I was one of three guests on WRAL’s new talk show, “On the Record” which aired on the CBS affiliate in Raleigh this week.
The topic: The Decline of Civility. I was asked about some of the comments posted on news stories and talked a bit about the dynamics of anonymous posting.
It’s a 30-minute show, longer than what most of us like to watch online, but it’s an interesting conversation and I wanted to share it with you here on my blog.
Oh, and don’t think for one minute that the members of the community I manage didn’t see it. So far there have been two blogs posted about it. One was all about how nervous I looked, and a comment in the second blog post indicated that I am living in a fantasy believing that things will get better without me putting forth any effort. I’m going to have to let that one go for now….
At any rate, here’s the link to the video:
On the Record: The Decline of Civility
Let me know what you think, okay?
5 comments
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September 27, 2009 at 10:47 pm
radio
Great post. Thank you for this info. I need that
September 28, 2009 at 5:54 am
Tia
I thought you did just fine Angela!
Personally, i totally agree with you about the dynamics on anonymous posting. Thanks for this, Tia
September 28, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Rosemary O'Neill
I couldn’t agree more with your thoughts. We are “sweeping the floor” right now as far as civility goes. But it goes hand in hand with the coarsening of society in general. Our online activities simply reflect the (unfortunate) desensitization to crudeness and rude behavior in RL.
October 2, 2009 at 6:22 am
Mark @ AlchemyUnited.com
Pardon me for using one of my favourite words again – symptom. The decline of civility is a symptom. Please pardon my rant… The illness is the decline in The People being treated as citizens. Watch the news, the use of of the word consumer to describe The People outweighs the use of citizen (at least) nine to one. As you already know Angela, I believe that words do matter
My sesne is that what we’re seeing is the frustration, confusion and the feeling of lack of control at a macro life level manifesting itself in controllable, micro level actions. Add in a sense of personal entitlement (that thumps the great good) and what we have as a socienty is really no surprise.
The People are being squeezed like a baloon and that pressure has to displace itself elsewhere.
That said, a couple of people with nothing better to do than critique your appearance does not a trend make
(If I said they should get a life, would I be a hypocrite? Hehe.) There are 300 million people in the country and taking the actions of a few and saying that’s the way of the world is a bit of a stretch, no? Unfortunately, helping the proverberal old lady to cross the street isn’t news anymore. But again, that too is a symptom of the root illness, no? .
October 2, 2009 at 10:14 am
Martin Reed
Angela – I think you were great, and the entire show was very interesting. There were some extremely sensitive issues being discussed and I think you put forward your expertise very well.
Until we lose anonymity on the Web, there will be more incidents of abusive and ‘uncivil’ comments. However, if we lose anonymity on the Web I think we will be losing much of the reason why people feel comfortable engaging in online communities in the first place.
Being able to lose your ‘real life’ baggage and having a different persona online is a very attractive proposition and is one of the reasons why online communities are so popular.