The "mob" internet and what does it mean?

• rydawg5

  I think that if you pull up any news story, there is a "mob-like" mentality in any of the comments section.
  
  Example: Father accused of non-violent crime = mob says "man should be raped in prison repeatedly and sent to 10 years in prison so his kid is without a father"
  
  Example: Player smokes pot = mob says "player is a thug and blah blah blah"
  
  The comments to me are worse than what the accused were accused of. If someone comments fraud, they aren't entitled to be raped in prison. Someone wishing for the rape is actually doing something worse than fraud.
  
  So the question is .. are the "normal" people commenting on these stories, actually worse than the people getting in trouble?
  
  Also can anyone give insight on how this mentality manifests itself? I am assuming most of these people, individually, aren't bad, but when they want to make a comment publicaly its such a hyperbole and I want to know what makes people do that.
• TBone14

  

  Interesting topic. I cannot speak to the psychology or sociology behind this. My training in both ended after freshman year in college.
  
  I would be interested in the demographics of people who comment on news stories. I would wager the average commenter is more likely to be unemployed, more likely to have not gone college and more likely to work in lower paying jobs where they have 'free' time during their work day to spend time commenting on news stories. However, it would naïve to say that all commenters are dumb or that busy, successful people don't make comments on news stories, especially in a mobile world.
  
  Could it be the anonymous nature of comments? Even if their name is attached, there is very little chance that anybody they know would read it. Perhaps they use it to vent their frustrations at other aspects of their life. My marriage and job sucks but I can't yell at my wife or boss, so I type in some hate on the comments to make myself feel better.
  
  I'll be interested to see what others think.
• sleeper

  

  Trolls.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  How it manifests? Everyone is bigger, faster, stronger, tougher, meaner behind a keyboard. Just read the OC.
• Fly4Fun

  

  sleeper;1612907 wrote:Trolls.

  Laughed.
  

  ernest_t_bass;1612920 wrote:How it manifests? Everyone is bigger, faster, stronger, tougher, meaner behind a keyboard. Just read the OC.

  This plus the anonymity. For example, I would really be surprised if everyone on the OC acts and talks in their normal day to day affairs as they do on here.
• Belly35

  

  Fly4Fun;1612921 wrote:Laughed.
  
  
  
  This plus the anonymity. For example, I would really be surprised if everyone on the OC acts and talks in their normal day to day affairs as they do on here.

  really.
  
  The OC people that I have had the pleasure of meeting are very much like they pose on this site.
  BRF, Redrocket, Gardens35 and few others ..... There view points, opinions and demeanors are very much the same in reality ... Give or take a few pounds
• Fly4Fun

  

  Belly35;1612931 wrote:really.
  
  The OC people that I have had the pleasure of meeting are very much like they pose on this site.
  BRF, Redrocket, Gardens35 and few others ..... There view points, opinions and demeanors are very much the same in reality ... Give or take a few pounds

  I can see how my post was confusing. I do believe there are people on here who act the same as they do in person, but there are also people on here who take on a persona or act in a manner that generally isn't acceptable in face to face interactions.
• WebFire

  Fly4Fun;1612921 wrote:
  This plus the anonymity.

  That's the "behind the keyboard" part.
• Belly35

  

  Fly4Fun;1612934 wrote:I can see how my post was confusing. I do believe there are people on here who act the same as they do in person, but there are also people on here who take on a persona or act in a manner that generally isn't acceptable in face to face interactions.

  Agree mofo.... I don’t slur my speech …
• jmog

  sleeper;1612907 wrote:Trolls.

  Looking in the mirror when you post that? Because Tbone's "mob-like mentality" first post most certainly resembles the crap you post on any thread that even has a LITTLE to do with religion.
• sleeper

  

  jmog;1612958 wrote:Looking in the mirror when you post that? Because Tbone's "mob-like mentality" first post most certainly resembles the crap you post on any thread that even has a LITTLE to do with religion.

  You've had sex with one woman. LOL
• jmog

  sleeper;1612968 wrote:You've had sex with one woman. LOL

  Yeah, those things like STDs are so nice to not have to worry about.
  
  And on top of that, you definitely just proved the point of my post, nothing but a troll.