What constitutes a healthy/productive online discussion? Are the values & etiquettes for online discussion different from having a discussion in person? Does hiding behind a computer screen makes us somewhat invincible, so we can acti like complete jerks? Of course each one of us who would reply in this thread would come and say that the same values apply, but it rarely happens. (Talking about HOT/SENSITIVE topics here).
I have seen on many occasions that a good topic or interesting discussion gets ruined by participants’ inability to focus on issue at hand and discussion gets “personalise” (talking about most discussion forums there), the only thing it lacks is the physical exchange of kicks & punches (Oh well.. one day when technology will come to the stage of integrating virtual reality with online discussion forums, we will see that happening)
So what is your take on it? Are you capable of doing YOUR bit?
What really kills a serious discussion is when some one from cafe comes in and starts talking like"i gree wid u, u r rit". Kills the whole discussion. Do I think someone who talks like that belongs in a serious discussion? No. I see this in Religion forum all the time. Am I supposed to agree with that person when he or she cannot even write a proper sentence?
What really kills a serious discussion is when some one from cafe comes in and starts talking like"i gree wid u, u r rit". Kills the whole discussion. Do I think someone who talks like that belongs in a serious discussion? No. I see this in Religion forum all the time. Am I supposed to agree with that person when he or she cannot even write a proper sentence?
Cafe like attitude really doesn't bother me, the fact that they are showing some interest in serious threads and if after reading they reply "I agree" then it's good enough for me. Atleast there is some effort on their part to grow intellectually, and frankly I have seen some cafe kids participating and acting more matuarly than some "supposedly" grown ups in other sections.
What bothers me is the behavior exihibited by supposedly well educated grown ups. If you meet them in real life they will show you the upmost respect for you and your views, but they act entirely different when they come online. In real life they will not even think about using street language in any discussuin, but it strangely it becomes acceptable for them on an online discussion.
Maybe people take advantage of being hidden behind the screen and they be themselves when discussing something OL as they know that the maximum other people could do is ignore them that is it. OR
it could be a way of seeking attention as well...such people who like to troll on every discussion thread aimlessly gets more attention because of their irritating behavior.
hiding behind screen does make people more brutal than they would be in real life ..... youtube is a big example of the kind of ridiculous cross-bashing that goes around ...
on the other hand ... there have been articles written about how virtual is the new real ... people think everything is possible "virtually" now ... while the biggest drawback of being virtual is the vague/unclear transfer of emotion or the way in which a thing is said ... leaving a LOT of room of misinterpretation ... there is a long pause between replies unlike in reality ... which lengthens a conversation in a way leading people to read TOO much into words ...
we are naturally inclined towards replying to the negative words and don't really focus on the positive ... few people tend to do that ... also because typing takes forever ... you only focus on the important (negative clarifications) ... leading discussions onto a path they may not take in real life ...
