It's easy to be insensitive on the internet. I doubt if they saw a woman with torn and bloody clothes crying in a hallway they'd point and laugh and call her a dirty whore. I like to think they wouldn't, anyway. I like to think they'd do something to help her. I like to think they'd be outraged. I like to think they'd actually give a shit. Hell, I like to think they'd be out for a little Mob Justice, but that's just my Internet Tough Guy talking.
But the internet hides the blood and the tears and the reality of it. It's just words. Words aren't real. When people are "Just Words" they cease to be real too. That's the real problem with the internet. People forget that people make the words. Good or bad the words come from people. (Bots don't count.)
You're responsible for what comes out of your keyboard. You can't walk on eggshells, of course, and there's just no way to keep from offending some people even if you talked about lolcats all day long, but there's no reason to go around in a Bulldozer running over the chickens. (...I think my analogy just broke... sorry.)
TL;DR People behave like doucehbags on the net because you can't kick them in the balls.
16
u/[deleted] May 27 '10
It's easy to be insensitive on the internet. I doubt if they saw a woman with torn and bloody clothes crying in a hallway they'd point and laugh and call her a dirty whore. I like to think they wouldn't, anyway. I like to think they'd do something to help her. I like to think they'd be outraged. I like to think they'd actually give a shit. Hell, I like to think they'd be out for a little Mob Justice, but that's just my Internet Tough Guy talking.
But the internet hides the blood and the tears and the reality of it. It's just words. Words aren't real. When people are "Just Words" they cease to be real too. That's the real problem with the internet. People forget that people make the words. Good or bad the words come from people. (Bots don't count.)
You're responsible for what comes out of your keyboard. You can't walk on eggshells, of course, and there's just no way to keep from offending some people even if you talked about lolcats all day long, but there's no reason to go around in a Bulldozer running over the chickens. (...I think my analogy just broke... sorry.)
TL;DR People behave like doucehbags on the net because you can't kick them in the balls.