The Side Effects of Increased Communication

Posted Friday, October 16, 2009, at 7:18 AM

Is it just me, or do you think that we are as a community, state, and nation getting more and more polarized each day? This is just my theory, but I think that we are finding out that increased communication has brought about some unforeseen side effects. Today you could read every current event and opinion piece that you could find online in an 8 hour period, and not read a single article that your neighbor read in that same 8 hour period. Twenty years ago we all pretty much read the same news stories and watched the same television shows. Today you can create your own political poster in Photoshop and e-mail it out to 200 people instantly, and those 200 would e-mail it out to their 200.

Another side effect is created from the ability of being able to respond back. Even in the short two year period that the Times Gazette began to allow comments on their website, we have seen a wide range of opinions from individuals. Before the introduction of this service, hardly anyone would have known how I felt about certain subjects, because to talk about them in public would be seen as taboo to some. But today we communicate our thoughts and opinions freely, although most choose to do so anonymously.

You know how you start a new job and for the first couple of days you don't really express how you feel about things because you don't know anyone and you haven't experienced any of the office politics yet? You know they exist, but no one is ready to start talking about them with you. It is kind of like Survivor, where everyone over the course of the first week begin to group up naturally. What I am saying is that the internet has allowed us all to start talking to each other and to share our opinions with one another, and what we have discovered is that our opinions are very different on some issues that are near and dear to us and we really just don't like each other because of it. These differences have always existed and we always knew they were there, but now they are in your face and you have the opportunity to respond. This new feature of our terrain is here to stay and over time we are going to become more and more polarized because of it.

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A great post . . . it seems now we have the world at our fingertips but so many times we find ourselves even more confused and lost due to the overload of facts and opinions and trying to discern what is fact and fiction and how we perceive it to our own core values and beliefs.

-- Posted by jaxspike on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 7:48 AM

I nose what yous talkin bout laz. Them librals gots a mentul disorder voting for that muslem. Do'nt they no he is the antichrist? I red it in my bible. How could they give him the pulitser prize? He ai'nt done nuthin to deserve it! And where is his birth certificate? I nos where! It is in that hospitul in kenya! He wo'nt win in 2012 if he makes it that long!

-- Posted by nathan.evans on Mon, Oct 12, 2009, at 12:38 PM

I've suffered enough of your tripe written with this attitude. You are a hateful little man that struggles way to hard to stay on topic.

Your intentions start out kindly enough, but as you lose momentum..... the above post is the perfect example of where you take things.

Good luck with changing your attitude.

I, for one, will skip your blog until I see maturity take over in the comments you post.

-- Posted by big daddy rabbit on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 8:59 AM

I agree Nathan's comments at times are very polarizing and a prime example of what he mentions in this post. The only problem is that he is not the only one and many of us fall prey to the same outburst and comments because we believe insults and yelling will get people's attention when in fact they tend to do the opposite and force people away.

It is never "right" to resort to this kind of behavior and WE all need to do a better job of this!

-- Posted by jaxspike on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 9:08 AM

The words that I choose and the message in that comment were based on the comments made by others on this forum. I posted that comment to highlight how ridiculous certain comments are with the hopes that they would realize how idiotic they sound. If it causes me to look like a jackass because it is insulting to them, then that is collateral damage that I am willing to accept. If you have a problem with the actual words used in that comment, then your beef is with them, not me.

-- Posted by nathan.evans on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 10:56 AM

I don't know Mr. Evans. I think that eventually, the increased communication and removal of barriers to our more complete understanding of the full range of ideas being expressed will eventually lead to more understanding acceptance and less polarization.

I do not doubt that in the short run, there will be the type of resentment that is evident on just about every side of every topic. I just imagine that with time we will see positions develop with less clear divisions and more moderation. Gradually, as more and more points are made (and ceded), we may just see a more coherent and widely accepted world-view emerge. I am not so sure that will be entirely a good thing either though. As a matter of fact, I fear a future general apathy much more than the current impassioned posturing.

-- Posted by memyselfi on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 4:29 PM

The words that I choose and the message in that comment were based on the comments made by others on this forum.

-- Posted by nathan.evans on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 10:56 AM

There you go again Nathan, just when I began thinking at least one of your brain cells might be a bit conservative and responsible, you blow it by adopting the "victim" mentality that others use when they don't want to take responsibility for their words or actions. You simply blame your irresponsible words or acts upon the actions of others, as you just proved in your post.

Did you really HAVE to stoop to their level?

-- Posted by Tim Lokey on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 7:22 PM

Unfortunately, those who are often most inclined to comment have the least intelligent content.

-- Posted by WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot on Fri, Oct 16, 2009, at 9:49 PM

Reminds me of something that Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote:

"People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character."

-- Posted by realsimple2000 on Tue, Oct 20, 2009, at 12:50 PM