Snarky Snippy “Social” Media
When did we get so mean? Scroll through any of your favorite YouTube moments and there are multitudes of snarky, unkind, uncalled-for remarks. Chat rooms and forums, where anonymity is “guaranteed” (except, really, it Isn’t...) people flame and trash each other with no holds barred.
Has it always been this way and we just weren’t privy to the inner workings of some peoples’ minds? Or is this the result of the anonymization offered by the internet? Is it because people aren’t getting lost in good books, they are getting lost in 5-second sound bytes instead? Whatever it is, it’s heartbreaking and distressing.
Humans don’t get their rational “micro chip” until about age 8.
I’ve often wondered at the triple threat of violent video games, violent movies, and “mean girl” type sitcoms coming out of Hollywood. What do they do to the human psyche? According to neurologist Dr. Richard Restak, Humans don’t get their rational “micro chip” until about age 8. That means we are not capable of making rational connections — this causes that, this is connected to that, this is real and this isn’t — until we are older than 8. And male humans don’t get their impulse control microchip until age 25 (thus the crime and accident stats for males under that age.) Females get their impulse control microchip around age 18 (thus why females often do better than males in college.)
But what monster have we unleashed? And how do we put some semblance of civility back into society? Is this the harbinger of the end … are we so angry and unhappy at home that we have to unleash that unhappiness through our keyboards?
I recently discovered a potential, albeit slight, trademark infringement. My intellectual property attorney advised me that I needed to at least call attention to it. Since my trademark is broad (costing me thousands of dollars in the process) I need to keep an eye on it to retain it – that is just the nature of the beast. So I wrote a short, polite note. The derision, scorn, attacks on my credibility and talent, attacks on my choice of profession, my website, attacks on my intellect and/or understanding of Trademark law were stunning. There were calmer and more reasonable voices chiming in as well. But more disturbing than the personal attacks was the fact that complete strangers had nothing better to do than spew those things online.
One wonders what the reward is for that behavior. And also – since everything we write online has a half-life of 500 years, what kinds of research will be done in the future that will come back and bite the biters? We sit in complete confidence today that an anonymous attack is just that — anonymous. Or is it? Will it come back later to haunt the offending snark? It could. 
If all comments had to be accompanied by a real photo of the person commenting, would that change online conversations?
We say we are now a “global village.” Yes and no. In a real village, NO ONE was anonymous. If you sneezed at 1 AM in the basement of your home, the entire village would ask about your health the next day. We will not be a “village” until we start to put some filters on our remarks.
Here’s a personal motto I’ve had on my business card for years:
Be good to people
you don’t know who they are
you don’t know who they know
and you don’t know who they might become.
Be conscious out there! And let’s be kind.
Beth
© 2010 Beth Terry Seminars, Inc. All Rights Reserved
I just stopped reading the dumb comments on every site. It was really bad this political season. Makes you wonder, eh? Who are these people and why are they so pissed off? Sad Sad Sad. Glad to see you moderate your comments. Some ppl are just clueless.
Sorry that you were a victim! You’re so much better than those people are!
Hi Vincent – Thanks. I don’t consider myself a victim. I just find it so unbelievable that people seem to have a knee-jerk reaction that is mean. Thanks for reading the blog!
Beth
Hah – good one. First you talked about the up side of social media, then this. It’s a two-edged sword, that’s for sure!