Why do people treat each other badly on the internet?

[Kean]

From my experience it comes to people equating the topic they are discussing, and their respective positions on that topic, as their opinion of each other.

If you identify strongly with something and someone else comes along who, not only doesn't get it, but very strong dislikes this thing you love, most people react as if the dislike has been aimed at them personally.

It takes real effort to see the difference and not react emotionally or aggressively.

 

[Dagenspear]

agrees: so are you saying theres no such thing as emotional abuse? words can be extremely damaging.

Actions are mostly more damaging though. Maybe it's just me. But, in school, being beaten up was always worse than being called a name or a slur of some kind. And both happened quite often.

 

[arabella]

Actions are mostly more damaging though. Maybe it's just me. But, in school, being beaten up was always worse than being called a name or a slur of some kind. And both happened quite often.

From my experience as a therapist, I have to disagree. I have found verbal, emotional, and physical abuse all to be equally traumatizing to the adolescents with whom I worked. I feel that and have observed that all three are extremely damaging. I would never want to minimize the pain someone feels and I think that is what would happen if we try to say one mode of "meanness" is worse than another. All hurt, all are unnecessary, and all should be eliminated.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Actions are mostly more damaging though. Maybe it's just me. But, in school, being beaten up was always worse than being called a name or a slur of some kind. And both happened quite often.

Perhaps to you, but not to everybody.

 

[Dagenspear]

That's what I specified.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Well, it didn't come off that way.

 

[Tome]

People treat each other badly in real life too, so it's not surprising that they would online. Most peeps I've known who treats others like shit on the net are usually very angry/sad persons. It's pretty easy to understand really... They take it on others to feel better about themselves. Also like it has been said before, they feel more inclined to do it online since they're anonymous. Less risk to get their ass kicked for acting like insensitive idiots. 😉