I think I’m going to wage a war against the internet.
Now, before I begin I’d just like to say that I am open to all different kinds of opinions. But, that being said, some people are too dumb/brutish to voice those opinions politely.
What has inspired this (soon-to-be) rant? Well, this weekend I was looking for a new security system for my computer. My laptop was a very generous gift from a former teacher. Many of the programs on the computer were pre-installed (also a very nice gesture).
However, with every security service, the one that had been installed expired. As I was not overly impressed with the services of my old security system, I opted instead to get a new one.
I was reading customer reviews for different antivirus systems that are available for purchase and like most customer review forums, the one I was reading allowed for commenting. Now I, unlike a lot of people, am not necessarily computer savvy.
So I like to read other people’s questions – as a lot of the time they are similar to my own inquiries. The rudeness of people on these boards was astounding.
Calling people “idiots” because they don’t have the same understanding of a very technically complex machine struck me as incredibly rude.
Now, perhaps the askers question was incredibly vapid (to me it was a perfectly valuable inquiry), but the response that the honest question received did not strike me as a courteous one as someone was reaching out to a community that he/she assumed had a higher level of knowledge on a given subject area.
Areas of opinion – especially popular culture – are always hotbeds for internet rudeness. One must almost look no further than a blog concerning a franchise film.
For the sake of needing a concrete example, I’ll sample some responses to forum posts on imdb.com’s board for the last Star Trek picture, Star Trek Into Darkness.
When the film was released, it was received with reviews on all sides of the scale. Some – myself included – thought it was a great piece of science-action entertainment, while more diehard Trekkies found the film to be an unnecessary rehash of the otherwise beloved Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
There seems to be disconnect between those who enjoyed the film, and those who did not. One poster – of many – posted his inquiry, wondering why some people didn’t like the fun flick. Poor guy. He never saw it coming.
What ensued was plethora of responses that sounded something like: “Why would you ask this question? There are millions of posts just like it?” and “If you don’t get why people didn’t like the movie than you’re just one of the drooling J.J. Abrams fanboys who can’t see anything wrong with his movies.”
Now, the poster probably didn’t want to sift through hundreds of angry people complaining about a movie and just wanted some streamlined bullet points of what Trek experts thought were the shortcomings of the last edition into the world that Gene Roddenberry created and that J.J. Abrams later re-created. What he got was a bunch of people who can’t fathom the idea that there are people out in the world without the same viewpoint as them.
Now, I’m an opinionated guy. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with believing in something and defending it to the end (unless of course, you aren’t willing to learn through argumentation and are just fighting to be right).
But, there needs to be some understanding going into an argument – particularly one online – that not all people in the world share the same opinion as you and none of these people deserve to be bullied.
I have stopped taking part in forums of imdb.com and my account serves little purpose on that website anymore. I have just become tired of speaking with people with no decorum or human decency.
Each day though, I like to look at the posts on imdb.com just to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s popular so that I may better comment on it.
I always find myself saddened by people just looking to communicate politely and with civility being met with cruelty and rudeness.
So that next time your online and you read something that you think is incredibly dumb and maybe even an asinine question, please remember that perhaps this person isn’t trolling and is looking for a legitimate answer or response and tread with great care.
Brian Laughran
Senior Viewpoints Editor