Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Anonymity of the Internet

So, a few internet boards that I participate in have had some major blow ups, hurt feelings, and mass exoduses recently. It is the time of year, or is this just something that happens every once in a while??

What I do know is, so manuy people seem to forget that many people on these boards are real people. Real people with different lives, opinions, and view points than theirs. Hurtful or nasty posts are aimed at another person. The nasty things you send to someone over email or internet mediums, is that something that you would say to someone in person?? Beofre you hit send, think about how you would react to things like this being said about you. Would you feel ashamed if it came out publicly that YOU were the one who said something like this....if your family was told?

I am a firm believer in trying my best to not say anything to others that would come back to haunt me. I am NOT going to pretend that I am great at this I screw up just as much as, if not more than, the average person, but with the internet medium, I have an automatic "stop and think about this" button titled "SEND". I try to NEVER hit the send button before I re-read what it is I have just written and feel strongly that what I have said is not something I am going ot be ashamed of. Well, at least not ashamed of the content....I never can seem to remember to proofread for typos.....

I basically left a board about a year ago over this, and over things not even aimed at me (This time). I am on the verge of walking away from another board over this, and it hurts. I hate that people feel that they can only get along when the opther people agree with THEIR opinions/viewpoints, and feel it is their right, being "in the right" to get nasty when people disagree. It sucks.

Maybe I'm being passive agressive talking about this on my blog. I just have seen this happen over and over again on so many different web sites. It sucks.