This is the great communication revolution!?

Internet forums make my head hurt. One of the reasons I find myself avoiding most online forums is the extraordinarily combative nature of most "discussions" found within. Apparently it's not enough to just make your point any more. No sir. These days you have to personally insult the person you're "pwning" with your erudition.

Let's take an example from the real world. Digg, a "democratic news site," is a good place to observe this activity since the vast majority of its user base seems to be between the ages of 13 and 17. This creates a two-fold problem: not only typically lack the maturity to have intelligent discourse, they have never known a world without the Internet. Combine this with the fact that Digg has sections for Political Opinion, Apple and Linux and you have a "perfect storm" of loud, obnoxious kids screaming at each other and trying to put each other down.

So here is a sampling from the thread attached to a link called "A rational debate on Net Neutrality." I don't think the irony of this situation could be any thicker:



Repeat ad nausium. Every so often I think about entering one of these "discussions" to try to make some sort of point or at least point out the silliness of it all. Then I just remember what they say about arguing on the Internet.