Online Civil Behavior

659 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: the negative effect of social media on society s

With the creation of the internet, people can hide as “anonymous” and say anything they choose because they’re alone in reality. In this essay I will focus on exploring why people behave the way they do online, and present some positive recommendation changes. My main argument is that good people can behave poorly in online situations, but civil behavior can be encouraged by changes to online environment designs.
It’s proven that bad experiences are focused on more than good experiences. Online interaction can relate to this in two ways. First, the person reading the online comment may think it’s much worse than it really is. Second, humans are more prone to pay attention to the negative versus the positive input. A recent study conducted by Will Felps showed that one individual can drastically impact the rest of a group. The study applied to real life, face to face meetings but it can also be applied to the online community. Historical beliefs that groups have more power than individuals was contradicted based on the evidence discovered by Felps. The groups with one negative person did thirty to forty percent worse than groups without that person. Felps also found that our behavior is contagious and the behavior by the negative person was mirrored. A possible solution to this one negative person issue could be that the website would have someone supervise the first few hours of comments to set the right tone for everyone else reading the material.
One unique trait given to the online community is that anyone can leave a comment regardless of content and not be seen by anyone who reads it. A problem with communicating online is that no one is seen however studies have shown that having the feeling of being watched can improve coop...

... middle of paper ...

...bable in seeing patterns that didn’t exist. The point of this experiment was to show that the design of an online environment can cause a person to either feel as if they do or don’t have control. The person in control will be more calm and content.
These studies show that there are some ways in which internet civility can be drastically improved by making people feel more in control and responsible for their voice online. Having online users feeling watched will combat some of the bad behaviors that are currently happening today. The online environment design also plays a huge role with how people respond to certain things. This incivility on the internet can’t be completely stopped just like crime can’t be stopped in the real world. However, with some simple steps by web and computer designers, the virtual experience could be greatly improved for all.

References:

Show More
Related

  • Julie Zhou's Essay 'Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt'

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay “Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt” the author Julie Zhou demonstrates the negative impact Anonymity in the internet has had on human beings. Following with a convincing argument for unmasking these “trolls” of the internet.

    Read More

  • Emily Nussbaum Say Everything Analysis

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay “Say Everything” written by Emily Nussbaum, the author presents the argument that young people in this generation do not have a sense of privacy and tend to post whatever they like on the internet. She presents 3 different ideas of what happens when young adults are on the internet.

    Read More

  • The Need for Civility in Social Media

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine a world where the physically weak have a powerful weapon to fight against the strong. In this kind of world, that mean kid who beats you up, steals your lunch money, and copies your math homework has no power, whereas the weakling who gets his lunch money stolen has all of it. Through the aid of social media, individuals, teens in particular, who are usually quite docile have a chance to fight back at their oppressors, or they might, in the heat of the moment, begin to victimize someone else.

    Read More

  • We Want Privacy But Can T Stop Sharing Analysis

    439 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the article: “We Want Privacy, but Can’t Stop Sharing” by Kate Murphy, it is presented that in order for an individual to have privacy in an online environment, one should consider not disclosing sensitive information about one’s true self online. It is mentioned that, indeed, there is no privacy when connecting to the World Wide Web. She shows us that googles ads and nude pics of Jennifer Lawrence being hacked, makes us all vulnerable and a possible target according of “cybersnooping”. She references the film, “Minority Report” to show us that, spying is mismatched with a free society. Murphy, remarks that it is difficult to contend for privacy when society keenly reveals personal information online via social media. But most importantly, when revealing information about one self, there is a notion that one is being watched or tracked via social media implying that one’s health is a affected when releasing sensitive information online causing low

    Read More

  • Conformity Studies Essay

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    The aim of this experiment was to determine if conformity would be occur in the virtual world. It was predicted the majority of people would conform when online because the internet offers a degree of anonymity which leads to a need of acceptance because of deindividuation.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Technology And Social Media

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the PRC survey, 1 in 4 teens said they have been in an argument with their friends because of something said online or in a text. Normally, these arguments are caused by misunderstandings because the tone of voice isn 't heard. However, some are also caused because people are not themselves when they are online,77% of teens don 't feel authentic online. The screen that people sit behind becomes like a mask, a person can say whatever they want to someone else online because they don 't have to sit there and look them in the eye while they say it. The connection of looking at someone has a great impact on what is said because of empathy and compassion. With the screen blocking out the connection, people are less likely to care. Which is probably why, according to the PRC survey, 88% of teens say people share too much online, 68% said they have personally seen someone stir up drama online, 53% say they saw posts about events they were not invited to, and 42% say they have seen things written about them that they can not change. The actual connection between people is needed in order for people to know how or if what they are saying affects someone else. People need to actually sit down and talk instead of saying what they feel

    Read More

  • Communication Accomodation Theory

    1956 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hordila, E., Vatamanescu, E., & Pana, A. (2010). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. The Application of the Communication Accommodation Theory to Virtual Communities: A Preliminary Research on the Online Identity. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5(4), 279-290. Jones, E., Gallois, C., Callan, V., & Barker, M. (1999).

    Read More

  • My Online Community

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    Communicating via the Internet is no substitute for actual human interaction. But online communities do enable meaningful communication among people separated by distance and time. Many people in today’s society look to online communities for comfort. They visit it daily, and spend many hours talking to people they have never met in person. I have no interest in going back to my community. I didn’t feel the warm, fuzzy feeling of people chatting online. Some people can be rude and annoying, and that is something I just don’t want to deal with if I don’t have to. I enjoyed posting my thoughts on certain subjects on the message boards, but I didn’t enjoy reading some rude responses just because I didn’t agree with the person’s view.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issue In Information Systems

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the internet was considered a global information system in 1995 millions of Americans participated in virtual communication. People began to communicate with each other and personal information began to be placed online by the stroke of the fingertips to their own computer. So the question is the privacy of individuals trusted online? Can people snoop around and see personal information? Of course people can if guidelines are not set in place to protect them. Public and private information can be complex when some individual(s) do not expect their communication to be read outside of their online community. What will be discussed are some ethical responsibilities that need to take place in the United States. Respecting the individual privacy and honor confidentiality is a must in this country.

    Read More

  • Effects of Technology on Sociability

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tyler, Tom R. “Is the Internet Changing Social Life? It Seems the More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same.” Journal of Social Issues 58.1 (2002): 200-201. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Negative Impact of Social Networking Sites

    2142 Words  | 5 Pages

    Cyber social networks are slowly injecting an infection into our social interaction skills. Yes, the cyber social network has increased people’s ability to communicate with friends, families and to publish information to express themselves; but this kind of social interaction doesn’t take place for face to face verbal communication. When people are using social network services, they don’t worry about how their speech affects their appearances and reputations. People get less nervous and freely speak out their minds. But when they need to socialize in real life, they either get too nervous and shy to talk to others, or speak whatever comes up in their minds without pay attention to others’ feelings. Social network services create a barrier between people in real life. Since people using social network services don’t interact personally, they don’t see people’s facial expressions ...

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Freedom of Speech on the Internet

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the Internet burst free of academic cloisters into the public domain during 1990s, it has been thoroughly debated whether the individual’s remarks and comments on the Internet should be restricted. Also this has drawn increasing attention due to popularity of the emerging social net like Facebook and Twitter in recent years. While some advocate that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, others argue that an uncontrollable medium of anarchy may occur owing to the freedom of speech. This paper examines both the arguments for and against of the freedom speech in Internet and provides suggestions based on these arguments.

    Read More

  • Informative Essay: The Web Of Friendship

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    We rely on computers and smartphones for everyday tasks. With technology, more people are being exposed to the web, and social media sites such as Tumblr and Twitter. Used to follow and communicate with celebrities and idols, one can also use them to talk to peers; people their own age, whom they’ve never met. Thierry Penard, who wrote an article in the Journal of Economic Issues writes, “The Internet is actually a new means of communication and socialization that can supplement face-to-face or telephone contacts” (569). As more people communicate on the internet, it’s more-likely that they will converse with a total stranger. Even if it’s about a concert or book release, seemingly minor topics lead to

    Read More

  • Discipline Of Communication Essay

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Contrary to it, if we go toward online social spaces, "the online world can be far more muted"(Fisher 2003). There are social groups established online with their shared history. One can even not state that the person he/she is talking is the same one whose name is there or any other person. The mood and tone cannot be judged.

    Read More

  • Social Networking’s Influence on Socialization

    2021 Words  | 5 Pages

    Social networking has now introduced an innovative way of attaining these norms through virtual communities on the Web. Socialization prepares us for our life experiences. It can be considered a reverential foundation for society. We may not agree to some rules in society, but without socialization a civil society would cease to exist. In addition, any influence on the socialization process has a profound effect on how we function as a community, with some of the more notable discovery’s being email and instant messaging.

    Read More

More about Online Civil Behavior

Open Document