some people are reacting to this with “in other news, water is wet” and the like. but not only is it always valuable to have actual scientific data even for things we think are obvious – be real, y’all didn’t really know this for sure. we’ve all seen that comic about how anonymity turns normal people into raging dickbags.
but it ain’t so, and these folks did the science to prove it. irl jerks are online jerks and vice versa.
if there’s any action item we can take away from this, i reckon it’s that if somebody’s a button-mashing blowhard on the internet, it’s statistically likely they’re a lifestyle idiot, and there’s no point trying to talk them around. delete, block, shunnnnn.
Bor told Engineering & Technology that the results supported stricter enforcement of rules against hate speech, as it is “not born out of ignorance” and aggressive people are fully aware of how disruptive and harmful their actions are.
The entire article is fascinating but this really stuck with me
This seems like a really good way to back up the lawsuits that social media sites are facing for neglecting the users’ well-being. Like if there’s an evidence base for stronger moderation practices maybe the law now has more of a leg to stand on
