Discussion

• @helenreflects Helen De Cruz on x

  The preprint of this paper is here. There is a hostility gap (online vs offline) but authors conclude it's because when we're online we see more opinions, including more politically polarizing ones, and we have more of a platform to voice our opinions. https://psyarxiv.com/hwb83/

• @rubi_ Rubi on x

  This is *very much* why I never ever buy into the whole “Oh no that's just my streaming persona I'm a totally nice guy in real life”, because no you're not: Online Trolls Actually Just Assholes All the Time, Study Finds https://gizmodo.com/...

• @roslyntalusan Roslyn Talusan on x

  “Aggressive online trolls tend to be high in cognitive empathy, which allows them to identify when they're pushing someone else's buttons, but low in affective empathy, enabling them to avoid feeling bad or internalizing the suffering they cause.” https://gizmodo.com/...

• @mattgrossmann Matt Grossmann on x

  hostile online political discussions are the result of status-driven individuals who are drawn to politics & are equally hostile both online and offline but visible online, not the result of the online environment #polisciresearch https://www.cambridge.org/...

• @m_b_petersen Michael Bang Petersen on x

  Why are politics more toxic online than offline? In a new paper in @apsrjournal, @BorAlexander1 & I give an answer: https://psyarxiv.com/hwb83/. Status-seekers are hostile online & offline, but their online attacks are more visible. Nice people do not go crazy online. 🧵(1/10) htt…

• @m_b_petersen Michael Bang Petersen on x

  And the paper is now published: https://www.cambridge.org/.... [11/10]

• @lilithsaintcrow Lili Saintcrow on x

  “...dovetails with some prior research and reporting emphasizing that toxic online political discussions are disproportionately driven by malicious individuals taking advantage of the megaphone offered.” https://gizmodo.com/...

• @kencaldeira Ken Caldeira on x

  We have reached the singularity. Real headlines are now indistinguishable from @TheOnion headlines. https://gizmodo.com/...

• @jasonkenney @jasonkenney on x

  And this makes total sense because online is a firehose driven by algorithms so hostile voices are amplified on platforms that involve a lot more people than you'd ever interact with in a regular setting in the real world. https://twitter.com/...

• @holden Mike Caulfield on x

  Part of me wonders if there is a lesson here for misinfo as well. Researchers often focus on the idea that people are trying to influence people, but in reality people are trying to build status, and the influence on reader beliefs is often a second-order effect. https://twitter.…

• @clairlemon Claire Lehmann on x

  “hostile political discussions are the result of status-driven individuals who are drawn to politics and are equally hostile both online and offline” The Internet doesn't *make* people cranky, it just gives cranky people an outlet (myself included 😂) https://psyarxiv.com/hwb83/

• @v21 V Buckenham on x

  for all that social media companies have banged on about the perils of anonymity and the virtues of connecting people, turns out the reason online seems so fraught is because you can see people yelling at each other the whole time. aka connectivity. https://twitter.com/...

• @chrisdyork Chris York on x

  When real life sounds like The Onion https://gizmodo.com/...

• @watchingtvnfilm WatchingTV on x

  @qikipedia Here is that study. I reckon that offline, trolls are just more covert in their nastiness. Social media gives them a platform and anonymity. https://gizmodo.com/...

• @rachel_thorn_en Rachel Thorn on x

  In other startling news, a new study finds that water is wet. https://gizmodo.com/...

• @catalinagoanta Catalina Goanta on x

  ‘We cannot remove online hate through education because it is not born out of ignorance. Hostile people know their words hurt and that is why they use them’ - https://eandt.theiet.org/... on new paper by @boralexander1 & @M_B_Petersen https://www.cambridge.org/...

• @tero_hoo Tero Hannula on x

  “The internet doesn't turn people into assholes so much as it acts as a massive megaphone for existing ones, according to work by researchers at Aarhus University.” Online Trolls Also Jerks in Real Life: Aarhus University Study https://gizmodo.com/...

• @larsiusprime @larsiusprime on x

  Interesting study about why political hostility feels worse online than offline: Status-driven individuals who love to fight and are just as hostile online and offline, but you're more likely to meet them online. https://psyarxiv.com/hwb83/