Someone, somewhere, said he thought the car must be a diabolical invention, because it gave people the illusion of solitude. On a train, people could tell they were in a shared space. As a result, they practiced basic civility. Encased in a car, the sense of shared journey was erased.
Cars are to trains as social media is to direct communication. Have I just invented a new SAT question? I do hope so. Social media gives an illusion of anonymity that lets people release their uglier impulses.
Yelp, the review site, introduced itself to me via my beloved smartphone. An app which lets you find nearby parks, libraries, coffee, laundromats, and so on, links to Yelp. Yelp is infinitely handy, and I have it to thank for my discovery of the best oyster place on St. George Island, Fla. I would not have darkened its sordid looking door had I not read the rave reviews on Yelp. (It’s Eddy Teach’s Raw Bar. Get them broiled with asiago and pesto.)
But reviewers on Yelp piled on an artistic performance I had seen, and knew to be excellent. I might have thought it was one person’s taste, different than my taste, but the amateur critics all said similar, incendiary, inaccurate things. It appeared that they had been using the same playbook. It appeared to be a coordinated attack.
In Atlanta, a music critic had a vendetta against a conductor. People joked that the conductor must have shot the critic’s dog, because he always trashed the performances this man led. Eventually, the conductor left the company. Mr. Mean Critic hailed his successor as the savior, the fixer, the at long last decent conductor of the group. It was toxic and unfair, but it was just one critic.
The Yelpers were many, hurtful and harmful. At least Mean Critic had to use his real name, had to avoid vulgarities, and had to answer to an editor. Not being anonymous made him stay somewhat honest and marginally civil. But the Yelpers were not restricted that way, and may have intentionally done damage to some very fine artists.
Anyone who visits the Internet often will see malice, venom, and deceptive criticism. I’ve seen threats against the president, jokes about tragedies, hateful rants, and fraudulent behavior.
So I at least am not going to be like that. Knowing that I cannot control anyone else, I at least am going to stay civil and honest in my virtual life. When I review something on Yelp, I will write as if I were speaking to the business owner’s or artistic director’s face, while his sweet-faced children are in earshot. And nobody is going to manipulate or pay me to be a “troll,” a purveyor of ugly provocation online. Anyone want to join me in making this a 2011 resolution?
And Yelp, please get a better algorithm. Lock those phonies out.
[email protected]
Cars are to trains as social media is to direct communication. Have I just invented a new SAT question? I do hope so. Social media gives an illusion of anonymity that lets people release their uglier impulses.
Yelp, the review site, introduced itself to me via my beloved smartphone. An app which lets you find nearby parks, libraries, coffee, laundromats, and so on, links to Yelp. Yelp is infinitely handy, and I have it to thank for my discovery of the best oyster place on St. George Island, Fla. I would not have darkened its sordid looking door had I not read the rave reviews on Yelp. (It’s Eddy Teach’s Raw Bar. Get them broiled with asiago and pesto.)
But reviewers on Yelp piled on an artistic performance I had seen, and knew to be excellent. I might have thought it was one person’s taste, different than my taste, but the amateur critics all said similar, incendiary, inaccurate things. It appeared that they had been using the same playbook. It appeared to be a coordinated attack.
In Atlanta, a music critic had a vendetta against a conductor. People joked that the conductor must have shot the critic’s dog, because he always trashed the performances this man led. Eventually, the conductor left the company. Mr. Mean Critic hailed his successor as the savior, the fixer, the at long last decent conductor of the group. It was toxic and unfair, but it was just one critic.
The Yelpers were many, hurtful and harmful. At least Mean Critic had to use his real name, had to avoid vulgarities, and had to answer to an editor. Not being anonymous made him stay somewhat honest and marginally civil. But the Yelpers were not restricted that way, and may have intentionally done damage to some very fine artists.
Anyone who visits the Internet often will see malice, venom, and deceptive criticism. I’ve seen threats against the president, jokes about tragedies, hateful rants, and fraudulent behavior.
So I at least am not going to be like that. Knowing that I cannot control anyone else, I at least am going to stay civil and honest in my virtual life. When I review something on Yelp, I will write as if I were speaking to the business owner’s or artistic director’s face, while his sweet-faced children are in earshot. And nobody is going to manipulate or pay me to be a “troll,” a purveyor of ugly provocation online. Anyone want to join me in making this a 2011 resolution?
And Yelp, please get a better algorithm. Lock those phonies out.
[email protected]
