Volatility within Electronic Communication

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Volatility within Electronic Communication
It has been noticed on several different forums for several decades that communicating on the internet can be downright mean. Anonymity, lack of accountability, absence of visual cues, and perceived distance has led to the increased hostility and rudeness on internet social media. This uncivil communication has also been shown to “hurt the perpetrator more than it hurts whoever is on the receiving end” (Rope, n.d.). As a result, it has been determined that face to face communication is more productive and healthy than communication via electronic formats for all parties involved in the conversation.

This volatile communication is not a recent development following the explosive growth of social media sites. Lee Sproull, PhD was quoted by Rope in her article, Why Is There So Much Negativity on the Internet?, saying “an escalation of critical comments, and an increase in the frequency with which people would respond with short negative messages” (page 1). These first virtual conversations were referred to as “flame wars” (Rope, n.d.) in the 1970’s, when scientists first started communicating virtual. From that point forward, virtual communication has been on a downward spiral, with evidence in almost every blog, news feed, review, and any other social media sites.
So why is virtual communication taking this negative turn? Wolchover states that there are three factors that make up a “perfect storm” (page 1) of conditions in which generate aggressive commentary in public forums. These three factors include anonymity, distance, and the ease of being volatile in writing. Being anonymous, the writer is not required to atone for the volatile comments that are made. Take away consequ...

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...nd/human-brain/psychological-reason-mean-on-internet.htm

Gardner, A. (2012, August 2). Troll Psychology: Why People Are So Mean on the Internet - Health News and Views - Health.com. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://news.health.com/2012/08/02/troll-psychology-mean-internet/

Eveleth, R. (2012, September 16). Why you're so mean on the internet - SmartPlanet. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/why-youre-so-mean-on-the-internet/

Rope, K. (n.d.). Why Is There So Much Negativity on the Internet? | Real Simple. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/technology/communication-etiquette/negativity-00100000073022/

Brossard, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2013, March 3). This Story Stinks - NYTimes.com. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/opinion/sunday/this-story-stinks.html?_r=0

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