Americans' life ratings reach record high

Re:Americans' life ratings reach record high by shadowgovt on Sunday July 25, 2021 @04:16PM (#27952546)

Here's the thing I try to remember: when life isn't going well for a person, it's easy to turn to the Internet to vent frustration. And the less one has going on in the rest of their life, the more time one has to spend arguing online. The volume of posting doesn't indicate how right someone is or how reflective their experiences are of reality, just how much time they have to dedicate to the task of commenting.

As a useful mental trick, I substitute "commenters" with "bored people on the internet" sometimes to remind myself of the source.

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Re:Americans' life ratings reach record high by mancerayder on Sunday July 25, 2021 @05:23PM (#27953047)

> Here's the thing I try to remember: when life isn't going well for a person, it's easy to turn to the Internet to vent frustration

Yes. It's right there (it takes three seconds to pull a phone out of a pocket), and it's instantly a way to talk to people. Sometimes there's no one else there.

Also, in American culture you're not supposed to be negative in social situations. Always positive, always chirpy. Maybe that is why it's so toxic online. Because similar to the Victorian age and sexual repression, the always-positive leads to a toxic sublimation into Internet anonymity? I'm just tossing this out there as a thought. A counter would be, the entire world is toxic online.

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