Picking a fight online

I wanted to go and pick a fight online for this project once. But then I remembered something, that's stupid. Ridiculously stupid. Now, I admit to having been involved in online arguments, even the pathetic flame war or two, but actually going out of my way to start one? Where is the logic in that?

Who goes around the internet, looking for a populated site such as a message board or a "prominent" blog, and then goes and decides "Hey I think I'll harass these people" and posts stupid things in an attempt to flame them? What is the draw? I tried it once, but couldn't really force myself into posting in a poorly written net lingo style. I can purposefully say things just to piss someone off, but it's quite obvious when I do and then the coversation turns to "Oh you're just saying that to piss me off aren't you?" and ends. Online you do not have a verbal tone, you have a written tone. Most people online are not trained writers and beyond capitalizing their words to make it seem like shouting, or emphasis, the tone is all context. You may be saying something meaning it to be calm, but the reader in turn reads it as an angry hate brainless post and responds as seen fit. That is why fighting online is stupid. Arguing is understandable, opinions disagree, but turning into a fight is different.

Changing from a simple opinion driven but calm discussion to overly opinionated and angered cuss match is just stupid and pointless. Nothing is accomplished by that, except maybe peace of mind for those involved believing themselves to be right. A calm discussion of an argument is the logical way to process whatever the argument is about. If there is a point to it, an actual two sided debate where one side is right and the other is wrong, you will be more likely to prove yourself to be in the right without freaking out in anger. That goes for both online and off. Turning into a heated debate with personal jabs and curses being thrown about will never be a good way to argue.

This somewhat covers that concept of a code of conduct on the internet. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Didn't your mother ever tell you that? I don't understand what is wrong with so many people online that their arguments turn to fighting with such ease. Perhaps there needs to be some sort of online ettiquette class in schools these days so the next generation doesn't turn out like this Online Generation has been. Kids are getting online younger and younger, and do they really need to be exposed to the concept of a flame war before they've even had their first heated argument offline? Teach them not to flame, teach them not to troll, not to do things they shouldn't online, make them aware that there are consequences to online behavior, but most importantly, teach them to type real words, not the shorthand you get from texting on your cellphones.

Maybe if you get them young, you can prevent the next generation of internet kids from turning into a flame war ridden bunch of a-holes like this one. Oh who am I kidding, there's always going to be that one guy who's just a dick online because he can't be offline. The one who will go to a messageboard, get banned, then keep coming back under different aliases, for months if not years at a time. Yes, that happens all the time online. I'm disgusted by these people. They're also the ones who make a big deal out of deleting comments on blogs, they want people to see what they did. These are the people who cannot argue without fighting online, probably offline too. They're that one annoying guy who has to always be right regardless of wether or not he really is. He's not right, just the loudest. Everyone encounters this guy or girl in their life at least once, usually twice. Imagine those people, online, anonymous, and without the concept of a consequence for their actions. Now imagine if that's what kids saw when they went online and then they learned from that. Flaming, not arguing, there's a difference, kids.

Arguing online, not that big of a deal. It happens, it's expected. Fighting, come on, you should be better than that. Learn to write if you are going to be online. Remember this dear reader, you are probably guilty of this once or twice since coming online. You may have even fallen for the trap of a troll. It happens. Get over it, and move on. Learn and do the right thing for once.

Winning a fight on the internet is like winning the special olympics. Just saying.