Immaturity, Ignorance, Arrogance, and a General Holier-Than-Thou-Attitude
an essay by The Original dpb5!
What is it about people that post on Internet Message Boards that makes them overly indulgent about themselves?
Hiding behind a generic nickname there lurks thousands of people who feel compelled to unleash the most unsociable diatribe onto the Internet that it can almost boggle the mind of those users who are not accustomed to just what it is that drives these people to act so socially irresponsible. Cuss words, personal attacks, and a general attitude of arrogance are the precursors of identifying the unsociable Internet Poster. As in 'real life', these posters who choose the mode of arrogance stick out like the proverbial 'sore thumb'.
In itself, these certain people believe they are exercising their right to 'FREE SPEECH', and indeed, they are. But at what cost to them? It has been stated time and time again on the Internet that the beauty is in the anonymity of it all. To me, absolutely nothing is further from the truth.
The World Wide Web is not much different than the 'real world'. Every interaction of text on the Internet is a reflection of how people act in 'real life scenarios'. Whether polite gratuitous interchange or evil 'mud slinging' language, the Internet IS a mirror image of society at large. What is important on the Internet is the same as what is important in 'real life'. How do we interact? Who do we interact with? When do we need to ignore certain people? And when do we lash out at those Internet Citizens who simply won't respect common rules of social decency?
These answers can be found by simply taking a deep look into your own 'real life' personality. Who do you 'hang out with' in real life? Do you involve yourself with ignorant, arrogant, non compassionate people? Or do you gravitate toward those who think 'more like you do' and act 'more like you do'?
All too often Internet Message Board Readers find themselves entwined in conversationsal texts between these two very opposing opposites of society. And in most of those situations, neither side wins. Just the same as in real life. Society in general in the 'real world' has long known and accepted the fact that people of opposing viewpoints and social attitudes will never see eye to eye on most, if not all situations. To embark upon a path on the Internet of trying to change another posters individuality and personality, although socially commendable, is usually nothing more than a waste of time for the poster of good intent in the situation.
The difference on the Internet vs. the 'real world' lies in something so subliminal as to almost not ever be recognizable by the average Internet User. In the 'real world' society is very adept at distinguishing the social differences and is usually effective at keeping different social beings in their own different social 'categories'. The Internet has not yet been successful in showing the same desire or willingness to accept different social behaviors. All too often we see highly intelligent people engaging for far too long with other Internet Posters of different social 'real world' opinions engaging in a never ending battle of debate. Each one trying desperately to change the other in what can be referred to as an almost "Star Trek Internet Borg" mentality of total immigration into a "ONE INTERNET SOCIETY....(resistance is futile)" society. Both ends of the social realities of these posters tragically end up 'lost in the debate' of just "Who is right here?"
This dilemma is not something that can be fixed. There are no 'Internet Rules' that can ever be established that will allow improvements on the Internet in Social Behavior that would be better than it is or ever has been in the 'real world'. Learning to accept those social differences and maintain a sense of 'community' on the World Wide Web is a big step for most Internet Posters. As in 'real life' we need not 'get along' with each other, but merely accept our differences and proceed with caution.
