Civility online

[iris lily]

It strikes me that one thing that internet discussion has changed is this: people did not used to often, express a political opinion in casual society. Now our social interaction regularly include politics. And here I use "politics" in a broad way because most everything is political in one way or another.And when the media puts hot topics in front of us on the computer screen daily, designed to elicit strong reaction, it's not surprising that after viewing Yahoo News someone goes to their Facebook page and comment on the stupidity of the Prez or The Congress.

[rodeosweetheart]

"And when the media puts hot topics in front of us on the computer screen daily, designed to elicit strong reaction, it's not surprising that after viewing Yahoo News someone goes to their Facebook page and comment on the stupidity of the Prez or The Congress."
I was just thinking about that, too, since when I turn on my new computer, it goes right to a Toshiba page and there was some teaser this morning about "guess what gaffe the President committed today" but you had to open it to find out. Talk about manipulation. . .

[ToomuchStuff]

It isn't just the computer screen. Newspapers do it as well as talk radio shows (especially when they have more then one person on it), to get you to "feedback". Then they can use that feedback to show they have x listeners, to get sponser money, to continue that cycle. The news, however funny, does it as well. As an example, one that po'd a friend of mine, the local news said x number of kids die every day from bath salts, tune in to learn what you need to know to prevent it, coming up, three days away. His view was the news then, would be an accomplice since they didn't prevent those x deaths before the story.
Viewership = money, and money = programs to bring viewership, repeat.

[rodeosweetheart]

Sad-Eyed Lady: "Also, and I don't mean to hi-jack this thread, but I wonder about people who display their whole lives on facebook! I find that a real phenomenon."
I do, too, a weird phenomenon, and it seems kind of dangerous.

[rodeosweetheart]

Toomuch: 'As an example, one that po'd a friend of mine, the local news said x number of kids die every day from bath salts, tune in to learn what you need to know to prevent it, coming up, three days away. His view was the news then, would be an accomplice since they didn't prevent those x deaths before the story.'
Yes!! I completely agree. It's not news, then, and if they had this information and could save a life by sharing it, then why withhold it. Quite right.

[catherine]

Sad-Eyed Lady: "Also, and I don't mean to hi-jack this thread, but I wonder about people who display their whole lives on facebook! I find that a real phenomenon."
I do, too, a weird phenomenon, and it seems kind of dangerous.

That is REALLY ill-advised. Did you read about the 18-year old whose parents had won an age discrimination suit? The terms of the settlement were that nothing about it could be divulged. The girl came right out and said "Mom and Dad won $80,000, so my spring vacation will be compliments of [whatever the firm was]" Something like that. Well, that move cost her parents 80 grand.

So, so stupid. And I also am not comfortable with the blurring of the lines of business and personal on FB. I have friends in both camps on my FB account and everything I post I go through my entire friend list to make sure I'm not going to be sharing something that I don't want shared with clients. I guess I should join Google groups or something, but FB is still the place to be (although some tell me it's waning in that regard)

[ToomuchStuff]

FB CAN be a way to stay in touch with people, but at increasing costs of time and energy. The reason I say that is every time FB has a change that affects the privacy policy, I hear from someone whose privacy settings were "auto changed". I understand why some people are required to have a page (celebrity/employment advertising reasons), but have had discussions ("I don't want to be reading this in the enquirer), with them, as well as some local LEO friends, because of issues that could put peoples lives in danger (from undercover officers having a page or being on someones, to people who are at high risks for crimes more serious then a break in). I would and still hope they do (and I don't know about it, from lack of use), allow fake names for some of those people (celeb's do have to change numbers on occasion for a reason).
I know there have been posts here, calling out those of us about "the evils of facebook", but I don't need someones safety, to be on my conscious. It is why, when there have been posts (we are having this discussion on FB), I suggest having one here.

[bUU]

The extreme polarization of political discourse goes back at least fifteen years, and has only grown marginally over the intervening period. And that spilled over into the online sphere just as much back then as it does today. There are simply more people online now than back then.

There are people who share too much information about themselves online, but just as many people share false information about themselves online. I wouldn't take anything anyone says about themselves online at face value unless you have a personal relationship with that person.

[Selah]

Fascinating thread!

Just a side note: in Israel, where I teach English as a Foreign Language, the whole pedagogical thrust is to get students more and more proficient at using the computer to communicate and work in English, rather than face to face. The general understanding is that for Israelis, most of them will be using English only for computer-based applications in their future work careers, so they might as well start practicing for it now. The tricky part is, the entrance exam for University has a great deal of listening comprehension and oral interview components, so in many ways the curriculum is trying to achieve too many goals at the same time. Online interaction, at least through textual communications, is not the same as face-to-face dialogue, public speaking, and so on.

I also teach English online to Indian adult students, who are desperately trying to improve their English for career reasons. Fortunately for me, these students are unfailingly polite. They need to work on their spoken English and comprehension more than reading and writing, as the vast majority of them are working in call centers servicing American and other English speaking countries. They often say they are frequently verbally abused by their customers for having insufficient English or impenetrable accents, or for even having the job in the first place--how dare they "take" an American job away from an American, etc. Talk about shooting the messenger!

[Gardenarian]

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