Reply #232: "they say things online that they would never say to someone’s face.." [View All]

[Techn0Girl]

You see that's where you're wrong.
Many, if not most of the people here who say such things here - also will say them in real life. The real consequences of their boorish behavior is that such people are shunned by almost everyone. You, I and most every other sane person just walks away from such people and doesn't go back. Hence they are isolated and a whole lot of them are on some sort of state or federal disability for some sort of mental (personality) disorder. So they have LOTS of time to post. Much more time then you or I have . In fact that's all they tend to do since they have no other place to go or people to communicate with. Hence they have a disproportionate voice on all but the most carefully moderated forums. They can be a crazy and uncivil and sociopathic as they wish - and we are all more or less forced to listen.

And that, in my opinion, is the great failing regarding the "unlimited freedom of expression" on the internet. The crazies have a disproportionately large voice among us simply because they have nothing else to do such as jobs, families and friends.

My idea would be for any forum to have a zero tolerance policy regarding uncivil behavior. Not just nice or non hate speech but true civil behavior expected from everybody. And that is something that anybody except the crazies could easily follow. We have what amounts to such a policy in all aspects of every day life. When someone acts out - they are socially ostracized and isolated and we have no problems with that in all other aspects of our everyday life. We should not have a problem with that on an internet forum.