(01-18-2024, 05:54 AM)ArMaP Wrote: The problem with any social media is that it works as an amplifier of people's opinions, as those that agree will flock to support it and those that disagree will flock to attack it.
The fact that all this happens without physical intervention makes it easier to have extreme positions that people would not have on a face to face discussion.
It's long been known that anonymity gives people space and the ability to say things and to behave in ways that they wouldn't if they met face to face. Basically, it removes some social accountability from the entire process.
(01-18-2024, 11:40 AM)Nugget Wrote: Nobdy EVER includes the opposite-'skinny shaming'.Believe me, it's just as big (and hurtful) thing as fat shaming.
Yes, that does happen, and when a man is involved it often involves questioning their manhood.
Now, to add a bit more flavor to the discussion here, it turns out (https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/67...GGSLRBV4ZA) that trolling is sometimes accepted in an online space under certain conditions -- when it's tied into community beliefs. I've seen this before when an atheist showed up on an evangelical board (to discuss and not to troll) and they got trolled by several members of the community. I found this ironic because this caused the trolls to engage in behaviors that they said were against their principles ("turn the other cheek" was one of them.)
They also enjoyed trolling (which is one of the characteristics of trolling -- as I said above, not only the "rush" from getting in a good "zing" but also community approval feeds right into this.)
More interestingly, one study found that male trolls are often perceived very negatively, but female trolls are perceived as "confused." (Fichman, P. and M. R. Sanfilippo. 2016. Online Trolling and Its Perpetrators: Under the Cyberbridge. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.)
...a little food for conversation...
