I think the Internet is less friendly than 10 years ago, it is just me?

[sprite75]

Sure, everyone has always had the bright idea "My site will be different...I'll allow a free flow of ideas and it will be great."  Then, some butt-head comes in and takes a crap all over that and boom...first ban.  Then it's, "How do I prevent that from happening again? I know!  I'll post some RULES!"

It's an endless tug-of-war.  But, there will always be anti-social / asocial jerks that bring down the signal to noise ratio and get bolder and bolder with insults and flame bait statements.

The newspaper where I live thought by allowing comments that it would be that "free flow of ideas" and it would be awesome.  At first they allowed anyone to comment.  After a murder someone kept posting an image of a black person being lynched in the comments to the point where the paper temporarily shut down the site until they could stop people from posting images.  They then either required commenters to either be paid subscribers or provide verification of their ID.  Last year they switched to Facebook for comments thinking that if people had to show their real name they wouldn't be such idiots in the comment sections.  No, not really, some of the people are as stupid as ever.

One of the TV stations used to have comments on articles which used to attract a fair amount of stupid.  They switched over to Facebook as well a few years ago, then later on stopped having comments on their website altogether.

[etmoviesb]

My sociology teacher told us that people on the internet can be rude/offensive/etc because they hide behind a screen. They become very narcissistic because of it; so there's that.

True, but we are in the 2015. We can say the Internet become mainstream around 1995, it is 20 years.
So it means we have people having glimpses of the Internet for their whole life, one would expect that the message: "would you say that to someone in person? overall to someone you don't know?" should be common knowledge now. Of course, it is not. Probably is another failure of education.


Slightly out of topic, but still somewhat connected. Few weeks ago I was in Kyoto and I saw tourists stalking a Geisha to take photos. Sure there was not physical contact, but it really weirded me out.
Would you start aggressively take photos of a random person going (or coming back) from work? Of course not... If you really want, you take your picture discretely and that's it... For some reason it seems the strange dress and the white faces make people lose all the self control. I guess it is somewhat similar to be behind a screen.

[claws]

Seems less friendly now. Almost every halfwit has a big ego now. I've witnessed a few cases of extreme douchebaggerism in the 2000s at horror message boards, but these days it just seems worse. Out of personal experience I must say that Code Red (Blu-ray label) Fanboys are some of the worst kind of people I've ever met online.

[Newt]

The impression I get from the other forums I am on is that the 'know-it-all' contingent has harassed and driven off the people who were worth discussing things with.  We are left with a larger proportion of the aggressive, objectionable types.  This has killed quite a number of sites I used to visit frequently: those few that did not disappear are virtual ghost towns.

So then the action shifted to FaceBook.

It is a strange thing, but lately I have also noticed a slight shift into the real world: the people I have 'met' online who are motivated to keep in touch are starting to actually meet when the opportunity arises.  Give it another 10-20 years.

[alandhopewell]

      I don't get on the 'net as much as I used to, period, but I like to stop by here when I'm on, because the dumbass quotient DOES seem to be less here.
I'm not talking about differences of opinion, or even believing that you're right and that those of differing views are wrong; I'm a fundamentalist Christian, so I kinda come from that direction naturally. However, flaming or bashing those people is not only dreadful manners, but defeats the very purpose of what I'm supposed to be doing.

     4-X, if I'm trying to explain that everyone is imperfect, i.e. in need of salvation, don't I have to display my OWN imperfection , perhaps even lead off with that? If I don't, all I'm doing is putting people down.

     I do agree that it's not as friendly as it used to be, although I admit there's some of it I just plain don't get, like Facebook, Twitter, and such. Are you really so emotionally needy that you have to tell the entire planet, "14:16-just went to the john."? And if you are, will such faux contact actually satisfy your jones?

[alandhopewell]

      I don't get on the 'net as much as I used to, period, but I like to stop by here when I'm on, because the dumbass quotient DOES seem to be less here.
I'm not talking about differences of opinion, or even believing that you're right and that those of differing views are wrong; I'm a fundamentalist Christian, so I kinda come from that direction naturally. However, flaming or bashing those people is not only dreadful manners, but defeats the very purpose of what I'm supposed to be doing.

     4-X, if I'm trying to explain that everyone is imperfect, i.e. in need of salvation, don't I have to display my OWN imperfection , perhaps even lead off with that? If I don't, all I'm doing is putting people down.

     I do agree that it's not as friendly as it used to be, although I admit there's some of it I just plain don't get, like Facebook, Twitter, and such. Are you really so emotionally needy that you have to tell the entire planet, "14:16-just went to the john."? And if you are, will such faux contact actually satisfy your jones?

     Usually, I don't quote myself, but I got to thinking about some of the comments I've made about social media, and some of it is sorta mean-spirited.
Sure, a lot of social media content is dippy, but if it weren't for social media, I probably wouldn't have met Tracy (we lived 1500 miles apart), and even if we'd attended the same church, shopped at the same stores, whatever, I probably never would have worked up the nerve to talk to her, even as lonely as I was. If truth be told, I am (or at least was) one of those socially inept people for whom the Internet and social media was a foot in the door.

     Also, what right have I to criticize someone for being "emotionally needy"? On reflection, it sounds akin to laughing at someone for being afraid.

     I am sometimes a jerk.

[etmoviesb]

I'm a fundamentalist Christian

I am sometimes a jerk.

Well... ;)