Are people getting meaner?

[David]

I don't know if people are getting meaner, or if people just don't understand.

Online-wise, its hard to express emotion online. If I bashed at someone and then placed a smiley face at the end, what am I saying? Was I sarcastic, rude, disrespectful, joking around etc.? Its just hard to tell.

Face-to-face, I don't think so, well at least where I live. People disagree with certain ethics and thus blame it on others, but its not that people are getting meaner, its just people don't understand.

People are really just getting lesser and lesser empathetic. No one thinks of what the other person is feeling like. Finding out that someone, online or real life, is talking about you, behind your back, and then you find out, that does have an impact on that person, whether they show it or not. They might have respected your opinion for so long and then to hear such a thing, that really is down putting.

No one cares about what others think when something has happened to them and so they need someone to blame it on, and what better than someone who they don't really get along with, or appear to be in-your-face. People just show a lack of empathy and just really do whatever they please, as long as they show up at the top of the food chain.

This is evident on this forum whether you believe it or not.

 

[Wrecks]

I don't know about people getting meaner. But frankly, I think most are getting more disrespectful.

 

[Cosmic]

Depends on where you live. When I go to the big city, people are cold and rude. When I go to small towns, people are usually friendly and will say hi even though they dont know you. I live in a medium /larger sized town (300,000 people) so people are a mix between rude and nice. 😛

I live in the south. Either people say "hey" to you or Thrust a shotgun in your face. I meet both finds. :lol:

You never know who you meet on the internet. A lot of the people, you'll find, will be quite nasty. Another thing is that there are no real repercussions of being an idiot / brat / jerk on the internet, so people are a bit more willing to act like idiots when they can't see people face to face.

 

[fantanoice]

I think people are more impatient now because they expect everything to be done really quickly.

So yeah, not meaner, but more impatient. 🙂

 

[AnAccount]

I would say that people can be more rude online than offline. But I also think it's because people online, unless they live in your immidiate neighborhood, town, whatever, know you, some people really don't know who you areally are. I mean, we sit here complaining when people copy promotion sites and open and close forums every other week, but you have to think to yourself: Is that really their intention, or do they honestly don't know what they want to do. I guess it kind of goes along with the point about it hard being to express feelings online, to be honest.

 

[Watch Me Sink]

No, people are just more sensitive.

 

[DarkKnight]

I'm sure that I've seen both ends...
I've spent the last 3 years roaming from country to country in attempt to gain a degree in International Diplomacy.

My first real experience abroad from the US was London, and when I was there, I was often called a Yank or a Bloke, depending on who addressed me, not to mention some things I will not repeat here.

Once I picked up some of the language and the attitude of where I was, I was most generally accepted as a "native".

I will agree that a lot of it is based on the fact that some people just don't care... And that others are more impatient.

But I more heartily agree with the idea that people don't understand, and that it is more noticeable when you look at another culture, whether that culture is exampled by an individual or by more than one person.

I think that "meaner" might be an acceptable general description, but "apathy" is a term that stands out in my mind right now.

 

[Antarctic]

I think people are more impatient now because they expect everything to be done really quickly.

I agree. I try and be nice but some people just really tick me off, just get angry at you for the smallest of things.

Then again, there are some really nice people who are around, but that's hard to find now-days.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

Then again, there are some really nice people who are around, but that's hard to find now-days.

I agree. There is definitely a shortage of genuinely nice people now. :/

 

[Bossanova]

Online: There is a majority of people who use the internet as an excuse to be mean. They think because they aren't face to face, that they won't get in trouble for it, and the person(s) can't fight back.

Face to face: People, not just adults, but kids from ages 12 and younger, to teenagers, can be the rudest of people ever. Growing up, I was always bullied, and even when I got in HS, I was. Kids feel like they have to bully to fit in, while adults tend to do it because they feel bad about themselves, so they pick on people who are worse off then them. Or if the person is richer then them, has a beautiful gf/bf, etc.

The world is only going to get worse, not better.