#@*!!! Anonymous anger rampant on Internet

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN: #@*!!! Anonymous anger rampant on Internet
By Todd Leopold

(CNN) -- There's a whole world of people out there, and boy, are they pissed off. On political blogs, the invective flies. Posters respond to the latest celebrity gossip with mockery or worse. Sports fans set up Web sites with names that begin with "fire," hoping coaches, athletic directors and sportscasters lose their jobs.

And though there are any number of bloggers and commenters who attempt to keep their postings and responses on a civil level, all too often interactive Web sites descend into ad hominem attacks, insults and plain old name-calling. Indeed, there are even whole sites devoted to venting, such as justrage.com (one screed there was titled, "I don't give a flying f***, so f*** you") and mybiggestcomplaint.com.

This is not a world Emily Post would want to be caught in after dark. "The Internet can be a great tool," said Sara Black, a professor of health studies at St. Joseph's University who takes a particular interest in online bullying. "Like any tool, it can also be misused."

One reason for the vitriol that emerges on the Web, experts say, is the anonymity the Internet provides. Commenters seldom use their real names, and even if they do, the chance for retaliation is slim....

***

(H)uman nature dictates that people will always lash out at others, whether it's over a perceived insult or simply because of a power differential. Web sites may ban the worst offenders, but they'll almost always pop up elsewhere, using a different name, e-mail address or even computer.

"Some people are just bitter and angry," said psychiatrist Dr. Terry Eagan, medical director of the Moonview Sanctuary in Santa Monica, California. "Sometimes, they're against everyone, other times against a specific group. That person can get really stimulated and can say all sorts of horrible things. But I don't think it's not like they didn't exist before."

Whether the problem will get control of us, or we will get control of the problem, is in the way we face up to it, he says. Anger, he says, is rolled up with anxiety and fear, and nothing creates more fear like a lack of understanding....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/03/angry.internet/index.html

[pacalo]

1. The internet has been a huge comfort to me in the BushCo years.

As red as my state is, particularly my area, I just don't know how I could have coped if I could not have shared thoughts with like-minded people here, along with being able to read online British news articles & "underground" material that confirmed my fears.

But I do sympathize with school-aged children who are victims of online bullying, a product of immaturity. When adults do this sort of thing, it must be chalked up to character; they should know better.

[JHB]

2. Well, there's a timely, johnny-on-the-spot report.

Why this never in previous years.
:eyes:

(and for those who don't detect: :sarcasm: )