Fuck the internet RE:Bombcast 7/13/10

Listening to the latest Bombcast when the guys were talking about the state of the internet really got me thinking. I've always been disgusted by some of the stuff  that gets posted on message boards, chat rooms and just the internet in general. Animals getting beaten, child porn, racism, sexism, homophobia the list just goes on of shit that is on our internet.  
 
Dave thinks it wont be fixed,
Jeff has hope,
My hope is fading. 
  
The cynical answer is obviously "don't look at it" but why should I avoid one of the most powerful and influential tools ever created because a ton of the users are complete assholes?  Is there anyway that we can 'fix' these parts of the internet? I mean, like the guys said, there are still god awful people on Facebook and their names (and other personal information) is all readily accessible from anyone who really wants to find it.  Will there ever be a day when I can join a live stream chatroom during Womens Super Street Fighter IV competitions and not be flooded with  literary diarrhea? I really like the internet, but fuck sake, there is a LOT of shit out there.  
 
What do you guys think? (please, someone come up with the solution quick) 

Listening to the latest Bombcast when the guys were talking about the state of the internet really got me thinking. I've always been disgusted by some of the stuff  that gets posted on message boards, chat rooms and just the internet in general. Animals getting beaten, child porn, racism, sexism, homophobia the list just goes on of shit that is on our internet.  
 
Dave thinks it wont be fixed,
Jeff has hope,
My hope is fading. 
  
The cynical answer is obviously "don't look at it" but why should I avoid one of the most powerful and influential tools ever created because a ton of the users are complete assholes?  Is there anyway that we can 'fix' these parts of the internet? I mean, like the guys said, there are still god awful people on Facebook and their names (and other personal information) is all readily accessible from anyone who really wants to find it.  Will there ever be a day when I can join a live stream chatroom during Womens Super Street Fighter IV competitions and not be flooded with  literary diarrhea? I really like the internet, but fuck sake, there is a LOT of shit out there.  
 
What do you guys think? (please, someone come up with the solution quick) 

It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes.

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

I had the same problem these guys were having during the E3 live stream podcasts. Some people are just say the most sexist and racist thing they can to try and offend someone. It's ridiculous. 

Finding pearls in the piles of shit are what makes the internet great. Lots of crap out there but also good.

Some people are assholes. The internet didn't make them assholes, it just made those of us who keep decent company more aware of them.

I doubt it'll ever change.  The thing is, just about everybody has access to the internet, and just about everybody is on equal footing.  So all the backwards fucked up people you'd never hear from in your day to day life have an equal voice to anybody through blog posts and comments and whatever.

It seems almost counterproductive to try and wipe the assholes off the internet.  I mean, the great thing about the internet is that it's kind of opened the door and let everyone say whatever the hell they want - sometimes you get an awesome and interesting experience, and sometimes you get a dude spouting rascist comments and posting offensive images.  That's humanity for ya!

Well it's a great thing that the internet is over.

Don't blame the internet, blame anonymity.

Trust Penny Arcade to sum it up perfectly 

Since the Internet allows you  to communicate through a device. People do not see themselves as being judge, but some easily replaceable digital name talking. Which leads to them saying whatever they want with no moral or self image restraints. 
Sadly I do not think it will ever change.  In fact i'm waiting for the person who's going to come and say we are all being hypocrites(aka whiteknights).

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

How is ignoring the bad stuff the cynical answer?

" How is ignoring the bad stuff the cynical answer?   

" @JJWeatherman said:

" How is ignoring the bad stuff the cynical answer?   

Isn't it like saying "if you don't like it, don't consume it"   I probably should have said that it's the easy answer "

" @EpicSteve said: 
To be specfic, Everyone is an asshole when they can get away with it. "

The internet is the single greatest resource of..... well everything. And I mean EVE-R-Y-THING, racism, knowledge, entertainment, porn, EVERYTHING

" @EpicSteve said:

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

To be specfic, Everyone is an asshole when they can get away with it. "

I dunno.  I think the internet is worse than real life because you have your socially awkward people able to express themselves, and when they do, they usually go overboard when they do express their opinions or share their thoughts.

Unfortunately, I don't think it can be fixed...  
 
For every Grouphug.us, there's 20 4chans/Meat Spins/ratemypoo.coms. 

but they also noted, how many people are there, but not saying the stuff that the Vocal Minority was...?
plenty of decent people on the internet that don't "speak"
 
i wonder how many people would hold back if everything they did on the internet was CC'd to their mother.  Some say that mom knows everything, but what if she had access to all your internet activities?  I GUARANTEE that the bullshit on the internet would be cut in half.

This sounds like the watchmen where they kill millions to save billions. We need to kill a million assholes to save the internet. Lets get Dr. Blue cock on it. 

We  need a communist government to hijack the internet, and require all "free-speech" to be accompanied by real names, addresses and phone numbers. (well, not really.) After all, Blizzard don't have the balls.

" We  need a communist government to hijack the internet, and require all "free-speech" to be accompanied by real names, addresses and phone numbers. (well, not really). "

I agree with the fact that the majority of people on and using the internet are "normal" and act like they normally would. 
 
But a handful of people are allowed to get away with nearly anything they want. 

" @TooWalrus said:

" We  need a communist government to hijack the internet, and require all "free-speech" to be accompanied by real names, addresses and phone numbers. (well, not really). "

You mean Blizzard? "

" Well it's a great thing that the internet is over. "

A lot of people on the internet are assholes, and get away with it. A lot of other people, like myself and a lot of other fellow Giantbomb users, are just here to have fun. I love the internet, but whenever the one asshole comes up, it ruins your day. This is something that will never be fixed, no matter how much hope anyone may have.

"The Internet" is a large vocal minority of dicks like you and me.
 
Most people that use the internet don't know how to actually use the internet, so we never hear them.

halo generation killed everything

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

I loved this discussion but i thought it was kind of crass, considering early in the podcast when talking about SSF4 womans invitational jeff said in a condescending tone that it was when he went to go eat. Then complained about all the shit said in the chat......i understand there are different levels and that Jeff was just joking , but its  contributing none-the-less.

ITT, act like you're not part of the problem.

" @Dalai said:

" Well it's a great thing that the internet is over. "

I hoping that the sequel is better. "

" @EpicSteve said:

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

To be specfic, Everyone is an asshole when they can get away with it. "

Assholes are in real life too. My advice for all of you on the internet and in real life... AVOID THEM AND IGNORE THEM. It's worked wonders for me. Although people blame these jackass users on internet forums and chat rooms we're part of the problem as well, we fuel them when we respond and try to argue with them (I say we because I think for the most part Giantbomb users are ok). Do you honestly think your doing any good when you reply to some saying, " All gays r faggetz and thhy sud go to hel and nvr come backzzzzzz!" or something retarded like that. Yes you could argue, " Should we ignore all our problems? What if we ignored Hitler? Haha I got you...," but this is different because almost all of these people spouting shit are either children or shut ins that will cause no harm anyone if we simply ignore them. 

I disagree with the premise that most people are dicks. You just remember the fuck heads. Take this thread as an example, pretty much every response has been pretty reasonable and its likely that no one will remember anything anyone said specifically. I would agree that the people who post things online are trying to get attention and anonymity exacerbates the problem though.

immature people are rude and assholes

" @Cramsy: Giantbomb is a great place on the internet though ....right? "

" halo generation killed everything "  

" @Mikemcn said:

" @EpicSteve said:

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

To be specfic, Everyone is an asshole when they can get away with it. "

Bingo, hit the nail on the head. "

" @EpicSteve said:

" It's not the internet, it's that most people are assholes. "

To be specfic, Everyone is an asshole when they can get away with it. "

" I dunno.  I think the internet is worse than real life because you have your socially awkward people able to express themselves, and when they do, they usually go overboard when they do express their opinions or share their thoughts. "

The internet is filled with douchebags because the WORLD is filled with douchebags.  It's not a problem with the internet, it's a problem with people.

I can safely say I prefer the internet to be full of aseholes, rather than a pc utopia. You do need to have a certain amount of resistance to this stuff to really use the internet, so really my only advice is to harden the fuck up.