Thursday, April 11, 2013

Social Networks Hostility: Online Communication Not So Sweet






An interesting research article just came out about hostile communication on social networking sites. When I think about it, my activities on Facebook has been less lately (past 3 months or so) because people have been posting negative comments, complaining, or just go off on other peoples status updates. Twitter and Google + are not as bad but Facebook has just been a downer for me. I just assumed people were unhappy, stressed or something. Perhaps they are just more negative in online conversations compared to face-to-face communication. The author, Joseph Grenny, found:

  • 78 percent of users reported rising incivility online.
  • Two out of five blocked, unsubscribed to, or defriended someone over arguments that took place via social media.
  • 76 percent have witnessed arguments via social media.
  • 19 percent have decreased in-person contact with someone because of something they said online.
  • 88 percent believe people are less polite on social media than in person.
  • 81 percent said difficult or emotionally charged conversations they have held over social media remained unresolved
(http://allfacebook.com/study-hostility-joseph-grenny_b115004)


The author goes onto suggest some tips for communicating respectfully online. I really like this one:

  • Pause to put emotions in check: Never post a comment when you’re feeling emotionally triggered. Never! If you wait four hours, you’re likely to respond differently.

I personally have this rule for online communications such as social networking site posting and comments, email, instant messaging, etc. I think this is a great tip that everyone should follow. I cannot tell you how many times I get an email, Facebook message, or see a response to a post that is covered in negativity which usually just makes me think the person is on a rant. It definitely doesn’t make me any more likely to understand their point or position on a topic, instead it just causes me to shut down and stop reading. So perhaps future research should look at the implications of the hostile communication happening online?

3 comments:

  1. Probably more negativity on social media because there are more "idiots" out there that suddenly have a voice-- or at least they feel they do. Social Media is the "buzz" term used for everything lately. Like most other things though, it is a fad and something better and more exciting will replace it. As for the environment on these sites, people get sucked into negativity and it spreads like cancer. Good luck to whoever gets stuck in the middle of that garbage.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would wonder if maybe people are just more hostile because they can "hide" behind a computer. Social media connects people from all over the world so being hostile through online communication would not cause the same backlash as it would with face-to-face communication. There is no tone of voice, body language etc to read into with online communication, just text. Thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's changing since Facebook and Google wont allow you to hide behind an alias anymore. =(...
      But I would agree with you-- people can be mean via online.

      Delete