Trolling, anonymity, the internet community, and you! (somewhat rant-y)

[Overusedname]

In other words:

I like free speech! But only when people are saying what I think they should say.

That pretty much sums up near every post in this moronic thread.

I don't know if that's necessarily what he meant.

Free speech shouldn't just be used as a scape goat so people can feel 'okay' about being cruel to another person or getting their jollies from sadistic places. As an advocate of free speech, I shudder at the notion of someone abusing it. And that's what 4chan does. And that's what Xbox live does.

I'm certainly not saying anyone who uses your argument condones this behavior, but hopefully you get my meaning. Free speech isn't a get-out-of-jail free card for jerks. You need to take responsibility for what you say.

 

[Rastien]

Don't knock 4chan till you take the plunge and browse some of the boards, as someone has said it has the very best and very worst of people on the internet.

It aint all about /b/ dont be hatin

I have no problem whatsoever with 4Chan or /b/. In fact, I support forum sites and how they promote open sharing of ideas, many of which surround topics that would be much more difficult to discuss without that curtain of anonymity.

However, there are people that abuse that curtain of anonymity, and we risk losing that freedom because of them.

But what is freedom?, surely true freedom enables people to be total dicks but at the same time enabling people to do some really incredible things.

Everyone has differing views on what freedom is, now i don't agree with what these people do not in the slightest but in my opinion that is what true freedom is, you have the very best humanity can offer with the very worst counter balancing it.

I don't actually have an answer to this really, it's more just the conundrum in my head

 

[magnuslion]

They don't give a shit. These people are just idiotic scumbags who don't realize how awful they are, or they just don't care. Especially 4chan. I don't like 9gag, but the people who go on it aren't fucked up. Every time someone says they browse 4chan, mainly /b/, I lose a lot of respect for them, because it means they genuinely find that shit funny.

actually, they are identical to 4chan in virtually every way. in point of fact, a lot of these people are browsing both sites at the same time. they do not post things like raids on 9gag, because the mods will delete and perma ban people. but I have seen 9gag users on 4chan, posting about raiding some board or video with the same kind of vile crap you see on 4chan all the time. its all the same pool of people. 9gag is just hiding it better.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

The internet is a community in the same sense that Manhattan is a community. It isn't. The internet is a MASSIVE place with many communities inside it.

And judging the sprawling metropolis that is the web by /b/ is like judging the United States by an insane Neo Nazi jacking off in someone's basement. Furthermore, you can't hear what they are yelling about unless you go to that basement, I.E. /b/. Just like you don't go to certain parts of a city unless you are a very specific type of person, you also don't go to certain parts of the web.

Also, you fully misunderstand why they did the stuff with 9Gag. It had nothing to do with looking better, it had to do with them finding it very, very funny.

In terms of XBL........ Yeah, there are a LOT of shitty people and there isn't really an excuse for it, since unlike 4chan, it isn't a closed area. The one defense I can offer is that not ALL people are like that. In fact, it is a fairly small number. It's just that they are VERY vocal. And while those experiences are the ones that stand out, more often than not, I find decent people.

Now I know I'm going to get some kind of backlash for this..... But I need to say it anyway. Unfortunately, Free Speech is pretty much all or nothing. You want to be able to protest something? Then the WBC get's to exist. Same thing with the internet. Once you start allowing censorship to take place, it isn't going to stop. Now, I fully encourage people on places like XBL to take their OWN initiative to clean things up.

Final Note: Don't worry so much. You aren't going to "Lose" the internet because some people on 4chan called someone a fag. You just aren't.

EDIT:

But what is freedom?, surely true freedom enables people to be total dicks but at the same time enabling people to do some really incredible things.

Everyone has differing views on what freedom is, now i don't agree with what these people do not in the slightest but in my opinion that is what true freedom is, you have the very best humanity can offer with the very worst counter balancing it.

I don't actually have an answer to this really, it's more just the conundrum in my head

This. Right here. This is the best made point in the entire thread.

 

[Mau95]

I know what 4chan is but what is this /b/ thing mean

It's one of the forums and the one 4Chan is most famous for.

 

[Mau95]

I find it odd that you would act like a total dipshit towards someone you don't know. I was taught to be friendly, polite and use correct spelling as much as possible while trying not to piss anyone off so you don't get annoyed yourself.

Maybe we should all use the Escapist as a forum.

 

[boag]

Because all of 4chan is made up by /b/

and there is no discussion aside from rape, killing and pedophilia.

Also all cats are evil.

All british people have crooked teeth and a smarmy attitude.

All Mexicans have brown hair and wear sombreros.

All Aquatic life are fish.


Generalizations are always the best way to start a discussion 100% of the time.

I am by no means saying all 4Chan users are on /b/, and all /b/ is discussion of rape and murder. I am citing one example of something a few people did as part of a larger discussion-rant about the abuse of the anonymity the internet provides us, and how that abuse causes us to risk losing it.

Risk losing?

Do you really believe or endorse the idea of removing rights from the general populace because of the actions of a few?

 

[kommando367]

No. Don't censor the Internet. That will just flood the world with the assholes that normally spend all day on the internet.

My suggestion would be to start an asshole awareness campaign with the intent of demonizing everyone that devotes their lives to being a contemptible, or just generally mean person.

 

[BlueMage]

I think I should remind some of you that taking offense is a choice YOU make, not the other person.

I can call you a retarded cum-guzzler. But in order for that to have any impact, YOU must take offense.

 

[manic_depressive13]

If someone is genuinely considering suicide they probably have serious problems in their personal life and some strangers on the internet telling them to kill themselves wouldn't make any more difference than some strangers on the internet telling them not to. Censorship doesn't work the way governments like to pretend it works. Maybe some shittiness will be censored but most of the things that get censored will be legitimate things which for one reason or another don't sit right with the government. If you don't like trash talk over the internet it is spectacularly easy to avoid the places it happens most frequently. Yeah, it would be nice if people stopped being assholes but even if they don't that's no justification for censorship.

It's not illegal to tell someone to kill themselves in real life even though it has far more of an impact. My mother telling me to kill myself was far worse than hearing it from random people on HoN. Why would you punish people on the internet for things that happen in real life with no consequences?

 

[IamGamer41]

You just have to know how to deal with trolls/retarded kids etc...If they cant come up with something better then the same old stuff that been done to death,Tell them to.I don't know how many times in CoD I turned the tables on someone who was talking shit by just saying their taunts was old and that they need to do better.

 

[Eric Morales]

I have a theory about things like this, and the internet as a whole. Rather than "bringing out the worst in people" per se I rather think the internet shows people for who they truly are.
It's true that you see some shocking vileness on the internet but it's worth remembering that plenty of people are perfectly pleasant and just as many who are actively generous and kind.

 

[Kargathia]

In the end the result of this equation is very personal, but for me the answer at least is simple: if internet free speech means tolerating shameful levels of abuse being spouted by asinine cunts, then so be it. Same thing goes for actual free speech.

It doesn't mean nothing should be done about it, and individual websites should certainly have the rights to ban whomever they don't like, but in the end we would be worse off if not any dickwad with an internet connection can find some little corner of the internet to spout whatever nonsense he feels like.

 

[Scow2]

I think the people bitching about the content on /b/ and insisting that "What you say online should have real-world consequences" need to sit back and go re-watch the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Shore Leave".

The internet's a great place as long as you remember to not take it seriously. Do Xbox LIVE's servers need better moderation and reporting of offensive players? Definitely. The kind of shit that goes on there should be restricted to private servers, and is in violation of terms and conditions everyone agrees to before going online. However, trying to universally apply standards of behavior to all corners of the internet is stupid and destructive.

 

[mammothbroncho]

I think the reason some people are such dicks on the internet, xbox live and psn is because they have the ability to be completely anonymus (excuse my spelling) and not have to face any consequences when they are mean to other people.

 

[Zaik]

Think about how dumb we'd all be if nobody ever trolled anyone.

It'd be a pretty pathetic state of affairs imo.

 

[renegade7]

Because all of 4chan is made up by /b/

and there is no discussion aside from rape, killing and pedophilia.

Also all cats are evil.

All british people have crooked teeth and a smarmy attitude.

All Mexicans have brown hair and wear sombreros.

All Aquatic life are fish.


Generalizations are always the best way to start a discussion 100% of the time.

I am by no means saying all 4Chan users are on /b/, and all /b/ is discussion of rape and murder. I am citing one example of something a few people did as part of a larger discussion-rant about the abuse of the anonymity the internet provides us, and how that abuse causes us to risk losing it.

Risk losing?

Do you really believe or endorse the idea of removing rights from the general populace because of the actions of a few?

What?? Read my thread, that is exactly what I want to NOT happen. I am saying that those few need to be a little more aware of what they say and do lest we DO have our right to free speech on the internet removed.

 

[renegade7]

Don't knock 4chan till you take the plunge and browse some of the boards, as someone has said it has the very best and very worst of people on the internet.

It aint all about /b/ dont be hatin

I have no problem whatsoever with 4Chan or /b/. In fact, I support forum sites and how they promote open sharing of ideas, many of which surround topics that would be much more difficult to discuss without that curtain of anonymity.

However, there are people that abuse that curtain of anonymity, and we risk losing that freedom because of them.

But what is freedom?, surely true freedom enables people to be total dicks but at the same time enabling people to do some really incredible things.

Everyone has differing views on what freedom is, now i don't agree with what these people do not in the slightest but in my opinion that is what true freedom is, you have the very best humanity can offer with the very worst counter balancing it.

I don't actually have an answer to this really, it's more just the conundrum in my head

It is a conundrum...what freedoms should be allowed and what should be taken away?

Well, in a perfect world, nothing would need to be taken away. The LAST thing I want is for anyone to lose freedom, even if it is freedom to do something others may dislike. Freedom of speech works both ways, after all.

HOWEVER when someone abuses freedom of speech in a way that hurts others, there are consequences to that. One of which is the consideration by the Powers that Be that the right to free speech be taken completely away so that no one gets hurt.

Some people just need to tone it down a little.

 

[Cheesepower5]

It basically boils down to the people getting hurt by random internet user comments are pussies, the people who want to censor people who troll on the internet are assholes, and people who troll on the internet are dicks. Pussies don't like dicks, because pussies get fucked by dicks. But dicks also fuck assholes: assholes who just want to shit on everything. Pussies may think they can deal with assholes their way. But the only thing that can fuck an asshole is a dick, with some balls. The problem with dicks is: they fuck too much or fuck when it isn't appropriate, and it takes a pussy to show them that. But sometimes, pussies can be so full of shit that they become assholes themselves... because pussies are an inch and half away from ass holes. I don't know much about this crazy, crazy world, but I do know this: If you don't let us fuck these assholes, we're going to have our dicks and pussies all covered in shit!

Not that I actually mean all this, I just thought quoting Team America was appropriate.