided to turn into Bolsheviks. Politicians on the right tend to be rather abrasive, but the Republican grassroots is far more civil today despite everything the left says. I will have a much easier time talking about gay rights at my shooting range than about gun rights at a university.