← Back to context

Comment by imdsm

5 years ago

Perhaps people censoring themselves is the reason you see crazy things, insults, conspiracy theories, hate, etc. The rational and well-mannered people aren't taking the risk so all you hear is those who will take the risk.

It's why politics is full of goons. Who in their right mind would go into that arena, to do good, when the risks are so high, the exposure so great, the hatred so guaranteed? Just the wrong people willing to take the risk.

8 comments

imdsm

Reply
mumblemumble  5 years ago

At an IRL social gathering, when someone starts getting cranky, you see and/or hear everyone else in the room going clammy, and know they feel the same way as you do. There's a certain loudness to their silence.

On the Internet, those same people are completely imperceptible.

  • vlunkr  5 years ago

    This is a great observation. I think one difference is that on the internet, the social gathering is much bigger, and these people end up finding each other. In real life, if you start ranting about flat earth or something, it's likely that no one around will agree with you and not engage. But if you do it online, you'll find plenty of others. (maybe trolls, but how can you really know?) So now you think maybe your ideas aren't so crazy. And normally rational people see all these people starting to believe in flat earth, and that no one is standing up to them, and that makes them unsure and uncomfortable.

    Maybe flat earth isn't the best example, but you know, I don't want to looks like I'm opposed to POPULAR_OPINION_ONLINE lol

    • mumblemumble  5 years ago

      I'd go for a much more prosaic example, myself. How about Docker?

      Among members of my team, I have far and away the most moderate opinions on Docker. I'm pretty sure that this is largely because I'm also the one tasked with maintaining what infrastructure we have that's based on Docker. So my opinions are largely driven by first-hand experience, whereas my colleagues' opinions are largely driven by things they read on the Internet.

  • jdkee  5 years ago

    I read somewhere that he "Like" button needs to have an equivalent "silent disapproval stare" button.

    • detaro  5 years ago

      That could be an interesting concept for some social networks to try, maybe with some limitation of social circle? I.e. it's a stronger signal if "X of your friends/people you follow/... disapprove" than "X0,000 strangers disapprove", which is a problem with more typical downvote features? Doesn't help for people totally in an echo chamber, but at least for some?