HATE ... ( Archived) (483)

I remember internet times too....back when it was fairly new.

I remember the arguments, the insults, there was no lengths they wouldn't go to to get revenge or make a point....or to just be "right"...and the anger..oh my god the anger. My computer was nearly melting at the hatred they spewed at each other...

Every single one of them was American too...And no matter what forum or site you went onto that has a lot of Americans its was (and still is) the same raging hatred and anger. They had/have absolutely no idea how to be civil or gracious...(I know not all Americans are like that and are probably mortifed at how their fellow countrymen/women behave. There is an awful lot of very very sick, angry and disturbed Americans out there with access to the internet. And one or two of them are on this very site as well...

The rest of the world was/is far far far better behaved..

In the early internet days I only wrote on ex-Yugoslavian forums (Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian). I could type in my mother tongue and have a good time, because we shared the similar sense of humour. Political and historical (sometimes religious, too) discussions were heated (most members were actually former participants in the war - on this side or another), but although they could almost kill each other on those discussions, most of them could leave the politics, history, etc. behind on other threads.

People didn't get personal so much. It was - the clash of opinions. The same two people could get into the heated discussion on one thread and then have fun and joke on another. Everyone was seen as an individual. There were no talks about some groups or clans and similar nonsense. Most participants were educated and smart people who really had something to say. I enjoyed those discussions, learned a lot on them, got so many good recommendations for books, films, useful websites, laughed for hours on chat threads...

But, it's all gone now. If I visit those same forums (apart from being pretty empty) all I can see are ego clashes, narcissism and people full of anger and bitterness who just want to fight. Nobody wants to have fun and joke any more. Everyone takes everything too seriously and too personal. You can come across silly threads like "flat Earth", for example - something unimaginable 10+ years ago. As if people became more aggressive and more unknowledgeable at the same time. The quality of participants and threads went down considerably.

I was a member of one American forum some time ago. It's a big and very moderated forum. I didn't read their political discussions (I wasn't interested in them), but took part in other ones. There were a lot of smart and intelligent people there. I was well accepted. But, the forum was all about American things, way of life, problems, interests... I couldn't really relate to them much. And I very soon realized that they didn't express their opinions so openly as we in Europe do. As if they were afraid that they would say something politically incorrect. They also didn't know much (or anything) about the world outside the USA, weren't much interested in it and somehow believed that American way is the best way and that everyone wanted to be and live like them.

I felt out of place there, although people were really nice and kind to me. But I decided to leave the place and come back here - because there are people of different nationalities here. Most come from English-speaking countries and I'm sorry that there aren't many people from other countries - it would be much more interesting.

and as the proverb says: "Empty barrel makes most noise"

I have a feeling that normal, tolerant, intelligent, civilized people slowly remove themselves from most social media, forums and groups.

I play a game on Facebook and that game has several groups. Its players have fought among themselves and made such a drama that most players have left the groups over the years. Some continued to play the game quietly for themselves (like me), but some left the game, too. This sounds ridiculous - people fighting over some silly Facebook game, but you can't believe what they have done - reported each other to Facebook, hacked other players' accounts, hated those who had more (virtual images) than them, continuously made drama to attract some attention... They have become intolerable.

Something similar happens on dating sites, too. They are so full of fake profiles, scammers and people with bad intentions, that most good people have left them.

That situation on the internet (together with sensationalistic media) creates the wrong image that people have become worse than they were and that the world has become some bad, scary, violent place. But, that image is distorted. People are just the way they have always been and when you leave the internet and go among real people you meet more good than bad ones. Nothing basically changed.

People and the world have always had to deal with all sorts of problems, but this is the first time in history that ANYONE can affect public opinion. Some silly influencer can have more effect on the way people think than professionals who are (or at least supposed to be) authorities. It's a jungle!

I watched one documentary a few days ago. It's called "The Social Dilemma". Most of what is said there is well-known, but there was one danger of the internet and its algorithms that I hadn't much thought about before. The internet actually allows you to surround yourself only with people who think the same as you do and it's especially dangerous for young people.

Forums (like this one) where people can read different views and opinions aren't so popular any more. People now join particular groups, watch particular videos, become members of certain subreddits, follow certain public figures and influencers, etc. and surround themselves only with people who think the same. So, they can easily start to believe that everyone thinks like that and that the viewpoints of those groups are actual truths.

The algorithms of social media are built in a way to show you more of what you search. So, you start searching "the Earth is flat" and all media start showing you videos, sites, images, lectures, blogs - from people who believe in the idea. The more you watch and search - the deeper you go. Like a rabbit hole. And if you are young and not very educated - you might easily end as a believer in the flat Earth. Or get completely confused in what to believe and get stressed out, scared and insecure.

We live in the new world...

"I think perhaps it's a little too easy to forget that many members of this site are from the US because they don't fit the brash, rude, hostile stereotype of a minority of Americans who stick out like a sore thumb. Most Americans quietly get on with being human beings."

American patriots are actually in the majority in the US, the brash, rude, and hostile ones at this moment in history are actually on the left attached to the Democrat party, BLM, ANTIFA, The Brotherhood, including Nancy Pelosi's corrupt Congress full of as stated before radicals, anarchists, and communists, RINOs, the Washington Swamp traitors, and socialist new agencies and tech giants who don't believe in freedom of speech, liberty, the Constitution, justice, and democracy.

The reason members from the right on CS don't get along well with UK and EU lefties is because your whole region has been destroyed by decades of globalism and extreme socialist corruption where your warped ideology fits in better with the American left being so blind you can't even see the failures in your own nations. Luckily many brave politicians like Farage in the UK fought back along with other conservatives to leave the union and try to restore their sovereignty, stop illegal migration, review harmful laws, and stand up for their own country instead of being dominated by the NWO in Germany or China and Russia. The same thing applies to Le Pen in France, Salvini in Italy, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, and many more countries in the EU... they support the Trump movement, American patriots, and the right to govern their nation.