Are we getting meaner and nastier?

[Zemalac]

People aren't really getting meaner. They're just displaying their cruelty in different ways. Back in Rome they tossed people to the lions, crusified, etc.: nowadays we toss people on the mercy of the YouTube crowd. The only difference is that you're more likely to survive the latter.

 

[Fire Daemon]

with the invention of the internet we can easily communicate with millions of people around the globe. because of this it means that Idiots can act like idiots infront of millions of people.

If Starwars kid sat you done and showed you his sword fighting abilities then you will laught at him and call him an idiot (granted if you didn't care about hurting his feelings). Why should this be any different. It is sad for him that he was made fun of in this way but come on.

The kid recorded himself sword fighting imaginary monsters for crying out loud. You don't record things and then expect them not to get you in trouble. It isn't the internets fault he had bad taste in friends, it isn't the internet's fault he looked like a fool.

Still there are some people who think that Hobo fights to the death are funny. I suppose you need to draw a line but I'm still waiting for people to decide where that line should be drawn. I suppose humour is in the eye of the beholder and such and such.

 

[Sparkly-elf]

with the invention of the internet we can easily communicate with millions of people around the globe. because of this it means that Idiots can act like idiots infront of millions of people.

If Starwars kid sat you done and showed you his sword fighting abilities then you will laught at him and call him an idiot (granted if you didn't care about hurting his feelings). Why should this be any different. It is sad for him that he was made fun of in this way but come on.

The kid recorded himself sword fighting imaginary monsters for crying out loud. You don't record things and then expect them not to get you in trouble. It isn't the internets fault he had bad taste in friends, it isn't the internet's fault he looked like a fool.

Still there are some people who think that Hobo fights to the death are funny. I suppose you need to draw a line but I'm still waiting for people to decide where that line should be drawn. I suppose humour is in the eye of the beholder and such and such.

Oh good lord you got there before me!!

Same point. If he didn't want it to get public, why did he record the godforsaken thing?

Of course you could always counteract it by saying it was still mean what they did by humiliating him, and yes, the internet is notorious for doing that, but honestly, why record it?

What comes under "bad luck" is a fine, fine line between stupidity.

I think what people need to start doing is to not care what's humiliating them. I mean sure, that kid get's slagged, but he's still LETTING it upset him instead of looking at the bigger picture. If it's funny, laugh dammit. Yeah, I've dones some embarassing things, EVERYONE has, it just makes it worse if you let it get to you. Kids need to be taught to laugh it off. Pride gets in the way, I think.

 

[werepossum]

I think what people need to start doing is to not care what's humiliating them. I mean sure, that kid get's slagged, but he's still LETTING it upset him instead of looking at the bigger picture. If it's funny, laugh dammit. Yeah, I've done some embarassing things, EVERYONE has, it just makes it worse if you let it get to you. Kids need to be taught to laugh it off. Pride gets in the way, I think.

Exactly! If you do something monumentally stupid and you laugh along with everyone else, it soon passes. If you sull up and don't go along, people get mean and it goes much harder on you, for much longer.

I was uncommitted on the question of whether or not we are getting meaner, but then tonight my wife and I are watching The Soup. We're watching Paula Abdoul just disintegrate and we're laughing - but it's getting to the point of not being funny. Like Britney, Paula is a Hot Mess (Chelsea Handler's term), and, like Britney, it's reaching the point where laughing is becoming cruel. These people, whether through drug addiction or mental illness, are literally coming apart. We're not just laughing at pretentious twits being idiots anymore; now we're laughing at some miserable person's life utterly falling apart on national television. Frankly it's making me uncomfortable.

 

[Fire Daemon]

You don't record things and then expect them not to get you in trouble.

You also don't walk down a dark alley and not expect it to get you in trouble.

Exactly.