ikophot said:
Amazing, are these people naturally obnoxious or do they attend eveningschool to learn it?
Is the online society real, or is it a virtual reality? Are other participants real people with real feelings or are they objects to toy with, to one's own amusement? Are they just squiggles on the computer screen that have no real-world existence?
There are all sorts of (real!) people using the internet discussions for interest, learning, and entertainment. Some of these people, to various degrees, have sociopathic tendencies. Some amuse themselves at the expense of others, and for some the web forums are stages for role-playing. For some it's a place to let out their agressions without "real" consequences (but which can turn deadly). Some become online predators.
I think the big distinction here is between those who get pleasure from friendly interaction, helping others and the resulting positive feedback, VS those whose pleasure comes at the expense of others.
When an online forum's social fabric comes to allow anti-social behavior, some members who would otherwise be more civilized may feel themselves free to act badly. Photo.net's Leica forum has deteriorated, and the monitors have been trying to repair it. I don't know if that's possible, but I think the only way is to give a good monitor permission to be arbitrary and back him up. AOL did just the opposite, from what I saw, and removed more and more discretion from the monitors until they were quite powerless to deal with their predators.
RFF is a "golden" place where bad behavior is not the norm, and anyone browsing the forum can see there's little "fun" to be had in bad behavior. And this is largely self-regulating; RFF members are not easily baited. Much easier to KEEP it nice rather than struggle to return it to nice after it's turned bad. Ideal, and I hope it can last as RFF grows!
