“I’ve gotta take a leak” you tell your friend. He nods and continues to stare down at his pint of beer. You pass by a table of drunk teenagers laughing loudly and make your way to the bathroom.

The toilet is full of cracked tiles and stains on the walls. The urinal is blocked so you use the cubicle instead. As you’re doing your business, you notice the wall is covered in writing. One message written with a black marker stands out more than the others. It reads:

WHOEVER USES THIS TOILET IS A VIRGIN

The message is followed with an arrow pointing down into toilet you’re currently pissing into.

You raise your eyebrow at the childish message. But then you notice that the black marker pen has been left on the floor. “Fuck it” you say to yourself. You pick up the marker and write your reply:

WHOEVER WROTE THIS MESSAGE IS A FUCKING IDIOT

The next week you come back to the same bar. “I’ve gotta take a leak” you say to your friend. He nods silently while looking down at his pint of beer like always.

You’re about to unzip your pants when you notice that a new message has been added to the wall.

BE QUIET LIBTARD

This makes you angry for two reasons. One: The level of stupidity. Two: Why the hell is this guy assuming that I’m a liberal? The black marker pen has been left on the floor again, so you pick it up and write your response:

NOT THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE SHED ARE YOU MORON

Every week you and your friend visit the same bar and every week the idiot has left a new message. This guy is obviously a complete imbecile, but you find it kind of entertaining. So you continue replying to this idiot’s messages and the conversation continues:

WHOEVER USES THIS TOILET IS A VIRGIN

WHOEVER WROTE THIS MESSAGE IS A F**KING IDIOT

BE QUIET LIBTARD

NOT THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE SHED ARE YOU MORON

I HOPE YOU DIE TODAY

GO TAKE A WALK INTO TRAFFIC

DO THE WORLD A FAVOUR AND KILL YOURSELF

PLEASE. DON’T HAVE KIDS. YOUR GENES ARE TOXIC

This goes on for several weeks.

One day, you’re hanging out with your friend at the bar like usual. Talking nonsense. Making jokes.

As he picks up his pint of beer and starts to drink you notice something.

Black ink on his fingertips.

“Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral” - Melvin Kranzberg (The first law of technology)

Technology isn’t neutral.

Each technology interacts in it’s own unique way with human psychology. People communicate differently through technology than they do in the real world.

Considering that text based communication is the main way that we communicate with each other - wouldn’t it be a good idea to actually understand the effects this has on our psychology?

After reading this article you will be able to browse the internet in peace. You will no longer get frustrated, angry or depressed by the way others act on the internet. You will understand why the comments section is full of assholes. And you won’t hold it against them quite so much.

There are 6 main factors that encourage people to act far more negatively on the internet than they do in the real world:

1. The Empathy Deficit

2. Asynchronous Communication

3. Lack of Authority

4. Solipsistic Introjection

5. Audience Size

6. Likes, Comments, Follows, Shares

(1-4 are based on the online disinhibition effect coined by Suler.J in 2004)

the empathy deficit