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Does the mean-spiritedness of people on the internet still surprise you?
Yes - it's terrible what people will say from behind a keyboard 9 (13.6%)
Yes - But you just have to deal with it 14 (21.2%)
Yes - great isn't it? Always giving me new ideas to make people upset 9 (13.6%)
No - lrn2 interwebs: no nice people on the internet 9 (13.6%)
Are you kidding? 8 (12.1%)
What heist were you watching? 6 (9.1%)
Nag, go to bed - these late night topics of yours never make sense to any of us and we're tired of humouring you 11 (16.7%)
Total Votes: 66
There's a lot of angry people on the internet....
Topic Started: Jun 13 2009, 05:58 PM (168 Views)
Nag Ehgoeg
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The Devil's Advocate

I hang out on two types of website. The first kind is sites like this. People are relaxed, welcoming, chilled out. They really know how to make someone welcome and draw them into their community.

The second kind is the type of site that skirts the grey area of legality (and the sites that cater to the crowd who visit those kinds of site). And the people are... well... not very nice.

Occassionally I pop my head into "middle ground" sites like YouTube or Wikipedia - sites that are too large to have a welcoming atmosphere, too commercial to allow asses to run rampant.

So... one of my top ten films of all time just aired on TV. Fallen. Stars Denzel Washington. Really, really love this film. Maybe because I'm into demonology. Maybe because in 1998 Denzel actually deserved the acting acclaim laid at his feet.

Film ends, I look up some more information about it on The Internet Movie Database. I scroll down to the users comments section, hoping to see some discussion about the film's ending. I see nothing but discussion of the films ending. Eight pages of threads praising it as the best thing ever or denouncing it as the worst crime since Cain killed Abel. Some of the threads just say "worse film ever" followed by a barrage of insults at either the poster or the film - some of which have been deleted by moderators, others which have not.

Now I've trolled YouTube. I've trolled it hard. And I've made arsehole edits to the wiki. I've closed pools.

And yet the general asshattery of random strangers on the internet still surprises me.

The vehemence that people can muster over a film that was released more than ten years ago (and comments have been made on it this week) is mind boggling! I turned away in disgust (after filling a few "report abuse" cases on both the haters and the fanboys).

So...

Does the angry ranting of strangers on the internet still surprise you? Does it shock you? Does it fill you with a perverse pride in the debased nature of man?

Multi-choice poll. I'm ticking all of the above.
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Rhadamanthus
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Legitimist

It always shocks and appalls me. Though at the same time, it doesn't, because I know that it will do so... So I voted for the first yes and the no. But really, the problem is me. No matter how low I set my expectations, I always manage to overestimate people.
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Konosha
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The Maui Boy
 *  *  *  *  *
I don't beleive there is really anything we can realistically do about this sort of thing, except just ignore it as some useless blabber. We have to remember though that most of the random "hate" comments are done by people who wouldnt have the guts to say these things face to face with another person, instead they hide with cowardise behind anonymity. Hell sometimes I even see that here too when people get into arguements they would never get into if they were talking to a real person and not behind a computer screen.

I really think no amount of censorship can hide the effect these kinds of things have on our emotions, so all I can really say is, ignore the stupid shit.
Edited by Konosha, Jun 13 2009, 06:25 PM.
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Porcu
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"Work is the curse of the drinking classes."

Kinda yes and kinda no. I think the anonymity of the internets it what it's all about. People can say whatever the hell they want and essentially know that they will never be found. That's the purpose behind 4chan.org, for example. Glad this forum, at least, is a welcoming place.
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
Not surprised, ever. Maybe it's because I've grown up with it and have come to expect it. I see terribly stupid things being said.

Example: Someone posts requesting help with a technical problem, etc.

Omg, noob! It's so eazy I'm not even teling u!

Nice spelling lozer! Eazy is spelled easie!

Moronz!

Etc, etc.
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Ulgania
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A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
Quote:
 
Now I've trolled YouTube. I've trolled it hard. And I've made arsehole edits to the wiki. I've closed pools.
Makes the topic
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NRE
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Map Tsar and Southern Gentleman

I think its the nature of the beast which is the internet. You can literally become anyone or thing, and say practically whatever you want without worry (for the most part). Is it appalling, yes but that's the evil which balances the good I guess.

What bothers me more than the people who write the appalling material are the people who feel obligated to respond to it. I mean not that I find their responses to be appalling just that they respond at all. I mean a statement is only given any sort of power when it is recognized and acknowledged by another person. Ignore it and its as if that person is yelling to an empty room.

May not be the right approach but it works for me :lol:
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Eleytheria-Duo
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Resident Bystander
It doesn't surprise me at all, never has, never will.

Human nature has always been sadistic and demeaning in nature. Particularly when they can get away with it from 'afar.' The internet has made it far easier, and the impersonality of it makes it far less objectionable than say... The telephone or by writing a letter.

Of course I'm sure TC would say the best way to uphold traditional "drop your hat and fight," over derogatory and insulting comments would be to abolish the internet. :lol: But for the rest of us, we'll have to live with it.
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Tristan da Cunha
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Science and Industry
No way, I'm a pacifist :lol:

People should be gentle :)
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Eleytheria-Duo
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Resident Bystander
Tristan da Cunha
Jun 14 2009, 12:39 AM
No way, I'm a pacifist :lol:

People should be gentle :)
I love gentle. But sometimes I like it rough, too. :lol:

Admittedly I don't have the physical build to be very 'hands on' with most people, instead all the physical fights I've gotten myself into yet, I've been forced to rely on underhanded bastardry to 'win.'

Back on topic, I am surprised Nag would even ask this question. He MUST have been drunk or buzzed when he made this poll.
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Ulgania
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A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
You know what's more fun than trolling?

meta-trolling.

It's like making a pun in front of people who hate puns, and laughing at the groans.
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Sedulius
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Field Marshal
I picked the first two, because it is shocking what people will say, but you do just have to deal with it. If you get angry on the internet, then you're just a fool.

I think this forum is conducive to maturing people's behavior in that area.

EDIT: I know it's certainly helped my internet demeanor. It's been a long time since I lost my cool on here, though I seem to have a talent for making others lose theirs. I don't really mean to.
Edited by Sedulius, Jun 14 2009, 01:33 AM.
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Konosha
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The Maui Boy
 *  *  *  *  *
Eleytheria-Duo
Jun 14 2009, 12:28 AM
Of course I'm sure TC would say the best way to uphold traditional "drop your hat and fight," over derogatory and insulting comments would be to abolish the internet. :lol: But for the rest of us, we'll have to live with it.
Im just crushed you didn't think of me when it came to fighting... I think I'll go get drunk now and go pick a fight with some Samoan guy... *Sigh*
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lebowski2123
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Resident?
All of the above
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New Harumf
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
I am never surprised by the banality of mankind, and the anonimous banality of the interwebs I have come to expect. Funny thing is, ever since I was a teen I have been a hothead, so there is little I would say here that I wouldn't say face to face to someone my size or smaller (I am not stupid). Really, before there were interwebs I think we did fight a lot more, because we didn't have this anon outlet.

I love to play MSN spades, and I actually enjoy the fights there, almost as much as I used to love the live fights at the bridge table in my youth!

Now, for the last 10 years in order to save my relationship, I have resorted to good ole Paxil - a pill a day keeps the anger away! Ah, modern living through chemistry!! But . . . . I am much better now.
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Ulgania
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A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
Given the direction of the feminist topic, I think Porcu's library might go well in here.

It might represent the second type of website NE mentioned.
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Nag Ehgoeg
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The Devil's Advocate

Ulgania
Jun 14 2009, 01:07 AM
You know what's more fun than trolling?

meta-trolling.

It's like making a pun in front of people who hate puns, and laughing at the groans.
:rolleyes:
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