Just wondering as there are some people toxic either online or itl, but are the people online just as toxic as they are online or are they a different person irl?
Hopefully this post makes some sense.
Anyone who thinks people aren’t as shitty irl clearly haven’t worked in customer-facing roles, e.g. restaurants, retail, or support.
As someone who has worked in customer service, the food industry, and healthcare, yes. They can be just as bad irl.
In my own experience, the internet is best for shocking, short-term nastiness. I’ve rarely met anyone in person who was quite as obnoxious or annoying as a particularly bad hit-and-run online troll.
IRL contact is still the “best” for deeply hurtful, damaging, long-term cruelty.
Worse, even! At least online they can’t physically hurt you.
Some people actually be toxic irl and have a false persona of a “good person” on their online (real name) accounts
Yes. Some people are just assholes and don’t care what they say or do. Online anonymity let’s people who are too afraid of consequences (in real life) be assholes too.
Online anonymity also let’s people forget that the people they’re being assholes too have real feelings. It’s not just retaliation that stops them. Most of us really don’t want to hurt someone, but some need a reminder that online folks are just as real.
A similar phenomenon happens with road rage
It’s worse in real life, because it’s personal. You will experience the absolute depth of human cruelty from the people you love the most.
Yes. Mean people existed before the Internet, after all.
People can stab you to death irl, not online
I’m sure the tech bros are working on that one.
Whenever I see someone being unnecessarily a cunt online. I always accuse them of probably not speaking like this to me if we were face to face.
Tbh, I’ve caught myself asking myself, would I have said this to them if we were face to face?
Yes, but very few and I think they might have personality disorders.
There are unpleasant people in real life too, yes. Most online trolls will put a mask on their assholerly in real life because there are more likely consequences but enough act that way regardless. Protesting humanitarian marches, arguing for the death of people different than them, etc. The existence of neonazi groups and the global pedophile/rape and murder cabal noted in the Epstein files is really all the proof you need.
They can be. Think of the incidents like that lady calling little kids racial slurs (then getting a fat check from fund raising), or how some people act in customer service situations. Or I mean, random assaults and shootings. Online can give anyone anonymity, which is definitely often abused, but some people feel that way in public surrounded by people they don’t know.
I’d add that there are some people who, when interacting with them online, we really didn’t get along. But it was very different meeting them in person. I’ve had the opposite be true as well, where I thought I would really like someone I was getting to know from an online community, and then really didn’t hit it off with them in person. So, that’s not as far as being horrible or toxic, but just that I have experienced people seeming really different in either circumstance. You can also find many anecdotes about people knowing someone who seemed really chill in person, and then on social media they’re really awful.
People tend to be less mean irl. Either because they are likely to have to deal with you again or because they are afraid to be punched in the face.
But there are mean people IRL too.
Rarely do people have the time to be crafty in direct conversation, and don’t want to be perceived as assholes. That’s why they do it online.
