Fabrizio Piciarelli
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I recently read an article about a big family, describing “haters” making hateful comments not only toward people they don’t even know, but also about the concept of bringing so many children into the world and whether or not that’s good for society. Some accused the parents of doing it for government handouts, and others joked about the parents’ inability to understand how contraception works. Some talked about the family being able to make a whole soccer team, including substitutes to fill in for their siblings. Others said the parents might have mental problems for choosing to have lots of kids in this day and age. If those same commenters had met the family at the movie theater or supermarket, would they have had the courage to say the same things to their faces?
Dissociative anonymity
The internet—and especially social media—gives the illusion that one can talk to others—and even throw punches—while remaining hidden. This creates a sort of disinhibition where commenters use harsh tones when they disagree with the post, which they probably wouldn’t have the courage to use in face-to-face conversations.
Notice that the most aggressive haters—i.e., the most cynical and anti-social profiles who try to literally demolish their interlocutor, taunting and insulting them—most of the time, don’t even use their own photo as a profile picture. They usually use fake profiles, using drawings or graphics in place of their profile photos.
For many, offending others online can be an outlet for their frustration—a way to escape from unresolved problems, worries, and anxiety. Unable to express the same nastiness and arrogance in the real world, the internet turns into a veritable dumping ground for pent-up bad feelings and anger.
Psychology of The Digital Age: Humans Become Electric (Cambridge University Press 2015) is a well-known book by John Suler, Professor of Psychology at Rider University, in which he highlights the psychological motives and conditioning that foster “uninhibited behavior” in the virtual world. Online, people feel more “free,” and invisible, in a sense.
When meeting someone, so many aspects of nonverbal communication (looks, gestures, tone) come into play. Online, this is all missing, which then allows for arrogant behavior for which people don’t really have to be held accountable.
The cyberbully’s strength—a person who is actually even weaker than a bully in real life— is that he thinks he is invisible and untouchable. He is like a thief who steals or beats someone up with a mask on.
Who are the victims of hate speech online?
Social media platforms have become amplifiers of hate speech. They do not create it—because the moral responsibility is on the shoulders of the people using the platforms—but they have become “privileged channels.”
Victims of online violence might be random or they might be handpicked and, basically, “persecuted.” These are different forms of the same phenomenon: cyberbullying.
We already spoke about this topic on our site, having pointed out that the categories of people most affected are women, queer people, migrants, the disabled, and Jewish people.
But in reality, anyone can be a victim of cyberbullying because the real reason behind a hate-filled comment lies deep within the personal problems of the person who wrote it.
If haters aren’t just kids
One might think that it’s mostly young people who fall into these unhealthy and socially dysfunctional communication dynamics. No doubt, the phenomenon affects young people, but not only. There are plenty of haters out there who are adults and take sides between “different groups”: pro-life vs. pro-choice, carnivores vs. vegans, right-wing vs. left-wing voters.
It’s natural to feel part of various groups of people who hold similar views; however, a lack of balance and serenity and an absolute inability to dialogue results in aggressive behavior, aimed at hurting another person. This is very easy behavior to slip into—even for adults, who should instead be an example for younger people. The latter, on the contrary, often learn from these very experienced haters to “normalize verbal violence.”
We must take necessary steps toward creating a culture and rules (as well as laws) that remind us that our digital identity is one with our personal identity and that, if the internet becomes filled with hate, our own lives—and not just our profiles—are polluted by it.
