Feeling Hot

In C. Hamelink's, "The Ethics of the Internet : Can We Cope With Lies and Deceit on The Net?" mention is made of what's known as "flaming". This is something that is all too common on the internet. In fact, the internet has made such a thing much easier to do and virtually removed the consequences of verbal abuse. "The greater the distance to potential victims, the more readily will people inflict harm that they would refrain from in face-to-face situations." (Hamelink, 2006). The terms "keyboard warrior" and "internet tough guy" are thrown around in excess these days, and for good reason too.

It seems, accoring to Hamelink, that without the physical barriers of face-to-face interaction, people are significantly more open as to what they are saying. Is this immoral? Even if there is an engagement between two people and it is online, isn't it still an engagement?. Two real people are still talking to each other who both have real feelings. In some cases, even people who would not normally even dream of being rude to somebody in person can turn to the dark side online. "...it’s astonishing how many people who are perfectly Polite in everyday life seem to forget their manners in their e-mail" (Rinaldi, 1997)

When it comes down to it, everyone should just try their hardest to be polite, no matter what the situation. There should not be serperate standards for different situations. When having real interactions with people, even on the internet, real etiquette should be used.

References

Hamelink, C. (2006). The Ethics of the Internet: Can we cope with Lies and Deceit on the Net? In Ideologies of the Internet, K. Sarikakis & Daya Thussu, pp. 115-130. New Jersey: Hampton Press.
 
(Accessed March 28, 2011)

Rinaldi, A.(n.d.). http://www.fau.edulrinaldi/net/ten html

(Accessed March 28, 2011)