Published: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 in The Whitworthian.

Call me sheltered, but I didn’t have much of a presence on the World Wide Web until my senior year of high school. I checked the weather, read some articles, so on and so forth, but I hadn’t really bought into the whole “online culture.” So by the time I got there, things were already pretty shocking. And when I say “things”, I mean “angry people.”

Contributing to my shock was the fact that I had been raised to believe that one should think before one spoke. Not that I was the king of that credo, but it was something I tried to follow. And in the environment that I grew up in, most people I interacted with followed that sage advice as well. I didn’t have much exposure to raw hostility.

Then I got Facebook. Now, as a rule, Facebook is a relatively tame place. You have your weirdos and your stalkers, but on the whole it’s not as crazy as a lot of online watering holes get.

There are corners of Facebook, however, where that rule does not apply. Groups based around politics, ethical causes, religious or Christian issues, or really any group that takes some kind of stand more controversial than “I use my cell phone to see in the dark!” all attract people with differing opinions. And as I’m sure most in my generation know, differing opinions and the Internet don’t mix well.

I remember one Facebook group in particular called “Christian girls are more beautiful because…”. It was a group founded by a couple of guys who appreciated the Christian women in their life who lived by their beliefs. It wasn’t a bash group. It wasn’t judging other people. It was simply saying that the Christian guys in that group found Christian girls attractive.

Of course, such innocence cannot survive long on the interwebz. I eventually left the group, though I still agree with its inspiration, because it devolved rather tragically into a bickering mess with people saying horrible things to each other about every topic imaginable.

The sad truth is, this is a common theme online. The anonymous nature of Internet communication gives people a bravado to say things that they never would in person. Demeaning things, insulting things, angry things, uppity things, you-name-it things. Things quite clearly written out in haste or in passion and published before the brain has had time to process what was said.

Visiting faculty of communication studies Joseph Vigil teaches several communications classes at Whitworth. Vigil said online aggression has a lot to do with people who just aren’t considerate of others.

“The less you care about the rules that guide how we communicate, the more [aggression is] going to be amplified in an online context,” he said.

It’s even spread to The Whitworthian. Every time an opinions article goes up on the Web site, at least the ones that deal with lifestyle choices or ethical issues, like clockwork someone will come along and insult the author. I’ve gotten a few. Some of our writers have had far more than their fair share.

Now, I’m all for people having different opinions. And I’m in support of debate and discussion. But the fact of the matter is that people who spout venom online are not only defeating their own argument most of the time (“How dare you insult my intelligence, you idiot”), but are also making their own viewpoint look worse than the one they’re attacking.
Honestly, screaming and shouting about how much you like your sweatshirts or your veggies really doesn’t make you look like a more open-minded person. Mostly it just looks like you aren’t mature enough to form a logical argument.

Attacking an author instead of attacking their argument makes it look like you don’t actually have a coherent response to their stance. If you really feel like you have to say a few words about something, don’t fall into the trap of saying it about someone.

Vigil said that creating a culture of accountability is vital to improving the hostile nature of online communication. Just as people who lose their cool in a public place are silenced by their peers, so the online community shouldn’t tolerate the bile found while surfing the wild webs.

When you find that Facebook group that just rubs you wrong, or read that article that makes your blood boil, step away from the keyboard, grab a cold drink and relax for a few minutes, and remind yourself that people who think differently than you aren’t necessarily wrong. And even if they are wrong, a little respect and dignity will go a lot further toward proving your own point than all that hate-vomit.