online muppetry

Beëlzebooze

I have been wondering, do the muppets that fall over themselves to insult others online, also behave the same way in real life?

do these characters but into strangers' conversations in the pub, and without knowing the finer details of the conversation, tell people that they "haven't got a f*cking clue", or to "shut the f*ck up, you gheyboy"?

At work, if a collegue asks them something, do they retort by saying "google it, you f*cking retard"?

I wonder, if that don't talk to their friends, relatives or co-workers that way, why do they deem it nessesary to talk to complete strangers that way?

I am not without sin, don't get me wrong, I have flamed people in the past, but not to such an extent that they are wondering if they should hang up their modem for good.

DeVore

insecurity.
belief they are anonymous.
cowardice.


Yeah, that pretty much covers the basics...

DeV.

simu

Maybe they like to release all their pent up frustration on-line or maybe, being unable to write intelligent/useful/funny posts, they rely on insults etc to boost their post count.

Now that you mention it, it would be interesting for a psychology student to compre ppl's on-line personalities with their "real life" ones ...

Anybody here notice differences between their behaviour in real life/ on-line? (I think I behave similarly in both)

BuffyBot

Originally posted by DeVore
insecurity.
belief they are anonymous.
cowardice.


Yeah, that pretty much covers the basics...

DeV.

Insecurity has a small part to play, particularily with the real hardcore tin-foil wearing hat brigade who beleive people are out to get them and as such they begin to feel the need to fight the "power".

Anonymity is the greatest part of it, solely because people know that very little "real" action will get taken against them. After all it's only online. They don't care about the people on the other end, or the community. You ban them, they re-appear or go elsewhere to continue their activities. All this goes hand in hand with cowardice.

A low-self image/feeling of self-worth has a bit to do with it to. An online "persona" can allow the most timid to be the biggest d*ckhead/Mr. Angry without consequences.

sceptre

I've come across a few articles lately that make the case that (some) people tend to be curter when they use email rather than actually talking in person. Pretty relevant in office bullying apparently. Probably a factor. Like Buffybot said, the online factor and apparent lack of consequences can make the most timid of people take on the persona of Mr Angry.

Having said that, DeV's short list probably sums up most people on webboards who consistently reply with responses like:

"shut the f*ck up, you gheyboy"

Or some real recent response from boards participants:

What a peasant!

You probably dont even have a job, and if you do you probably wont work more than 10 hours a week, only work Saturdays and have never paid for anything in your life... Monkey!!!!!

The Muppet

I think the moderators and admin staff have an important role in this matter. The last person to post an obscenity at me here was a member of the admin staff. If that is the example being set and deemed as acceptable behavior for Admin it should not come as a surprise if the mere mortal users react in similar fashion.

I don’t agree with all the reasons given for this behavior. I don’t think anyone believes they are Surfing anonymously surely there has been enough high profile media coverage by now to dispel this belief.

I think lack of respect for differing opinions to ones own leads to this sort of behavior and surely everyone should be free to express their opinion within reason free of the fear of being flamed.

echomadman

i am pretty much exactly the same in real life as online, maybe more likely to "flame" someone in real life, as i have strong opinions on a lot of things.
I generally dont bother online,
I've often started to post a reply to a particularly muppety post, and halted myself, thinking "this wont in anyway change the opinion or outlook of this peoson, why waste the energy"
Being an admin/mod must suck as you *have* to trawl through all the crap

amp

/me pays special attention to this thread and it's flamewar potential.

Keep it non-specific people.

Beëlzebooze

I'm not sure if it is lack of respect that makes people belive they can talk the way they do, it does have more to do with anonimity. I could post under my real name, and give my address with every post, and still there would be no real life repercussions.

However if I had a face to face discussion with one of these muppets, I am pretty sure that I would not be dragged through the mud the way it happens online (also the fact that I am 6'3" - 250lbs helps)

The Corinthian

Let’s not confuse Muppetry and flaming here: Some fourteen year-old deciding that Spamming a forum with accusations that everyone present is ghey is Muppetry, while what most people are discussing here is flaming. The two are not mutually exclusive, but neither are they the same thing.

Originally posted by Beëlzebooze
At work, if a collegue asks them something, do they retort by saying "google it, you f*cking retard"?

Yes; there’s no excuse for sloth or incompetence - whether on or off-line. If you don’t flame or chastise them they’ll just continue being lazy or incompetent (Actually, even then there are some I’ve told to STFW, who I’ve seen react badly, sulk for a week or two and then return to do exactly the same thing, while others learn from their mistake).

As has been said, there is no true anonymity on the Internet; this in mind people should carefully consider what they write before posting it. Read the FAQ, consider that what you may be saying may be opinion rather than fact (and thus phrase it accordingly) and do your research - either so that you can better ask your question (or solve it yourself) or so that when responding to a question or point, you’re not talking horseshit.

The Internet and those communities that thrive on it do so by peer review, so to simply categorize criticism and flame as Muppetry would be a conceit, and while many flames will go beyond the bounds of common courtesy, the severity used is often the only way to imprint a message that would be ignored otherwise - a severity that is thankfully unnecessary in most cases in the real World.

Beëlzebooze

STFW? what kind of answer is that?

so next time my father phones with a computer query, I tell him to STFW? Next time a co worker asks me if I have ever heard of such and such a command, do I tell him to STFW?

It would take me perhaps 10 seconds to find the answer, addmittedly by searching the web, but it makes for WAY better relations to help each other out now and then.

Maybe I ask questions on IRC to get a bit of social interaction going, not nessecarily to find an answer. But that little avenue of pleasure gets closed down due to muppets harrasing you, just because you are there!

The Corinthian

Originally posted by Beëlzebooze
so next time my father phones with a computer query, I tell him to STFW? Next time a co worker asks me if I have ever heard of such and such a command, do I tell him to STFW?

Your relationship with your father is your own business.

As for your co-workers, if you are specifically employed to hold their hands on matters technical, then by all means do so. If they are your peers and they should know better, then by all means tell them to STFW - there’s a difference between doing someone a favour and doing their job.

Maybe I ask questions on IRC to get a bit of social interaction going, not nessecarily to find an answer.

Then should the question you probably should be asking be a/s/l?

Beëlzebooze

when I mentioned "avenue of pleasure" I was not talking about ASL!!!

DeVore

STFW should be used when someone is lazily stealing your time rather then simply searching for the answer themselves.

If its a person who has genuine difficulties or needs extra help then fine but if just "errr... hey Joe, can you explain XYZ to me" or "where can I find cheap stuff" then STFW is a perfectly acceptible answer.

DeV.

WhiteWashMan

i find that most people who tend to be annoying and rude are the people who tend to shout loudest about other people being rude.

The Muppet

IMO Corinthian hit tha nail on the head with his initial post.
It was nice to see level headed approach from both Corinthian and Amp to moderating on this thread.

Respect to Both

The Muppet

Calibos

STFW.........????? Then I 'copped' on that the W key had been pressed instead of the U key and corinthian had actually meant, 'shut the f*ck up'. I then read the abbreviation as such for the rest of the thread.



I noticed the 'STFW' hyperlink in corinthians post a few minutes later..........:D :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Sorry for being ghey:D