Why the Hate?

[shinrigaku]

I have been watching a lot of things on the internet. From Youtube to this site, and everything else in between. I think (especially in the case of the Escapist), there are a lot of great things to be had on the internet for entertainment, edification, or simply something to do when we are bored. Of course, there is a lot of hate. A LOT of hate for things. Far be it from me to squelch voices or take away one's freedom of speech, but there's something I watched recently and couldn't help but be hurt by it.

There is a number of videos on Youtube sourcing a man crying from the A&E show "Intervention" where a man cries in an emotional moment with his son. I have never seen the actual footage from this, but found the clip through one of my subscriptions online. Now, I suppose we could be cynical about this, and say that it was staged. It was, of course, a TV show, and it is possible. But let's look at it excluding the cynical view. It was a powerful, emotional moment. And though I will admit that the cry does sound unusual at first, it does look very honest and real. So there seem to be a number of comments and clips on youtube making fun of the man and the admittedly unusual sounding cry.

But then it hit me. Have people become so utterly blase about these things that they need to make fun of the man having an emotional moment? Do we honestly need to take down what everyone else says in order to feel comfortable with it? Having seen a lot of the responses on these forums for religion (I am a practicing Christian), I often see a lot of hate for that as well. It's all good and fine to present your argument in a constructive, even cynical light. But there are just so many people that say things like "_________ is retarded", or "_________ is for idiots". Why the hate?

 

[Raikov]

It's called immaturity, and it's not limited to the internet.

 

[Adzma]

To quote a great man:

"Because people are shit."

It's that nature of humanity my friend.

 

[Marter]

First off, never take YouTube comments seriously. Most of them are the lowest form of person on the internet, and should be ignored whenever possible.

Second, in regards to the hate issue, I feel that in most cases, it starts out as a vocal minority. A few people show their displeasure in something, and then more join in because they think it's "cool" to hate on whatever the current topic is.

 

[PurpleSky]

Let me see now....I made this a while back when it started to flood with those threads


http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.194797-Sick-of-hate-related-threads-Me-too

 

[MercurySteam]

When it comes to the internet, people find it easy to judge people they don't know. Happens out in the real world too.

Moral: Humans are bastards.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Fuckwad (As per The Greater Internet Fuckwad theory by Gabriel from PA)

 

[Enemy Of The State]

Its just another case of people tearing each other down to build themselves up. People mocking others sexual preferences so they feel better about their own is an example. Humans are like that.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

It's many things: anonymity, immaturity, the desire for a cheap laugh, the inability to empathise with others.

It comes down to to this: people will always act badly. When they have the safeguards of anonymity, they will often act even worse.

Do not use this as an excuse to act badly too. A person shows their worth by how they treat those that they have no vested interest in. It's easier to treat your mum, or your boss, or your best friend well than it is to be respectful of someone online who you don't know, will never know, and will never see again. Therefore, if you can overlook all that to consider the person, and to treat them with respect, you are an honourable person.

 

[shinrigaku]

I have always held that those who break people down often have something that they are deeply uncomfortable about with themselves. You know, the "one finger pointing at someone else, four fingers pointing at you" argument. I just wish that people would know when to stop on things. A bit of playful ribbing is all fine and dandy; but it seems that anonymity keeps people from thinking about when to stop.

 

[Loonerinoes]

The irony is that the same kinds of persons, that have been desenetized to what is genuinely real on the internet (like in the case you described), are also the people who wind up posting these hateful comments the most (even if they use their irrational logic to justify it, it's still hate in the end) and THEN come away with such lessons of life as "People are shit."

Really...it's not even that complicated. Technology has as of late been rushing onwards while humanity's mental maturity has stagnated. And this goes DOUBLE for the internet. Short answer is that a lot of the 'haters' of the internet are possibly good people IRL. Problem is, that 99% of them are completely out of their depth when posting comments on the internet. Including the ones that bother arguing on forums extensively.

It's just a fact. Mankind was never ready for the internet. But, it's here and the best thing to do, until we learn how to use it responsibly, is to not take the haters seriously. At all. Because in the end it always boils down to becoming rumor-mongering that can always be ignored when you realize that, as Shirley Manson of Garbage once said very well, the haters keep posting their comments because they like the illusion, that they actually have some kind of control over the objects of their hate, whereas in fact........they don't. And never will. So why even take haters seriously if that's the case? Heh...no reason at all.

 

[Fuloqwam]

I don't know if your example is the best to make if you're trying to frame online hate for us. It kind of sounds like playful teasing. I often make snarky comments on Youtube as well, which are generally followed by an author response of "lol, u suck! ;p"

I've found the users of Youtube community are generally pretty good at flagging blatantly racist or outright hateful comments and videos. Mind you, debates over opinion videos almost always end up with childish name-calling in the comments section.

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

To quote a great man:

"Because people are shit."

It's that nature of humanity my friend.

Which great man? Sounds familiar, like something Bill Hicks said.

OT: Yeah I agree with him, quite a lot of people are very insecure also, and like to take out their rage in relative anonymity on sometimes very undeserving people

 

[gl1koz3]

Personally, nothing wrong with that kind of material.
As well as nothing wrong with people expressing hate for things.

 

[Quid Plura]

Anonimity mainly I guess. No one is going to judge you for your behaviour online when in real life. I can be a saint during the day, but get so fed up with it that I'm the equivalent of Satan online. That, and I guess being foreign also counts for something. It's not easy for some people to express themselves in English, and there's always an elitist prick who has to make a comment on that, which will start a flame war.

To summarize: People are pricks online, because they can and cannot be punished for it.

 

[Adzma]

To quote a great man:

"Because people are shit."

It's that nature of humanity my friend.

Which great man? Sounds familiar, like something Bill Hicks said.

George Carlin?
And I don't hate IT , I hate the people that like IT.

No guys, Yahtzee said it in relation to why he doesn't play Multiplayer games.