extremism in opinions

[ta240]

Have people's opinions always been so extreme or is it something new brought on by the internet, the quest to review everything?
20+ years ago I don't remember people's opinions being so much of "Why does this product even exist?" or "The most amazing..." or "The most terrible..." Yet now those three lines start an abundance of youtube videos, posts on forums and online reviews. Have people gotten more extreme in the level of their opinions because that is what gets them clicks and responses online?
It really seems like there was a time when a lot more responses would have been "yeah, it's pretty good" or "I'm not a fan of that" instead of "It is the most spectacular..." or "What kind of person would buy something so terrible"

 

[voodooless]

Search engine optimization - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Killingbeans]

IMO, it's because advertising has become omnipresent, the result being that everything is about getting views these days. "Sensational" content just gives more trafic, so everybody tries to make everything seem like it is the most important thing in the world. Clickbait, clickbait and more clickbait.

 

[ta240]

So, I guess, then the way things are pushed to get clicks carries over into the way people describe things to others too?

 

[JohnBooty]

I've been on the internets since the mid 90s and discussions always seemed pretty hyperbolic to me. "Flame wars" on newsgroups, things like that.

Any political discussion more or less eventually lead to something being compared to Hitler, thus Godwin's Law was coined. Note when it was coined -- the year 1990.

I actually think the tenor of online discourse may actually have improved a little overall. The internet is less anonymous than it used to be, and is no longer almost exclusively male.

Clickbait-y opinions on individual products are definitely kind of a newer thing. There were always hyperbolic wars between users of some products. There have always been Mac, Linux, and Windows users at war with each other even though you often got the strong impression none of them had used the other operating systems of which they were sworn enemies. But clickbaity YouTube crap titles like "this dishwasher soap SAVED my life" or "this Toyota has a FATAL problem" are kinda new.

 

[ta240]

I do admit from way back I'd see threads go downhill into name calling but now I see way more start out with "This is the most stupid thing ever!".

The latest youtube title seem to be "Don't Buy X Until You See This." And always with the person in the picture pointing up at something.
I also get a kick out of the passive aggressive threads like "help me understand..." which usually then goes on to say "why would anyone be so stupid as to like this?"

Yelp type reviews also amuse me because in theory 3 stars should be "It was perfectly fine" but 3 stars really means that half the people gave something one and half gave it 5. I mostly look at the pictures of the food and skip the written reviews because they are almost always extreme "it was the best X I've ever eaten" or "I was lucky to make it out alive".

 

[Doodski]

I actually think the tenor of online discourse may actually have improved a little overall. The internet is less anonymous than it used to be, and is no longer almost exclusively male.

I think it has improved in a big way. I remember being a IRC OP and having all sorts of weirdos/freaks causing trouble in the chat room(s). I had to use war scripts, egg-drops and clone scripts to get rid of them because they would not only cause altercations in the chat rooms but they sometimes would attack the channel with script kiddy war scripts and stuff like that. It was the wild west at that time

 

[Timcognito]

I think anonymity plays a big role. If one can say anything without having expose themself personally it can be done risk free. One's motives can be to irritate or provoke others without having any skin in the game. Someone like Amir hanging his identity on line as site founder and leader has much to lose from a reputational stand point and must use candor, accuracy and refrain from metaphorical rock trowing.

 

[egellings]

IMO, it's because advertising has become omnipresent, the result being that everything is about getting views these days. "Sensational" content just gives more trafic, so everybody tries to make everything seem like it is the most important thing in the world. Clickbait, clickbait and more clickbait.

Sensational, or just very controversial--either will do. It's just an attention getting device, like shouting something. Noise volume, not content, is what matters in that kind of a setting.

 

[fpitas]

So, I guess, then the way things are pushed to get clicks carries over into the way people describe things to others too?

People have a bad tendency to follow the crowd and do what's expected of them.

 

[amirm]

Internet existed in early 1980s (USENET) and was quite hostile then. Battles were mostly about tube vs. transistor and then CD vs LP. There is just a lot more people participating than we had back then so everything is amplified.

 

[ta240]

Did they start out hostile or get hostile as the thread went on? Maybe I just tuned the people out back then so I didn't notice it as much because it was easier to tune out fewer people. I guess they could have been always hostile and I'm just noticing it now because the thread and video titles are representing it in an exaggerated manner.

I will say though that having worked customer service in the online world it was quite different before the iphone. Back when it took a bit of technical knowledge or at least an interest in computers to get online the customers seemed a bit brighter. Once their phone got them online without a bit of knowledge there was a shift in the abilities and attitude. Pre iphone we never got a "but google took me to that item when I searched for it so you guys are responsible for it being the right item for me" complaint.

 

[Steven Holt]

Abraham Lincoln once said that 'no one should say something that they aren't willing to write it down and sign their name to it'. That's why I use my real name in my posts, it keeps me honest, and, hopefully, out of trouble. ( Not that this keeps Amir from reaching under his desk for that bottle of Markers Mark whenever I post.)

 

[JohnBooty]

I will say though that having worked customer service in the online world it was quite different before the iphone. Back when it took a bit of technical knowledge or at least an interest in computers to get online the customers seemed a bit brighter.

People have said this forever, too - like when AOL opened the floodgates and AOL users got onto the internet, which was previously dominated by people at universities.

Eternal September - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I think there is definitely merit to it, but also the more casual the users get the less they care about reading and writing big long walls of text. Even just posting on a "forum", period, is definitely seen as some grandpa/boomer stuff. So, I don't know that casual users are really affecting discourse outside of Tiktok, Discord, various livestreaming services, etc.

 

[Zensō]

Online tracking creates silos which fuel ever more extreme positions, whether we’re talking audio, politics, or whatever.

 

[egellings]

Internet existed in early 1980s (USENET) and was quite hostile then. Battles were mostly about tube vs. transistor and then CD vs LP. There is just a lot more people participating than we had back then so everything is amplified.

Whew! I'd have been a universal traitor, having owned tube & transistor (BJT) amps and CD, LP and TAPE, of all things!

 

[Keith_W]

I think the effect of the internet has been to reinforce groupthink. In the past, if you had a whacky theory or idea, the circle of people you could share your ideas with was much smaller. They would laugh at you and that effect alone draws you back towards the mean.

Nowadays you can easily find like minded people on the internet. People look for others to affirm their beliefs, not question them. Communities of people with whacky ideas form, and as time goes on they become more and more extreme. Eventually this leads to Balkanization of ideas, formation of fringe groups, extremists, and division.

 

[Palladium]

IMO, it's because advertising has become omnipresent, the result being that everything is about getting views these days. "Sensational" content just gives more trafic, so everybody tries to make everything seem like it is the most important thing in the world. Clickbait, clickbait and more clickbait.

Yup every guy on Youtube now has the stupid gaping mouth thumbnail now.

 

[Ron Texas]

Things have become a lot worse in just the last few years. I believe it had to do with the COVID shutdowns. If anyone is rude, I urge you to not respond and report the post. There are two very good moderators here and if necessary they will deal with the problem. Be careful, there are many trolls here.

One of the more annoying techniques I have noticed here is members asking for proof when the statement may be easily be verified by searching this forum or using Google. It's best to ignore these requests. If you tell them it's easy to find yourself, they blow up. If you provide the requested evidence they will attack your credibility and that of your sources. I've had enough of it.

Honesty, it's reaching the point where posting around here isn't worth the hassle.

 

[ta240]

I guess it is like most things where there isn't just one cause but layer after layer of things that lead to the way things are. The review everything aspect of the internet, the wanting views of videos and even posts, the anonymity of the internet, the loss of social skills when things were shut down, the siloing of opinions from algorithms feeding us only what we want to see, the frustration that builds from the isolation of opinions and on and on.
Even in the real world I remember working with people that didn't really like each other but when breaktime hit we'd sit at the break table and talk and laugh. It eventually became if you didn't want to hear how stupid one political party was don't go anywhere near that guy and if you didn't want to hear every conspiracy theory don't go near that guy and if....

We don't even have the common thing of talking about what was on TV the night before; that used to be something we could have in common with a wide variety of people. Talking about streaming shows usually ends up being "Stop, I haven't gotten that far yet. Don't ruin it all for me"