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FuriousAvatar · 11-02-2010, 02:42 PM

I can't speak for those that don't post more often/don't even register. All I can do is suggest possible reasons, and while some of us have given such reasons, many of us are saying, "Well why not? It's just the internet-who cares?"

There's a thread about 4chan and, specifically, the /b/ section of the website, and why its denizens are such asshats. For those of you that are unfamiliar, /b/ is a pretty lawless, unconstrained place, even for the web. Most people agree-it's the way it is because it's totally anonymous.

Obviously here at the TFP, we have a consistent persona. People will remember what you said before, and their responses may well be colored from this knowledge. However, there truly is a degree of anonymity even here. Many of us keep this 'site to ourselves for varying but similar reasons-and because of this, we say things we probably wouldn't in the presence of our real life friends. Can you imagine having some of the same conversations about the same topics with people you know face-to-face?

Now I say this tempered with the understanding that because we can freely say things here, we can have some pretty awesome discussions, and I feel like all of us have been changed at least in small part because we participate in this forum.

That said, many people don't see these distinctions. The fact that what they say won't follow them home doesn't occur to some people. All they see is conflict, and why would they want that if they only wanted to talk about what everyone thought of the possibility of a space elevator (random topic off the top of my head), and not why their opinion or such-and-such's opinion is better? We have to encourage them, get them to open up, share their thoughts and ideas. Prove to them that we want to hear their point of view, and that we're truly listening.

11-02-2010, 02:42 PM	#155 (permalink)
FuriousAvatar Crazy Location: Juneau, Alaska	I can't speak for those that don't post more often/don't even register. All I can do is suggest possible reasons, and while some of us have given such reasons, many of us are saying, "Well why not? It's just the internet-who cares?" There's a thread about 4chan and, specifically, the /b/ section of the website, and why its denizens are such asshats. For those of you that are unfamiliar, /b/ is a pretty lawless, unconstrained place, even for the web. Most people agree-it's the way it is because it's totally anonymous. Obviously here at the TFP, we have a consistent persona. People will remember what you said before, and their responses may well be colored from this knowledge. However, there truly is a degree of anonymity even here. Many of us keep this 'site to ourselves for varying but similar reasons-and because of this, we say things we probably wouldn't in the presence of our real life friends. Can you imagine having some of the same conversations about the same topics with people you know face-to-face? Now I say this tempered with the understanding that because we can freely say things here, we can have some pretty awesome discussions, and I feel like all of us have been changed at least in small part because we participate in this forum. That said, many people don't see these distinctions. The fact that what they say won't follow them home doesn't occur to some people. All they see is conflict, and why would they want that if they only wanted to talk about what everyone thought of the possibility of a space elevator (random topic off the top of my head), and not why their opinion or such-and-such's opinion is better? We have to encourage them, get them to open up, share their thoughts and ideas. Prove to them that we want to hear their point of view, and that we're truly listening. __________________ “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” -Pope John XXIII