Internet Alterations

Recently I have completed collecting data on atheists. I have been curious about this group and this was an opportunity for me to satisfy that curiosity. I found it very interesting research and perhaps one day I will share some of the findings on this blog.
But this entry is not about the atheists. We collected data with an online survey where the respondent remained anonymous and another study where we used a face to face interview. What I found interesting is different ways the atheists reacted to us depending on how we collected our data. The answers from the online survey were quite derogatory towards religion in general and Christianity in particular. For example, one of the respondents wrote about Christians that we should “feed them to the lions.” The atheists we interviewed did not show much respect for religion but their comments were less caustic. They had opportunities to make derogatory comments but passed on those opportunities.
Why did they make more negative comments online than in person? Well it does not take an academic to figure that out. When we are writing the answer to a question to some unknown person we can be more hostile than when we are answering questions face to face, even though we may not know that person either. We were careful to not reveal our religious preferences when we did our interviews so for all the respondents knew we did not believe in the supernatural any more than they did. But it is still harder to be rude when you have to speak words to another person rather than write about killing religious out-groups.
Once again this is not about atheists. It is about the new ways we communicate with each other online. More and more the way we talk to each other is similar to the open ended questions that our atheists answered and not face to face as we did in our interviews. It may be that people are more honest when they can remain anonymous and online. But clearly they can also be more hostile and less respectful to others. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the comments section of a controversial online article. Depending on the topic you are likely to see examples of racism, anti-Christian bigotry, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, derogatory comments and insults of all types. People have a freedom to dehumanize and denigrate individuals when communicating in these discussion lists and you can see some really nasty stuff.
We have a polarized society and it is not surprising to see such hostile comments. But is this a reflection of the polarization in our society or has our online culture contributed to a new rude culture that we now live in? I tend to think that the latter is likely the case although I do not yet have any solid evidence that this is the case. If I am right then our internet culture is not only a tool for us but it is changing us and we may not like what we are changing into. Perhaps being online merely allows us to express our human nature which may have a natural tendency to denigrate those we disagree with. Regardless, we would be wise to continue to monitor our online culture and be aware of how it may change us or reveal who we really are.

Sincerely,

Trouble-Maker