[weblacky]

Yo Raion,
You make a good point, I believe the current Internet (to an bigger extent, social media) is a reflection of current perceived norms. That's not to say I'm excusing or agreeing with that behavior. But the sad truth is (even for those of us that aren't that old, but raised by old-world parents) that apparently people's feelings are valid in public now and have their own rights? I question it because they aren't, but right now is all about getting wildly upset/distracted about something (and the more sad part being you allowed a stranger you'll never meet to upset you emotionally) and then being told it's appropriate (at least you're not stopped) to whine in public to strangers. I would feel embarrassed doing that, many people no longer have the gift of shame or demand to always be the center of attention by inserting themselves into everything. Perhaps the lack of real, death possible, hardships for the average person has allow them to totally lose perspective.

I was not really punished much as a child, but it was told to me that while I may be special to my parents, that to the average person I'm no one. My feelings don't matter to the masses and to a real point the constitution of the United States talks only about tolerance (not acceptance) and liberties. None of that is about protecting people's feelings, just respecting their boundaries. To quote a line of my upbringing, "Man up". So you did.

While we have to draw a line at "hate speech", it seems several generations of people have been raised to believe their feeling are important to others, must be respected at all times, and by extension never allowed to become upset. Another side effect is because a small voice can cry foul over the internet now, no one wants to police people online or in real life for fear of backlash from accusations (whether unfounded or true) and then become a target.

I believe you should treat people in a business-like manner (basic respect to a stranger). You don't need to become pals and such, but far too many people demand an environment where they are be very personal/personable. That's rarely a good idea, but many don't know the difference.

I appreciate a place where we can push the discord a little. Unless the topic is biased to start, there isn't a reason you can't calmly discuss an issue. But eventually someone misreads (or never reads or doesn't have the capacity to comprehend...they just skim and assume) something and goes off without the basic understanding. We have to let that person pop-off under tolerance, we don't need to encourage or support it. The internet is now more trusted than a printed newspaper. Anyone can say anything and any accusation is taken seriously by at least someone.

Lastly, the Internet means different things to different people. I don't like a lack of standard layout for webpages and such and I treat the internet how it was originally designed to be treated. As a replacement for the library: research topics, learn new things, find documentation. Around 2003 the internet started to become "social" in a new way. It was social before, but you had to put some of yourself out in different groups to make those connections. Once free services attracted user video and media content collection, it became something of a data-mining machine under the disguise of being social in a central location. Then these services used incentives and tricks to trick average people into giving up information. To the point now that they can move the bar every few years (asking for more personal info then before, but training users to feel it's ok).

Like 20 years ago I once heard a study that said more people than you'd think would give you their social security number for $0.75 cup of coffee. Because they don't realize what that info represents. Social media (now) has triggered this same ignorance. People don't understand the level of exposure they place themselves in and the real value of their information. They will trade it for candy, the candy gets eaten quickly, the information rarely goes stale. It was a bad trade, too many people don't understand the damage they've done to themselves and to their lives by posting pictures, info, and events. Oversharing online is a sickness because it's hard to get someone to stop once started. Luckily for me I don't have to deal with anyone like that. I can't imagine the damage a family member using this stuff would do to the people around them. Posting without consent should be taken more seriously than it is now.

We didn't have cyberstalking before social media...you just changed your email or blocked someone else's email and that was it for online.