{"id":433,"date":"2009-09-18T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-18T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wpdude.com\/test\/?p=433"},"modified":"2009-09-18T14:10:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-18T14:10:00","slug":"being-horrible-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/09\/being-horrible-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Horrible Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It’s easy to be a horrible human online. This came as a bit of a shock to me when I first started using the net (later than some of my friends) and I wondered, “Are there just a lot of mean badly mannered people out there? Don’t these people have mums to tell them off?” Over time however I realised that “these people” are just average and it’s the nature of the Internet to encourage “flaming”, “trolling”, Fisking<\/a> (no it’s not sexual) and result in Godwin’s law <\/a>– all Internet discussions degenerate into arguments and comparisons with the Nazis.<\/p>\n

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So why are people so horrible online? <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

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Or put it another way, why are people less likely to be rude to each other in life than online? Here’s why:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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Social Norms<\/b><\/div>\n
In most societies (a few uncivilised ones like the USA aside) social norms have been established for a long time so social interaction is lubricated. The net is comparatively new and has yet to “normalise” though thankfully this is starting to happen – as it has with mobile etiquette.<\/div>\n
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Fear of Reprisal<\/b><\/div>\n
In the street you’re polite because people can smack you in the mouth if you’re not. Online they can’t.<\/div>\n

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Damage to Reputation<\/b><\/div>\n
In the outside world our reputations are crucial – the Internet can be anonymous.<\/div>\n
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Embodied Communication <\/b><\/div>\n
Much communication is non verbal so misunderstanding are much more frequent online – emoticons were invented as a useful way to try and avoid this \ud83d\ude42 but sadly \ud83d\ude41 there’s no substitute for face to face communication still. My own company specialises in embodied learning.<\/a><\/div>\n

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Compassion<\/b><\/div>\n
When people are out of sight they are “out of heart” and easy to dehumanise – modern warfare relies upon this too incidentally. <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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So is it a good idea to be horrible online?<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
Let’s all be mean to each other then if the Internet is a safe place to be horrible in…Er bad move and wrong. Ethical and moral issues aside (aka “the weekend” here in Brighton) this is not in your best interests. Here’s why:<\/div>\n
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