I think it’s time we admit it: The Internet makes it easier for us to be nasty.
Now, don’t get all riled up. I’m not hating on the Internet. And I’m not saying that it creates haters. Nope. I’m simply saying that with all its “likes”, “friends,” “followers” and “favorites,” the Internet can still be the tool that helps pull out the rotten little blockhead buried inside some people.
You can find examples just about everywhere you look. For instance, I was on a gaming site not long ago reading a review for Sleeping Dogs, a Grand Theft Auto kind of game that takes place in Hong Kong. Now, in her evaluation, the female reviewer made the simple comment that she didn’t think some of the graphics were as good as they could have been (she used the word “unattractive’). The backlash from the game’s fans was immediate and at times rather brutal, calling the reviewer’s comments “racist bigotry” and even aiming some cruel barbs at her looks, since her picture was posted at the end of the review. There were some who calmly and sensibly tried to defuse the vitriol, but I was struck by how viscerally angry and even misogynistic some of the blogged comments became.
Want another example? I saw a CNN opinion piece by a guy named Jeff Pearlman who writes a sports blog. After writing something about a baseball player, a fan tweeted him several times with some very rude and snide responses. Then the unknown tweeter left one final message with a link that said, “I got caught up in the anonymity of the Internet. I’m sorry and here is a legit post with my criticisms.” When Pearlman opened the pasted link, however, he was greeted by a very nasty pornographic picture. And to make matters worse, his 7-year-old daughter happened to be standing next to him when he opened the image.
Now, I’ve seen enough online blogs and posts to know that the Internet isn’t just a bunch of ugly trolls spitting out their hatred at every thought and opinion. There are plenty of people who try to be polite and reasonable and who often try to stem the raging torrents—and many of them, I’m happy to say, read and respond to this very blog. And I also recognize that sometimes it’s difficult to read the true emotion or intent of every line of words that have been typed out in a rush. But “YOURRR STOOOPPIDDD” followed by fourteen exclamation points makes things pretty clear.
Of course, it’s not really the Internet that creates the chaos. It’s our own nature as human beings. I remember reading a quote that said something to the effect of, “The wonderful thing about the Internet is that it encourages everybody to have an opinion—and the terrible thing about the Internet is that it gives everybody the opportunity to express it.”
That doesn’t mean that we can’t make a concentrated effort to be civil and keep ourselves in check as much as possible. Our natures might want to instantly respond with a spit and a roar, but we can rein that in. Or as Susie O’Brien said in a heraldsun.com article, “We have to think of the example it sets for our kids. If we can’t respect each other as adults, how can we expect them to get it right?”
And for those of us who think the Internet gives us a special kind of cover—a bridge under which we can hide until some passing Billy Gruff grabs their attention—think again. All our tweets, blogs and Facebook posts are being stored in the Library of Congress as we speak. And when someday it comes out that you are indeed the one and only daddywarbanks5, all you’ve had to opine will still be there for the world to see.
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