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Internet comments, why, oh why, have you no self control?
13 years ago
I'm just gonna get this out of the way first -- I am in full support of the high degree of free speech allowed on the internet. It's one of the medium's greatest and most positive strengths, and in spite of the flaws I'm about to bash on a bit, such a strength is rarely found elsewhere, for one reason or another (usually money or political correctness). My only question is, well, what the title of this journal entry is all about.
At first, I figured this was just a phenomenon prevalent in Youtube--after all, unlike forums and chatrooms (havens for the trolls, of course), you can't really be banned for a majority of the kinds of comments you can make on youtube, unless it's an outright death threat or something of similar, outrageous variety, which can be easily reported or just as easily ignored; how many internet tough guys actually HAVE a means of "finding you and punching you to the ground" or "beating your fag ass into the dirt", etc etc? Really now. I've since found a wonderful browser extention that puts a check on my curiosity that always had me, no matter what my vows, to scroll down to those comments and immediately feeling the urge to find a means of eliminating two thirds of the english-speaking population--by removing the comments from the page entirely. There, problem solved. I thought, finally, I was saved from internet tough guys, punk ass teenage dipshits, and politically-motivated arm-chair (or better put, computer-chair) historians, racists, bigots, and just about everyone else who ascribes to the Greater Internet Fuckwad theory. I don't really go to forums or chatrooms anymore (though I've pondered revisiting tapestries MUCK or IRC), except for technical support, or that's part of a community I know and trust. And I don't really do much commenting on facebook, either, since aside from staying in touch with actual friends in real life whom I can't see every day, I don't hang around on the site much, much less get involved in the overwhelming majority of groups on the site who seem to have a "we're right, everyone else who disagrees is WRONG" mentality.
I thought I was safe.
I was wrong.
The vitriol that was once the domain solely of youtube and trolls has rapidly, over the past few years, spread onto other sites. Mainly those that decide to allow comments (ESPECIALLY anonymous comments). Now I can't even go to a video game review article, a news article, or even a blog with clearly defined leanings and interests without spying at least a handful, if not more, of people who clearly not only posses no off-switch, but no sense of decency, patience, open-mindedness or--and this is key now--self control. Yeah, yeah, I know the old mantra, "Haters gonna hate." And yes, it's true. I'm not angered by the fact that these people have differing opinions.
I'm angered by the fact that they don't seem to understand or respect the fact that there are people who don't share their opinions. In any way, shape or form. And that their opinion, no matter how irrelevant to the conversation, or how obvious it is most others reading the site/article/blog in question will disagree, their opinion MUST BE HEARD....not presented, given credence by providing reasoning and even evidence like a rational, reasonable adult. Just heard. Don't agree with that opinion? CLEARLY YOU ARE DELUSIONAL! I DON'T CARE WHAT RATIONAL ARGUMENT YOU PROVIDE! I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO'S RIGHT! ME ME ME ME MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Maybe this is what happens when you bring a tool like the Internet into the hands of a nation of people who are exceptionally known for being obnoxiously outspoken at least half of the time. Not all Americans are like this, I know, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot ARE--just completely incapable of understanding the fact that perhaps maybe, JUST maybe, for once, people DON'T want to hear what we think all the damn time. It's why so far any online rant I've had to say goes right here, on this journal, instead of on, say, Facebook (that's really just a cry for attention in the hopes you'll find someone who agrees with you, from what I can tell with how a majority of such posters react to dissenting opinions). It's entirely optional, not to mention the journal itself doesn't intrude so much onto the user page so that you can easily go back to looking at the rest of the stuff presented and ignore it. It also doesn't have a post limit, so I can easily go on and on without worrying about how many words I've used, but I digress.
What is it that set me off to write this lil' rant, one might ask? What horrible, wretched, vile piece of fetid verbal putrescence did some ape at a keyboard type out that got my own fingers working overtime, if only for maybe fifteen minutes?
You're gonna laugh when you hear the answer, I swear.
A single sentence comment on a review article for Episode 5 of TellTale's The Walking Dead game.
Perhaps I should explain myself a bit more to bring that into context. Once you're done laughing. No no, go ahead. I'll wait.
Now, I'm a fan of the Walking Dead. I've read several of the comics, have watched every episode of the television show, and absolutely love the game. I've never really been a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games, but I've played several of them, and when done right (like this one), they are well worth the time and money it takes to make, buy, and play them. So once I was done with episode five, I went to a review article written by a paid professional to see what others thought of it. Not to validate my own opinions, of course, though it's always comforting to see that I'm not alone in my views--I was merely curious as to what others thought--WHATEVER they thought, and what their reasons were. I'm an oddball like that. The offending comment in question was also one of the first on the page after the article. It went like this:
"I'm starting to think I'm the only person who doesn't like this "game"."
That was it. No explanation. No reasoning. No nothing. Just a negative opinion. Now yes, those happen, but read the comment again. Note the quotation marks around the word "game." Clearly, the comment wasn't meant to just be negative--it was meant to be sarcastic. And the only two reasons I can think of for being sarcastic with a negative opinion are either to be funny (which it only is funny if you use it as the punchline of a joke that all those present will get), or to be just plain insulting, and self-righteously, snobbishly so. This comment was obviously the latter.
Look, I get it. Adventure games are hardly the big boys on the video game playground anymore--they haven't been for years, and will most likely never reach that height ever again. It's simply just not as exciting or engaging a format in games as most gamers today are interested in or used to, and I can't really blame them, what with how mainstream games have become so widespread. But that's also part of the problem of this point of view. Never mind that very much BECAUSE of how mainstream games have become, you can't really define the very concept of "video game" into just your own personal preferences, whether it be for RTS's, FPS's, TPS's, adventure games, action games, casual games, roleplaying games, puzzle games, sex games, every other kind of game out there not on this list, or just a selection among those (the last on this list is usually the case among any single gamer, as is the standard). You can certainly say that it's not your kind of game--not all game genres will be liked by all gamers. It's a fact. Movies and novels work the same way. And comic books. And every other form of entertainment out there. It's also why we have such a huge variety of successful genres, and why even the point-and-click adventure game still has a market, however small it may be in comparison to others. But you can't just walk up and say that a video game isn't really a game. Don't believe me? Let's look at the definition of the word "game", shall we? We'll just stick with the noun-usage.
(1) : activity engaged in for diversion or amusement : play (2) : the equipment for a game
Huh. Sounds like The Walking Dead--and every other video game out there--fits quite well into that first definition. Funny how words work, isn't it? Such flexible, useful processions of sounds and vocalizations. Such paltry, meaningless things that fall short when we need them at our most emotionally-charged moments.
Hours and hours have passed since that comment was made, and while a bunch of rational counters to it were given, some even conceding the obvious fact that it just wasn't the poster's kind of game, the malcontent doesn't even have the decency to stand up to those opinions and explain himself. He also clearly didn't expect a whole lot of agreement, given the comment itself. So why even make it? The answer is pretty easy to outline--this person doesn't consider this a game, and therefore anyone who does is clearly wrong and doesn't know what a game is. How do you fight against such obvious stupidity, he wonders? Comment-and-run tactics, of course. Drop a simple, negative, snarky comment to piss them all off, supplant a barely subtle insult of their judgement, and never return. It's the internet, after all. You'll never meet these people--what do they know? Perfectly rational.
I've met racist internet tough guys and trolls with better arguing skills and more basic decency than this. And that's saying something.
I'll admit that this IS just as ridiculous as it sounds. Of all the horrible, irrational crap that gets posted in comments all over the internet, THIS is what finally ticked me off? Well, yes and no. What finally ticked me off into what will amount to an ineffectual rant that will have NO bearing on anything, much less change anything, is not the fact that this comment was posted, but that there are just SO MANY LIKE IT. And a majority of them are far, FAR worse than this one, far more insulting, far less rational, and on far more serious topics. I keep seeing them, everywhere. Any site that gives a user the ability to post a short comment will have them, by the bucket-load. And don't think I'm trying to easy on fans of the Walking Dead, or people who share my views on things or have similar opinions--they can be, and often are, just as bad. No side seems to be immune from this close-minded, impetuous and childish behavior.
It just seems like a majority of humanity, when presented with an open and anonymous forum (hey, ANYONE could be behind that username), doesn't have the ability to exercise any degree of self-control or personal responsibility, or even basic human decency.
And I hate it.
I hate it because it makes me think so much less of people in general, when in real life I more often than not do my best to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, the common courtesy of "I'm sure you have your reasons," the tolerant view of, "Well, I think you are wrong. And I will keep thinking you are wrong. But I don't think that makes you a terrible human being." The open-minded view of "why is it you think that way? Maybe I'll understand you better if you explain." And comments like these, in their millions, if not billions by now, constantly challenge, bash, and beat that point of view, that very integral part of who I am, to the point where I'm almost deadened inside. It gets me doubting the inherent good in people in general. If they're willing to behave like this, with such bile, such hatred, such mind-boggling foot-in-mouth verbosity (or lack thereof) when they don't have to suffer consequences, then does that mean a majority of the people I meet, even in passing, who act like decent, normal, reasonable human beings, are effectively lying? Is this inherent goodness that we all like to refer to as "humanity" nowadays just a front, indoctrinated into us by society and held in check by outside expectations?
I hate it because it makes me wonder. I start to think that maybe everything that makes a person "good" in our world is just fake. That the only reason we act like good people, act humanely, act like not-monsters, is simply because those around us expect us to.
And if that's the case, which I hope it isn't, that's just terribly disheartening.
At first, I figured this was just a phenomenon prevalent in Youtube--after all, unlike forums and chatrooms (havens for the trolls, of course), you can't really be banned for a majority of the kinds of comments you can make on youtube, unless it's an outright death threat or something of similar, outrageous variety, which can be easily reported or just as easily ignored; how many internet tough guys actually HAVE a means of "finding you and punching you to the ground" or "beating your fag ass into the dirt", etc etc? Really now. I've since found a wonderful browser extention that puts a check on my curiosity that always had me, no matter what my vows, to scroll down to those comments and immediately feeling the urge to find a means of eliminating two thirds of the english-speaking population--by removing the comments from the page entirely. There, problem solved. I thought, finally, I was saved from internet tough guys, punk ass teenage dipshits, and politically-motivated arm-chair (or better put, computer-chair) historians, racists, bigots, and just about everyone else who ascribes to the Greater Internet Fuckwad theory. I don't really go to forums or chatrooms anymore (though I've pondered revisiting tapestries MUCK or IRC), except for technical support, or that's part of a community I know and trust. And I don't really do much commenting on facebook, either, since aside from staying in touch with actual friends in real life whom I can't see every day, I don't hang around on the site much, much less get involved in the overwhelming majority of groups on the site who seem to have a "we're right, everyone else who disagrees is WRONG" mentality.
I thought I was safe.
I was wrong.
The vitriol that was once the domain solely of youtube and trolls has rapidly, over the past few years, spread onto other sites. Mainly those that decide to allow comments (ESPECIALLY anonymous comments). Now I can't even go to a video game review article, a news article, or even a blog with clearly defined leanings and interests without spying at least a handful, if not more, of people who clearly not only posses no off-switch, but no sense of decency, patience, open-mindedness or--and this is key now--self control. Yeah, yeah, I know the old mantra, "Haters gonna hate." And yes, it's true. I'm not angered by the fact that these people have differing opinions.
I'm angered by the fact that they don't seem to understand or respect the fact that there are people who don't share their opinions. In any way, shape or form. And that their opinion, no matter how irrelevant to the conversation, or how obvious it is most others reading the site/article/blog in question will disagree, their opinion MUST BE HEARD....not presented, given credence by providing reasoning and even evidence like a rational, reasonable adult. Just heard. Don't agree with that opinion? CLEARLY YOU ARE DELUSIONAL! I DON'T CARE WHAT RATIONAL ARGUMENT YOU PROVIDE! I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO'S RIGHT! ME ME ME ME MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Maybe this is what happens when you bring a tool like the Internet into the hands of a nation of people who are exceptionally known for being obnoxiously outspoken at least half of the time. Not all Americans are like this, I know, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot ARE--just completely incapable of understanding the fact that perhaps maybe, JUST maybe, for once, people DON'T want to hear what we think all the damn time. It's why so far any online rant I've had to say goes right here, on this journal, instead of on, say, Facebook (that's really just a cry for attention in the hopes you'll find someone who agrees with you, from what I can tell with how a majority of such posters react to dissenting opinions). It's entirely optional, not to mention the journal itself doesn't intrude so much onto the user page so that you can easily go back to looking at the rest of the stuff presented and ignore it. It also doesn't have a post limit, so I can easily go on and on without worrying about how many words I've used, but I digress.
What is it that set me off to write this lil' rant, one might ask? What horrible, wretched, vile piece of fetid verbal putrescence did some ape at a keyboard type out that got my own fingers working overtime, if only for maybe fifteen minutes?
You're gonna laugh when you hear the answer, I swear.
A single sentence comment on a review article for Episode 5 of TellTale's The Walking Dead game.
Perhaps I should explain myself a bit more to bring that into context. Once you're done laughing. No no, go ahead. I'll wait.
Now, I'm a fan of the Walking Dead. I've read several of the comics, have watched every episode of the television show, and absolutely love the game. I've never really been a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games, but I've played several of them, and when done right (like this one), they are well worth the time and money it takes to make, buy, and play them. So once I was done with episode five, I went to a review article written by a paid professional to see what others thought of it. Not to validate my own opinions, of course, though it's always comforting to see that I'm not alone in my views--I was merely curious as to what others thought--WHATEVER they thought, and what their reasons were. I'm an oddball like that. The offending comment in question was also one of the first on the page after the article. It went like this:
"I'm starting to think I'm the only person who doesn't like this "game"."
That was it. No explanation. No reasoning. No nothing. Just a negative opinion. Now yes, those happen, but read the comment again. Note the quotation marks around the word "game." Clearly, the comment wasn't meant to just be negative--it was meant to be sarcastic. And the only two reasons I can think of for being sarcastic with a negative opinion are either to be funny (which it only is funny if you use it as the punchline of a joke that all those present will get), or to be just plain insulting, and self-righteously, snobbishly so. This comment was obviously the latter.
Look, I get it. Adventure games are hardly the big boys on the video game playground anymore--they haven't been for years, and will most likely never reach that height ever again. It's simply just not as exciting or engaging a format in games as most gamers today are interested in or used to, and I can't really blame them, what with how mainstream games have become so widespread. But that's also part of the problem of this point of view. Never mind that very much BECAUSE of how mainstream games have become, you can't really define the very concept of "video game" into just your own personal preferences, whether it be for RTS's, FPS's, TPS's, adventure games, action games, casual games, roleplaying games, puzzle games, sex games, every other kind of game out there not on this list, or just a selection among those (the last on this list is usually the case among any single gamer, as is the standard). You can certainly say that it's not your kind of game--not all game genres will be liked by all gamers. It's a fact. Movies and novels work the same way. And comic books. And every other form of entertainment out there. It's also why we have such a huge variety of successful genres, and why even the point-and-click adventure game still has a market, however small it may be in comparison to others. But you can't just walk up and say that a video game isn't really a game. Don't believe me? Let's look at the definition of the word "game", shall we? We'll just stick with the noun-usage.
(1) : activity engaged in for diversion or amusement : play (2) : the equipment for a game
Huh. Sounds like The Walking Dead--and every other video game out there--fits quite well into that first definition. Funny how words work, isn't it? Such flexible, useful processions of sounds and vocalizations. Such paltry, meaningless things that fall short when we need them at our most emotionally-charged moments.
Hours and hours have passed since that comment was made, and while a bunch of rational counters to it were given, some even conceding the obvious fact that it just wasn't the poster's kind of game, the malcontent doesn't even have the decency to stand up to those opinions and explain himself. He also clearly didn't expect a whole lot of agreement, given the comment itself. So why even make it? The answer is pretty easy to outline--this person doesn't consider this a game, and therefore anyone who does is clearly wrong and doesn't know what a game is. How do you fight against such obvious stupidity, he wonders? Comment-and-run tactics, of course. Drop a simple, negative, snarky comment to piss them all off, supplant a barely subtle insult of their judgement, and never return. It's the internet, after all. You'll never meet these people--what do they know? Perfectly rational.
I've met racist internet tough guys and trolls with better arguing skills and more basic decency than this. And that's saying something.
I'll admit that this IS just as ridiculous as it sounds. Of all the horrible, irrational crap that gets posted in comments all over the internet, THIS is what finally ticked me off? Well, yes and no. What finally ticked me off into what will amount to an ineffectual rant that will have NO bearing on anything, much less change anything, is not the fact that this comment was posted, but that there are just SO MANY LIKE IT. And a majority of them are far, FAR worse than this one, far more insulting, far less rational, and on far more serious topics. I keep seeing them, everywhere. Any site that gives a user the ability to post a short comment will have them, by the bucket-load. And don't think I'm trying to easy on fans of the Walking Dead, or people who share my views on things or have similar opinions--they can be, and often are, just as bad. No side seems to be immune from this close-minded, impetuous and childish behavior.
It just seems like a majority of humanity, when presented with an open and anonymous forum (hey, ANYONE could be behind that username), doesn't have the ability to exercise any degree of self-control or personal responsibility, or even basic human decency.
And I hate it.
I hate it because it makes me think so much less of people in general, when in real life I more often than not do my best to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, the common courtesy of "I'm sure you have your reasons," the tolerant view of, "Well, I think you are wrong. And I will keep thinking you are wrong. But I don't think that makes you a terrible human being." The open-minded view of "why is it you think that way? Maybe I'll understand you better if you explain." And comments like these, in their millions, if not billions by now, constantly challenge, bash, and beat that point of view, that very integral part of who I am, to the point where I'm almost deadened inside. It gets me doubting the inherent good in people in general. If they're willing to behave like this, with such bile, such hatred, such mind-boggling foot-in-mouth verbosity (or lack thereof) when they don't have to suffer consequences, then does that mean a majority of the people I meet, even in passing, who act like decent, normal, reasonable human beings, are effectively lying? Is this inherent goodness that we all like to refer to as "humanity" nowadays just a front, indoctrinated into us by society and held in check by outside expectations?
I hate it because it makes me wonder. I start to think that maybe everything that makes a person "good" in our world is just fake. That the only reason we act like good people, act humanely, act like not-monsters, is simply because those around us expect us to.
And if that's the case, which I hope it isn't, that's just terribly disheartening.
The thing about it is, a lot of Americans (of the US variety) know what the words freedom, of, and speech, mean, for the most part. However what they don't understand is what they mean when they're used TOGETHER to form a certain part of our constitution. It does NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT, mean that you can be as much of a loud mouthed fucking prick as you want. It doesn't mean you get to hurl all the insults you like, it doesn't mean you get to go on and on and on insulting someone or something. It means you can share an opinion about any number of subjects. A dissenting opinion, a neutral opinion, or a similar opinion. It doesn't give a person the right to slander, or defame another human being or subject. It means that the government can not at any point step in and go "Hey, you can't share your opinion about this thing ever!" Sadly it allows things like NAMBLA to exist but... well there are pluses too. It allows us to exchange ideas and thoughts without fear of persecution or prosecution by the government. :<
Oops... I ranted a little.
And in a marketplace of ideas, not a single one of us has any right to NOT be offended. We're all offended, ALL the time, by a bunch of things. But we sure as hell can state that we're offended, and give our reasons.
My point through the whole rant is that most people don't want to give their reasons--or even come up with them to make them presentable. They just want to say "LOL UR WRONG" or "THAT OFFENDS ME! I SHOULD KILL YOU FOR IT!" And then storm off in a huff to never be seen again.
It's maddening and saddening at the same time. A bad combination.
Yeah, that's my point. A perfect example on my end from RL would be, lesse....
Ah, yes. Perfect example is Fox News. Not only do they shame my fursona namesake, but I'm constantly offended by their ratings-whoring, attention-grabbing, no-real-logic-just-want-soundbites-right-now-so-use-outrageous-claims-and-so-called-"experts" tactics.
Do I want them banned? Well, I'll admit the thought is nice...but no. I don't want them banned. I just don't watch Fox News. And I practice my right to criticize Fox News. The saddest part of that all is that, well, SOME of the people on Fox News have respectable, even agreeable viewpoints in some areas...but because the entire news network is heavily soaked and hosed down in extreme right-wing politics, they have to tow the "party line" as it were, thereby lumping themselves in with extremist idiots, fundamentalists and fools (and jackasses), which only makes what few virtues and good opinions any of them have look foolish or incredible by proxy.
But I don't want Fox News BANNED...I just don't want to watch Fox News. And I encourage those whom I consider friends to do the same, or at least take a LOT of the network with many grains of salt.
Get it now, ja?
I like it.
Point is, I know what I feel; and, thankfully, I don't get off on what you described here. Besides, if the person made the comment with a clear lack of care of making anything meaningful, why are you taking it as such? You're certainly not completely wrong to feel the way that you do, but why let it affect you? The way I see it: the people you should be focusing your energy on are the people that actually care about what you have to say or those with the potential to care, at the very least.
So it exists. Big whoop. There are also people that physically abuse others for being different, humiliate them in front of their so-called friends, and do it knowing they won't face serious repercussions for it. In light of people like that, a few words made by some goober who doesn't care is not only tame but also meaningless in comparison.
You can't root out ALL the bad people, otherwise what would we have to uphold our concept of "good"? Then that just leads to another path of what IS actually good.
I think, if we forced anyone to do away with any one that was considered "wrong", the only person left would be that guy.
For me, I'm content as I am. I have and will meet people who don't believe in what I do. And that's OK. They can't change me just as much as I can't change them. My efforts are better focused on those who listen or reach out to me.
What about you, Ivel? What do you feel you should do with this harnessed drive?
Maybe get back to my writing and voice-acting, I suppose. Seems like the most logical thing to do.