Manners Online

Web 2.0 was a major move forward in the Internet and allowing of more online interaction and community. There is no doubt that the way we've evolved to interact with each other has embraced the updates in technology. The technology will continue to evolve whether people like it or not. The question becomes: are we all so inured to criticism and feelings that our conduct online is considered appropriate? Have we completely abandoned the concept of manners?

People post things all the time. Personal, technical, opinion, public, anonymous or not: the topics are endless. Some discussions are very civil and stay on topic without degrading into personal attacks or vituperative remarks. Those are the exception rather than the rule, it seems.

No area or subject is immune to comment trolls as I call them. These are the people who take a valid topical discussion and bring in a personal attack that derail everything. Granted, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

My question is: has technology evolved to the point where individuals no longer care that another person is at the other end of the comment, post, article, thread, email, text message or whatever? Have we devolved to the point that manners are not important? We're more and more isolated by technology. Need to contact someone, send a text. Need to discuss details on a project, send an email. Want to comment on a product or technology, make a post on your blog or comment on someone else's blog. Even while we're in social settings, mobile phones and wireless devices keep us abreast of what's going on in the ether. Has someone you know answered a text or responded to an email while you're in their presence in the past week? I bet you have seen this.

Any online offering is subject to this behavior: games, newsgroups, blogs, shopping sites, reviews, etc. At what point do we say enough? Some people admit to being provocative and hostile on purpose. They don't care that others take what has been said personally. Follow up posts telling people not to be so sensitive are not helpful. What is written in text does not contain the nuances of feeling or tone that could make an innocuous message hurtful. Hurtful messages are hurtful regardless.

There are times when unplugging is the right thing to do. What happens when all the good people unplug and leave all the content to the trolls? Given the way technology and industry are going, I don't believe this is going to happen. More people would benefit from "Nettiquite" and better writing classes.

Rabid Parents

There are many opinions in the world. And there are many parents who are rational and sane most of the time. Until . . . someone criticizes their children or parenting styles. Then the gloves come off.

Every parent needs to do what they think is right for their child. Every child is different and may have different needs. I do not presume to know anyone else's situation with their child. I only know my own. I read . . . a lot. There are many parenting sites, articles and blogs for anyone to peruse at any given time.

Where the conflict comes in is when someone states something emphatically: do this for your child, don't do that for your child, to spank or not to spank, home school or not, medicate or not, discipline or not. Get a grip folks. What's right for your family and child may not be right for someone else's family or child. I see this daily where a comment on a blog or even just a comment on a blog will spark a rabid attack. No holds barred. Then people start taking sides and it's an all out war.

Few things can really push our buttons like opinions on raising children. I just hope I remember that as I continue my journey through raising our son. And you know what . . . I'm not telling you how to raise your kid either.