[JimH443]

I would agree with your assessment, but the reduced chance of repercussion also reduces inhibition toward "anti-social behavior." What the web has created is the opportunity to instantly be a jerk with someone thousands of miles away and to have this behavior seen by a number of people several order of magnitude greater than what "normal everyday life" would allow.

[FenderGuy2112]

+1



You took the words right out of my mouth :)
FenderGuy2112

[Cosmo]

http://www.videojug....-internet-forum

[cmanbrazil]

It is kind of like the movie fight club, with so many people scared to express their frustrations in real life, so they create alter ego's that are volatile and childish. It just shows the fact that technology and humanity are two different species.

[dntsaycant]

Mr. Kroman should thank his lucky stars he does not have Abdala on his staff. She would be nothing by trouble for him and his firm.

[mindnova]

Ironically this trend is not only on the web. Just the other day, I was explaining my problem to someone on the phone when they suddenly went off on me. In a loud voice they kept saying they would not put up with my tone. they then hung up on me. Upon calling back the person i talked to told me there was no one there by that name and everyone in another section was having a birthday party. She assisted me and apologized for the incident.

So it's not just the web.

[kfox]

I think that the writer should have taken the time to specify the college that the Asst. Prof was from. As far as I know, there is no Michigan University.

[Marcomike]

Although your story was interesting, it didn't;t go far enough. take for example , web site that offer employment . If you apply to a job getting a response from the employer that posted the ad, will not even acknowledge your email and resume nor will the site post the employer who posted the ad 's name so you can follow up on your application. these are the true jerks of the web ! ;

[ederlore]

I think Dianna should have shown more class and simply replied that she was sorry to have inconvenienced him but that she felt she was making the right decision and let it go at that. Her comeback about the the contract was just sinking to his level. Be nice to people, it drives them crazy.

[Pikachu]

Hi, yeah, I agree with [stephen4488|~135113], the example is polite in the extreme compared to some flame-mail I have received/seen. I have to agree that it's surprising it was included as an example.

Of course, the younger/more unsophisticated the people you deal with on the net, the more mindless abuse you will see.

[teufelhunde93]

If you really want to see a bunch of ignorant people talking about things in which they nothing about, visit: streetsourcemag.com Check out the forums which are not moderated. It is a sad testament to what happens when a forum is not properly moderated.

[Ravius]

I am an older PC gamer and I refuse to join the lemming rush to play MMO's just for the above reasons. While most folks play games for fun and a chance to interact with people from all over, the few juveniles and idiots totally ruin the experience. I am especially alarmed at the way younger members of communities trash talk and put down opponents or forum posters who disagree with them. Parents are often totally unaware just how obnoxious some of these kids can be. I listen to my boys when they play online and remind them of treating others with respect even if the other party is hardly deserving of such. I'm sure a certain form of censure will develop over time and help mitigate these issues in what is still an evolving medium of expression, information, and entertainment unheard of prior to this point in world history. Until then I will only frequent sites who cater to older or more mature users and stick to single player gaming.

[JimH443]

I am also an older gamer. I spent an entire half century on this planet before playing my first MMO. While I can't speak for all MMOs, I am familiar with two servers that World of Warcraft uses. On them, unpleasant incidents are quite rare.

Sure, they happen - but these are just as likely to happen in your local grocery store or bank. The biggest thing that has changed is that in this age of communication it's a lot easier to hear about other people's experiences now. Things you would have been oblivious to before are now brought to your attention. Both space and time have been compressed. Things that happened months ago and thousands of miles away (if they can even be said to have happened in a "place") continue to exist indefinitely and the likelihood that we'll run across them increases exponentially each day.

In other words, I guess it can be said that there are just as many jerks in the world... but moments that would have gone unnoticed and forgotten, no longer do.

[mykl6381]

Bottom line here is that this woman was wrong on myriad fronts. She waited way too long to decline the offer, and probably knew that but did so anyway.
William Korman was more than polite but also had a right to say what he did in the initial email, even ending it politely and it was Abdala who denigrated into a "pissing match".
After reading the complete transcript, it's more than obvious that she's of the thought process that "Because I'm a woman, I deserve all the same perks and income of that of a partner regardless of my being less qualified than my peers."
Sounds to me like a woman who's bought into the liberal mindset that everyone deserves the same thing and it doesn't matter how unqualified you are. You just deserve it.
Whatever...

[mykl6381]

This comment is in regards to the story of the girl who committed suicide after being "harassed" on myspace.
Didn't happen.
Of course the girl committed suicide, but after the boy turned on her once. And what was left out of the story is that the girl in question, was herself, harassing the daughter of the mother who created the fake myspace page.
The girl in question had some mental problems that were ignored by her parents, bottom line. She was a mean, spiteful little girl who got what she wanted, most of the time, and then cried to her parents when someone else didn't like what she was doing, or when she herself was punished for something.
While I feel bad for the parents, this little girl was NOT the innocent Saint everyone is making her out to be.
Sorry. That is the truth. Something that this increasingly politically correct society is drifting farther from everyday. PC is nothing more than a cop out for those who can't handle everyday life and harsh truth that come with it.

[Rex0711]

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie to this website so I don't know my way around too well. Does anyone know how I can contact Erin Biba, the writer of this article? I wrote an essay about very similar material not too long ago and it would be interesting to see what others think about it...since I received a C grade for it @ school...

[JimH443]

It's not unusual for the authors to read the comments made about their articles. This being the case, the best answer to your question is: Here. :)

[upsdrvr]

Seems to be a lot of that going around, kids who are told how great and perfect they are everyday, then when they can't win at something they get nasty. I miss the old BBS days when you went to a site to have fun, and people acted like guests. You

I play a VERY simple online game. The game is easy, and w/ some basic addition and subtraction skills most anyone should be able to master it in a short time. It amazes me how wrapped up some of the younger players get in the game. If someone gets a good score, the loser immediately calls "Cheat" or "Hack". LOL, the game isn't even worth the time to try and hack.

Of course, in a lot of cases these are kids who go out and spend $100 for a video game, and before they crack the wrapper they are online looking for cheats.

[rkinne01]

So in your world its ok for this women to have caused this girl's death because she was a brat? By your logic its ok that a man rapes a woman because she must have been asking for it! The woman, a grown adult, should have known better than to have fabricated this whole thing. What the heck was she thinking? She acted more like a 13 year girl than a grown woman with kids.
This was not a case of political correctness, its a simple case of right and wrong. This girl was known to be fragile, whether she was a saint or not, she did not deserve to be treated this way. She (the mother) should be sitting in a prison cell right now, her actions lead to this girls death just as surely as if she had hung or shot her hersef!

[Cypher126]

The fact is the anonymity of the internet allows folks to be who they really aren't. Take it back to the days of AOL chat rooms and the "flamers" out there only looking to start trouble. Chances are those folks were nothing more then nerdy little pre-pubescent teens that got the crap kicked out of them on a daily basis. In a chat room they could act all big and tough.
Same thing goes for online gaming like WoW or TribalWars. You never see your opponents and never talk to them other then in e-mails. This lends for some folks to act in a way that is not them. More often then not, in a rude or disrespectful manner.
Turn off the PC (or Mac), walk outside and get some sun on your skin. Life is not a video game and never will be. Get up and GET A LIFE!!!