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by Ntrails 3733 days ago
> There are a great many total dickheads on the internet.

I really hate this line of thought. The internet is not a different place to the real world, and the truth is that there are a great many people in your town/city/country/world etc who are kinda obnoxious.
6 comments
tbrake 3733 days ago
> The internet is not a different place to the real world

In certain vague, slightly pointless ways (i.e. "it's just people doing things on a thing" ) they're exactly the same, sure.

The specifics of what is possible in terms of breadth and time are vastly different though.

With regards to the topic at hand - and assuming I am a jerk - I can find 50 different programming blogs and write sexist epithets in the comments in ten seconds flat.

I cannot do that in the real world to 50 different people in that time frame nor with the same lack of repercussion.

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geon 3733 days ago
> The internet is not a different place

People act differently on it, though.

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EliRivers 3733 days ago
I've never seen anyone (outside a playground) identify a woman talking about something, run over to her shouting "stUPiD BitCH geT baCk iN tHe kiTCHeen!! lol lol lol!!" before returning to his chums for admiration and approval.

The effect does happen, but in a far more insidious way.

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tim333 3733 days ago
Yeah but the internet is more anonymous.
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douche 3733 days ago
If you act like a total dickhead in real-life, you're apt to get your teeth knocked in, which tends to modulate dickheadsian behaviors.
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coredog64 3733 days ago
I would also add that it's easier to be a dickhead online. You don't have to be particularly witty in real-time, and once you've gotten a working schtick, what wit you do have can be replicated via copy-n-paste.
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geofft 3733 days ago
There are a great many total dickheads in the real world, but in the real world, it is much more difficult to mask your gender than on the internet.

For a good account of total dickheads (in a nerdy subculture, no less) in meatspace, see http://latining.tumblr.com/post/141567276944/tabletop-gaming... If this were online, I bet the author would have assumed a gender-neutral / default-to-male pseudonym in a heartbeat.

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