Hey, it's skiddle here. Most of you probably don't know me, and if that's the case, I'm lucky. However, my lack of "social status" on Smogon doesn't make the message I have prepared any less important. Kind of tl;dr, but I'm sure you can manage.
The last few weeks it finally dawned on me how the confidentiality of the internet changes the way people behave towards other internet users. It's so easy to be a complete asshole to people you don't know, right... especially when there is little to no consequence for it. My question always was "why?" though. Is it because it's fun? Is it because it makes you feel superior? I have a few theories and I want to see what the rest of you think.
REASON ONE: The person isn't capable of treating real people like shit, so they do it on the internet.
This idea is what I would like to refer to as the "angry nerd" and there seems to be a lot of them here on Smogon. Anyways, my guess is that these angry nerds aren't either physically or emotionally capable of mistreating real people. This is because they aren't prepared to deal with the consequences that come with being an asshole. They either aren't strong enough to handle a person who can fight back, or they aren't brave enough to face the repercussions that come with their actions.
If you're this kind of person, you should just shut up and know your place. Pent up frustration with your weakness in real life is no reason to take it out on people you don't know, especially hiding behind the relative safety of the internet. You're not impressing anybody.
REASON TWO: The person is given some sort of power or improved status on the internet, and feels the need to abuse it.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of these people on the internet too. Whenever someone is given some sort of indication that they might be better than the average internet user, it goes straight to their head and they start power tripping.
There are many ways to appear "better" than other people on the internet. Be it level in a game, post count on a forum, whatever, no matter how good of a person you are, it doesn't mean anything unless you've got the numbers by your name to prove it. All these statistics lead to elitism. I'm sure you've seen those amusing Trou Du Cul threads of angry new members saying "FUKC SMOGAN I QUIT". Usually it's because we're all total dicks to them. Be it because you have some badges, or thousands of posts, or whatever, I'm pretty sure most of the people here at Smogon think they're way better than those newbies, right?
For the most part, no, you're not. Strip away all the flashy forum shit like post counts and whatnot, and you're just as good as they are. We're all people here, just because someone joined Smogon five minutes ago doesn't mean they're scum compared to someone who's been here several years. This is a fucking pokemon website. In the grande scheme of things, this won't matter.
This brings me to my next point. There is a very, very obvious feeling of contempt between your everyday forum users and the mods here at Smogon. First of all, mods, these people aren't your underlings just because you can lock threads and hand out infractions. And everyone else, stop acting like the mods are your Gods and maybe things would be less hierarchal around here. I'm pretty sure there is nothing more annoying for them than having people trying to kiss your ass all the time. (haha guilty) Treat each other like fellow human beings for fuck sake.
REASON THREE: You are a troll.
I'm not going to lie, trolling people is pretty fun. The internet makes trolling so much easier for two reasons. First, you remain semi-anonymous and can say whatever you want without having to worry about its effect on your personal life. Secondly, word spreads fast on the internet, so if you do a good job you might get your 10 minutes of fame.
Surprising considering the size of the Smogon community, there are quite a few trolls (again, see Trou). This is somewhat bothersome to me as I care quite a lot about Smogon, despite what it looks like. One thing people don't seem to realize is that unlike cancer or something, a troll goes away if you ignore it! Isn't that something? By reacting to a troll, you're just giving it more power (and probably laughs too) so simply don't reply to those stupid troll threads. Do your part and help destroy stupidity on the internet!
EPENIS
Ok, one last thing I want to rant about. All of these things have one reason in common, and it's what is referred to as the ePenis. This is like your power on the internet. The more badass you think you are, the more power you have, or the more "famous" you become, the bigger your ePenis becomes.
Oh wait, the size of your ePenis has absolutely no effect on how cool you are in real life... that's too bad. Quit trying to prove how big your ePenis is, because you're actually just showing everyone how insecure you are in the process. If you actually believe that anything you do on the internet will have any positive outcome on your real life, sorry, but you're wrong.
So anyways, my whole point in this thread is I want to know how you feel about this matter, and how it affects the Smogon Community. I like Smogon, I like the people here, but seriously, you people treat each other like shit all the time. I try and be civil, but some of you are just impossible to talk with.
The last few weeks it finally dawned on me how the confidentiality of the internet changes the way people behave towards other internet users. It's so easy to be a complete asshole to people you don't know, right... especially when there is little to no consequence for it. My question always was "why?" though. Is it because it's fun? Is it because it makes you feel superior? I have a few theories and I want to see what the rest of you think.
REASON ONE: The person isn't capable of treating real people like shit, so they do it on the internet.
This idea is what I would like to refer to as the "angry nerd" and there seems to be a lot of them here on Smogon. Anyways, my guess is that these angry nerds aren't either physically or emotionally capable of mistreating real people. This is because they aren't prepared to deal with the consequences that come with being an asshole. They either aren't strong enough to handle a person who can fight back, or they aren't brave enough to face the repercussions that come with their actions.
If you're this kind of person, you should just shut up and know your place. Pent up frustration with your weakness in real life is no reason to take it out on people you don't know, especially hiding behind the relative safety of the internet. You're not impressing anybody.
REASON TWO: The person is given some sort of power or improved status on the internet, and feels the need to abuse it.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of these people on the internet too. Whenever someone is given some sort of indication that they might be better than the average internet user, it goes straight to their head and they start power tripping.
There are many ways to appear "better" than other people on the internet. Be it level in a game, post count on a forum, whatever, no matter how good of a person you are, it doesn't mean anything unless you've got the numbers by your name to prove it. All these statistics lead to elitism. I'm sure you've seen those amusing Trou Du Cul threads of angry new members saying "FUKC SMOGAN I QUIT". Usually it's because we're all total dicks to them. Be it because you have some badges, or thousands of posts, or whatever, I'm pretty sure most of the people here at Smogon think they're way better than those newbies, right?
For the most part, no, you're not. Strip away all the flashy forum shit like post counts and whatnot, and you're just as good as they are. We're all people here, just because someone joined Smogon five minutes ago doesn't mean they're scum compared to someone who's been here several years. This is a fucking pokemon website. In the grande scheme of things, this won't matter.
This brings me to my next point. There is a very, very obvious feeling of contempt between your everyday forum users and the mods here at Smogon. First of all, mods, these people aren't your underlings just because you can lock threads and hand out infractions. And everyone else, stop acting like the mods are your Gods and maybe things would be less hierarchal around here. I'm pretty sure there is nothing more annoying for them than having people trying to kiss your ass all the time. (haha guilty) Treat each other like fellow human beings for fuck sake.
REASON THREE: You are a troll.
I'm not going to lie, trolling people is pretty fun. The internet makes trolling so much easier for two reasons. First, you remain semi-anonymous and can say whatever you want without having to worry about its effect on your personal life. Secondly, word spreads fast on the internet, so if you do a good job you might get your 10 minutes of fame.
Surprising considering the size of the Smogon community, there are quite a few trolls (again, see Trou). This is somewhat bothersome to me as I care quite a lot about Smogon, despite what it looks like. One thing people don't seem to realize is that unlike cancer or something, a troll goes away if you ignore it! Isn't that something? By reacting to a troll, you're just giving it more power (and probably laughs too) so simply don't reply to those stupid troll threads. Do your part and help destroy stupidity on the internet!
EPENIS
Ok, one last thing I want to rant about. All of these things have one reason in common, and it's what is referred to as the ePenis. This is like your power on the internet. The more badass you think you are, the more power you have, or the more "famous" you become, the bigger your ePenis becomes.
Oh wait, the size of your ePenis has absolutely no effect on how cool you are in real life... that's too bad. Quit trying to prove how big your ePenis is, because you're actually just showing everyone how insecure you are in the process. If you actually believe that anything you do on the internet will have any positive outcome on your real life, sorry, but you're wrong.
So anyways, my whole point in this thread is I want to know how you feel about this matter, and how it affects the Smogon Community. I like Smogon, I like the people here, but seriously, you people treat each other like shit all the time. I try and be civil, but some of you are just impossible to talk with.
