Gee, there sure are a lot of "fight" posts. There are even a lot of posts about those posts. I've been thinking about why for a while now. Before I came to the lovely Lit BB, I was a dedicated chatter. In chat, there is some fighting, as in life, there are some deceivers, and some trouble makers, but nowhere near as much. That's odd I thought, do all the angry people come to the BB? Trolls, flaming parties, hate polls...why?
My theory:
I believe the reason for the hostility is that the BB is not in real time. In a real time situation, you are on the spot, and also people have time to stew, and read into things.
If you were to go into a chat room and try to start a fight, you'd better think on your feet. The response would be immediate and harsh, if you couldn't think of a snappy retort...you'd be sitting there like a fool (well, they usually leave). On the BB, you have all day to compose all those fabulous comebacks you never thought of until later. The things you wished you said, you could even enlist the help of rl friends, and online friends to go attack the person at their leisure. In chat if your buddies aren't in the room, you're alone.
In real time, if you say something and someone takes it the wrong way, they'll let you know, right then. You can clear it all up in a sentence, and a few moments later, the words are gone forever. On the BB, you may have many deep enemies before you even realize you were misunderstood, and there may be pages of bad blood that will never go away.
Lastly, the troll thing...the fact that the threads are permanent, makes any stupid remark, a topic. If someone says some inane insult in chat, it is ignored, and then gone. The words of the trolls stand just as proudly on the BB as any one else's.
I like the BB. I think the same time and thought that allows people to rip each other up, also allows people to get deeper into topics, and put more consideration into their answers. All the world's issues will never be solved in a day, there are ongoing discussions here that would never be possible in chat. It is also a place to post something that really matters to you and have it last...chat is like a whisper in your ear, the BB is like a book on your shelf.
Real-time, hostility...any thoughts?
My theory:
I believe the reason for the hostility is that the BB is not in real time. In a real time situation, you are on the spot, and also people have time to stew, and read into things.
If you were to go into a chat room and try to start a fight, you'd better think on your feet. The response would be immediate and harsh, if you couldn't think of a snappy retort...you'd be sitting there like a fool (well, they usually leave). On the BB, you have all day to compose all those fabulous comebacks you never thought of until later. The things you wished you said, you could even enlist the help of rl friends, and online friends to go attack the person at their leisure. In chat if your buddies aren't in the room, you're alone.
In real time, if you say something and someone takes it the wrong way, they'll let you know, right then. You can clear it all up in a sentence, and a few moments later, the words are gone forever. On the BB, you may have many deep enemies before you even realize you were misunderstood, and there may be pages of bad blood that will never go away.
Lastly, the troll thing...the fact that the threads are permanent, makes any stupid remark, a topic. If someone says some inane insult in chat, it is ignored, and then gone. The words of the trolls stand just as proudly on the BB as any one else's.
I like the BB. I think the same time and thought that allows people to rip each other up, also allows people to get deeper into topics, and put more consideration into their answers. All the world's issues will never be solved in a day, there are ongoing discussions here that would never be possible in chat. It is also a place to post something that really matters to you and have it last...chat is like a whisper in your ear, the BB is like a book on your shelf.
Real-time, hostility...any thoughts?
