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ferineCommon Courtesy And Wit In The Digital Age
By Tracey E. Schelmetic
Editorial Director,
Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine
A character in the novel The Human Stain by Philip Roth notes, of modern society, "People are dumber... but more opinionated."
This line has really stuck with me lately.
I've been musing a lot about the state of human interaction and mannerly behavior, and how increasingly, as a human race, we are leaving consideration, intelligent reaction and respect for others (even if we disagree with them) behind. The link to modern electronic communications is strong. Messaging has become more informal, due to technology. We can chat with strangers, leave opinions in public forums, and publish our ideas on Web blogs and sites that are accessible to the general public.
If you've ever participated in a chat or message board related to world issues, you'll know you need to have a thick skin. Even the mildest of opinions will frequently draw such verbal abuse that it leaves you astonished the first time, then cold, then cynical.
The truth is, I don't know whether the digital communication wave has exacerbated the problem, or just shined the spotlight on what's been developing for years.
I have a habit of browsing favorite Web sites on my laptop during commercial breaks while I'm watching television. IMDB.com (the Internet Movie Database) is one of my favorites, as I'm a movie buff and will frequently "look up" familiar faces when they recur in a movie or television show. ("I recognize that guy! What else has he been in?")
One night, not long ago, I was reading the biographical entry for the actress Sigourney Weaver. On her message boards below her formal entry, I noticed a post: "Signourney Came Out... In the 1970s". A poster had found, in the New York Times archives, the news of the actress' formal society debut as a young woman in the 1970s (a process that is apparently an anachronistic mystery to most of today's teenagers.)
As the poster intended, countless young people, assuming that the poster was implying that Ms. Weaver is a lesbian, began loading the chat board with ignorant, vituperative rubbish against the original poster. I added an entry of my own, to the original poster... something along the lines of, "As amusing as it is, Poster Number One, quit teasing the children."
Of course, the verbal sewage began to come my way. I was offered misspelled, grammatically incorrect and intellectually limited instructions such as, "Yer a retard, u loser." It's my fault... I know that the IMDB chat boards are trolled by children born long after the old "children should be seen and not heard" wisdom, as are many public forums.
But the lack of wit, combined with the lack of inhibition to attack a stranger for a mild comment is disturbing. (I'm still reeling from a report last week indicating that one third of young Americans aged 18 to 24 cannot find Louisiana on a map; half cannot find the Indian subcontinent on a globe.)
From my perspective, I see a rise in people who are absolutely sure that their own opinions, regardless of whether those opinions were formed by study of the facts, are as valid as anyone else's, and such people are willing to begin name-calling the moment you ask them to justify those opinions. I see people who not only do not care for civil, polite exchange, they revel in attacking others.
I'm inclined to think that this attitude has been on the rise for a while, and digital communications have just made it more possible to share odious exchanges, bringing them to the forefront. I will say, though, that I think the anonymous element of e-mail and chat boards allows people to spout venom they would be less likely to unleash in a face-to-face discussion.
When posting an opinion on a message board or when sending an e-mail to a writer, whatever happened to prefacing the statement with "I think" or "I believe" or "In my opinion"? Nowadays, we're all so sure our opinions are the "right" ones that we become hostile when someone expresses an opposing one. This phenomenon is rampant in the political realm, as well, and may be a contributing factor to why American politics are so polarized right now.
I am a technology writer. I seldom write about controversial issues (except for that one sideswipe I took against the novels of L. Ron Hubbard years ago that STILL garners the occasional e-mail from an indignant Scientologist…the miracle of search engine archiving). Even so, insulting e-mails (which frequently follow no grammatical or spelling rules known to mankind) find their way into my in-box. I can't imagine what people who write about geopolitical issues on very public forums must receive. (My idea to write this column began when I read this editorial, "Digital Lynch Mob" from the Washington Post's Richard Cohen.)
When I read feedback of the ill-educated, limited wit variety, I remember another quote, which has over the years been attributed to a number of people, including Larry Flynt: "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one."
It's crudely expressed, but then... increasingly nowadays, so are the opinions.
By Tracey E. Schelmetic
Editorial Director,
Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine
A character in the novel The Human Stain by Philip Roth notes, of modern society, "People are dumber... but more opinionated."
This line has really stuck with me lately.
I've been musing a lot about the state of human interaction and mannerly behavior, and how increasingly, as a human race, we are leaving consideration, intelligent reaction and respect for others (even if we disagree with them) behind. The link to modern electronic communications is strong. Messaging has become more informal, due to technology. We can chat with strangers, leave opinions in public forums, and publish our ideas on Web blogs and sites that are accessible to the general public.
If you've ever participated in a chat or message board related to world issues, you'll know you need to have a thick skin. Even the mildest of opinions will frequently draw such verbal abuse that it leaves you astonished the first time, then cold, then cynical.
The truth is, I don't know whether the digital communication wave has exacerbated the problem, or just shined the spotlight on what's been developing for years.
I have a habit of browsing favorite Web sites on my laptop during commercial breaks while I'm watching television. IMDB.com (the Internet Movie Database) is one of my favorites, as I'm a movie buff and will frequently "look up" familiar faces when they recur in a movie or television show. ("I recognize that guy! What else has he been in?")
One night, not long ago, I was reading the biographical entry for the actress Sigourney Weaver. On her message boards below her formal entry, I noticed a post: "Signourney Came Out... In the 1970s". A poster had found, in the New York Times archives, the news of the actress' formal society debut as a young woman in the 1970s (a process that is apparently an anachronistic mystery to most of today's teenagers.)
As the poster intended, countless young people, assuming that the poster was implying that Ms. Weaver is a lesbian, began loading the chat board with ignorant, vituperative rubbish against the original poster. I added an entry of my own, to the original poster... something along the lines of, "As amusing as it is, Poster Number One, quit teasing the children."
Of course, the verbal sewage began to come my way. I was offered misspelled, grammatically incorrect and intellectually limited instructions such as, "Yer a retard, u loser." It's my fault... I know that the IMDB chat boards are trolled by children born long after the old "children should be seen and not heard" wisdom, as are many public forums.
But the lack of wit, combined with the lack of inhibition to attack a stranger for a mild comment is disturbing. (I'm still reeling from a report last week indicating that one third of young Americans aged 18 to 24 cannot find Louisiana on a map; half cannot find the Indian subcontinent on a globe.)
From my perspective, I see a rise in people who are absolutely sure that their own opinions, regardless of whether those opinions were formed by study of the facts, are as valid as anyone else's, and such people are willing to begin name-calling the moment you ask them to justify those opinions. I see people who not only do not care for civil, polite exchange, they revel in attacking others.
I'm inclined to think that this attitude has been on the rise for a while, and digital communications have just made it more possible to share odious exchanges, bringing them to the forefront. I will say, though, that I think the anonymous element of e-mail and chat boards allows people to spout venom they would be less likely to unleash in a face-to-face discussion.
When posting an opinion on a message board or when sending an e-mail to a writer, whatever happened to prefacing the statement with "I think" or "I believe" or "In my opinion"? Nowadays, we're all so sure our opinions are the "right" ones that we become hostile when someone expresses an opposing one. This phenomenon is rampant in the political realm, as well, and may be a contributing factor to why American politics are so polarized right now.
I am a technology writer. I seldom write about controversial issues (except for that one sideswipe I took against the novels of L. Ron Hubbard years ago that STILL garners the occasional e-mail from an indignant Scientologist…the miracle of search engine archiving). Even so, insulting e-mails (which frequently follow no grammatical or spelling rules known to mankind) find their way into my in-box. I can't imagine what people who write about geopolitical issues on very public forums must receive. (My idea to write this column began when I read this editorial, "Digital Lynch Mob" from the Washington Post's Richard Cohen.)
When I read feedback of the ill-educated, limited wit variety, I remember another quote, which has over the years been attributed to a number of people, including Larry Flynt: "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one."
It's crudely expressed, but then... increasingly nowadays, so are the opinions.
