Worried young woman having negative comments on her website
Currently the average Internet user spends nearly 26% of their year engaging with other netizens, and according to The Next Web's Digital 2019 report, Americans spend approximately 6 hours and 31 minutes of each and every day online. That adds up to 96 days a year.
Unfortunately, a lot of that time is spent arguing, and as a result users are actually tuning out of social media.
According to a WhoIsHostingThis.com survey, Facebook is among the most "toxic" social media platforms – with 70% of respondents saying it is somewhat toxic. However, 69% of social media users surveyed said ignoring toxic posts was the best course of action, while 45% said they'd unfriend/unfollow the particular poster.
Only 18% suggested that they'd leave a constructive comment, while 17% said they'd report them. Fortunately just 7% said they'd leave a negative comment in response – which too often can be akin to throwing gasoline on a fire!
All this begs the question: is negativity going to kill social media?
"The impact of social media in the last decade is widely discussed, but poorly understood," said Richard Kershaw, CEO at WhoIsHostingThis.com "Beyond the perfect vacation shots on Instagram or one liners on Twitter there's a shadow side that's far less widely discussed. Our data reveals that 28% of internet users have quit Facebook to escape negativity, 32% have deactivated Twitter, and 42% have left Snapchat. Of those not quitting altogether, many more choose to unfollow friends, and one in five employees admit to blocking co-workers on social media."
More Than Negative Posts
Negativity online isn't new of course to social media. Trolls – the online version that is – existed long before Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat. However, social media has proven to be a good breeding ground for sharing the negative vibes, yet it isn't likely to completely drive people away.,
"There are many reasons why people are quitting social media – it's time-consuming and can be addictive privacy concerns, backlash because these companies have misused data, and negative speech," explained Jim McGregor, founder and principal analyst at TIRIAS Research.
"I can see why many people quit or block people for negative speech, and I have started blocking people just for being political, positive or negative and whether I agree with it or not," McGregor added.
Arguing on social media is all too common, and the WhoIsHostingThis.com survey found that 20% of people below the age of 38 said they were likely to get into an argument online. While older generations could be seen as more docile, 13% of boomers and 14% of GenXers were still ready to come out swinging.
Regardless of the demographic social media has turned into the perfect platform for arguing because people can do so readily from their computers and mobile devices.
"Discussion at a distance can quickly spiral out of control in ways that would never happen in face-to-face exchanges," suggested Jim Purtilo, associate professor in the computer science department at the University of Maryland.
"The technology is very polarizing," warned Purtilo. "In some cases this is by design: applied psychology techniques stimulate interaction and provoke exchanges. After all, revenue is based on traffic. Agreement in social media doesn't sell, but a long-running dispute is the gift that keeps on giving to advertisers."
Because of how much time people spend getting pulled into social media could make such arguments worse, so perhaps just stepping away for a moment before responding could help reduce the likelihood of such arguments spiraling out of control.
"Any train wreck can easily draw a crowd, but eventually the gawkers move on," added Purtilo. "Will a moment of clarity allow us to moderate our addiction to social media and focus on enduring values instead of watching the train wrecks?"
Can't Even Agree To Disagree
Since it is unlikely that the arguments won't stop, users should consider where to draw the line in the discourse.
Taking part in heated debates certainly won't make people friends, and according to the survey could cost individuals some level of credibility. Making a threat was the biggest offense, and 71% of respondents said it would result in the loss of all credibility, while 25% said it could result in the loss of some credibility. Just participating in an offensive debate (which could include politically incorrect name-calling) was another major offense according to 60% of respondents. Throwing insults (41%), saying something contrary to the fact (40%) and simply using foul language or cursing (22%) were other offenses according to the survey respondents.
One irony of the survey is that respondents couldn't even agree what is worth arguing about. Climate change topped the list among respondents about what was actually "worth" arguing, but topics such as gun control, abortion, race, religion, gay marriage rights, sex/gender and conspiracy theories actually rounded out the top ten among topics worth arguing and "most annoying/futile topics" to discuss in social media.
Then there is the most obvious issue – politics, which was second for both most worthy and most futile. Politics also came in first, at 27%, of the most participated online arguments.
It is said that you don't discuss politics or religion in polite company, but on social media politics is discussed with disturbing regularity.
"Politics, especially U.S. politics, are ruining social media," warned McGregor. "Some discussions are better kept private and in the company of those that wish to discuss it, especially politics and religion. I choose never to discuss politics or religion in a social setting, so I also choose not to discuss them on social media."
Not everyone takes that course however, and this is what opens up social media as a platform for arguing.
"Unfortunately, some people lose their logic filter when they logon to social media," said McGregor. "And when others fail to be respectful to everyone around them, then people should have the right to filter the speech they choose to hear or not hear."
