"The internet is turning us all into sociopaths"
http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/yiannopoulos/3359/the-internet-is-turning-us-all-into-sociopaths/
There has always been abuse on the internet, but, before the
social revolution, it was largely restricted to anonymous
comment threads, message boards and chat rooms. Any site owner
who allowed anonymous comments could reasonably be held
responsible, morally and legally, for the content appearing on
his site. But now there is a disturbing bleed from anonymous
hatred to defamatory and spiteful language being posted under
the authors' real names using their social networking
profiles. It's as if our usual moral safeguards are being
broken down by a terrifying new online landscape in which the
default mode of communication is a form of attack. What's
disturbing about this new trend, in which commenters are
posting what would previously have been left anonymously, is
that these trolls seem not to mind that their real names, and
sometimes even their occupations, appear clamped to their vile
words. It's as if a psychological norm is being established
whereby comments left online are part of a video game and not
real life. It's as if we've all forgotten that there's a real
person on the other end, reading and being hurt by our
vitriol. That's as close to the definition of sociopath as one
needs to get for an armchair diagnosis, though of course many
other typical sociopathic traits are also being encouraged by
social media.
- - -
G+ Social Media Policy Issue Discussions:
https://plus.google.com/communities/113316480805914604004
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently
doing so -- my opinions expressed here are mine alone.
_______________________________________________
pfir mailing list
http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
