Friday, September 16, 2016

Would you say that if you weren't so anonymous?

The internet gives people the ability to say things they otherwise would not say. I've often said that being online is like wearing special armour - you can be a lot more aggressive, uninhibited and free-wheeling with what you can say - if you choose to.

I try to be civil when I'm online. I don't insult people or generally say things I wouldn't have the courage to say to their face in front of other people.

I'm seeing a lot of examples lately of people just going way too far with personal attacks on other people online. Death threats to, or calls for assassination of politicians people don't like. Name calling to the extreme, like referring to female actresses and politicians as c%nts.

It makes me wonder. How different would the internet be if when you were posting stuff online, it automatically came with an immediate, real screenshot of you (probably from your camera) or a real, registered still, plus your actual address. Would people generally still be so bold in their posts?

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