Haight's War: why people write nasty things in the comments
Trolls, haters, and haters are the words used to describe users who leave negative comments on social media. Under almost every post, there are skirmishes involving people who clearly enjoy a virtual quarrel. Haters quickly get personal and humiliate their interlocutors. How not to get "handed out" by malicious trolls, why people let off steam in virtual space and where to complain about Internet boors — in the Izvestia article.
What is healthy aggression?
Haters really feel the need to express negativity, just like all people, explains clinical psychologist and body therapist Sergey Volkov. In a healthy sense, aggression is a form of expression of emotions and aspirations, which even serves for the benefit of a person, as it promotes self—development and the protection of personal boundaries.
— Aggression in biology is a behavior aimed at expanding the body's capabilities and achieving its goals. Not destruction, but achievement," says the expert. — Without healthy aggression, there is no development, which means there is no space (economically and meaningfully) for the birth of children and procreation. But don't confuse aggression as an achievement and aggression as a fight or brutality — these are two different things.
From the point of view of a clinical psychologist, even aggression, which is a basic, fundamental human reaction, is unnecessarily condemned and rejected by society these days.
— In the last decade, the theory of assertiveness (benevolence, a neutral position towards something) and the idea of radical acceptance of everything, global tolerance, has been relevant, - continues Sergey Volkov. — All this has led to the fact that expressing your dissatisfaction with something is now akin to toxic behavior. Any opinion, not just negative, but simply critical or skeptical, is undesirable, because someone will definitely not like it.
Meanwhile, anger is not a meaningful emotion that can be taken under total control, but a neurological manifestation, the specialist emphasizes. Anger cannot be controlled to such an extent that it can be completely neutralized at the initial stage. Sometimes people hold back from showing anger, trying not to show it even in a reasonable "dosage." But it's impossible to change biology: people need to let off steam. Some do it in the gym, others in the stadium, watching their favorite teams play. The Internet has also become a place where you can safely dump negative emotions, especially since the Network provides a condition of anonymity. The expert considers haight to be a simple, easy and safe way to express aggression. Bullying other users is much easier and easier than learning how to express aggression in other, more useful ways.
— Haight is an expression of neurological tension, a legal way to relieve accumulated aggression in society. Yes, often people who are hated do not deserve such treatment, and the opinion of the haters is unjustified, but the point is not to find the truth — this is not an argument. It's just that people are letting off their accumulated anger. He will find a way out anyway, the only question is with what consequences for society," says Sergey Volkov.
According to the clinical psychologist, rudeness is the tip of the iceberg, the result of the choice of haters. Internet trolls, for various reasons, have resorted to this particular way of expressing aggression that has accumulated in real life. However, this choice can be changed and you can learn to express your anger in a different way, in more environmentally friendly ways.
— The ability to withstand your emotions, not expressing them in the moment, but spilling them out afterwards, is a basic skill of emotional health, the so—called containerization, — explains the interlocutor of Izvestia. — For example, you can tolerate the nagging of the boss, not show it, and in the evening beat a pear in the gym. Anger, as a neurobiological reaction, is always associated with movement.
Why do people get rude on the internet
It doesn't hurt for those who cry into their pillows after an online altercation to know that haters don't care what they humiliate or whom they humiliate. Sergey Volkov compares this unconscious process to thirst.
"When you're thirsty, you don't think about the composition of water, the meaning of its existence in the universe, the importance of aquatic organisms, or the difficult path it took to get into your cup," he says. — You don't think about respecting water either, but you just want to quench your thirst. So haters do not spare anyone when it comes to the need to relieve aggression.
Moreover, virtual detractors in real life can be quite delicate people, polite and tactful. According to the clinical psychologist, their problem is that they are tactful even in situations where it was necessary to show rigidity. Instead of reacting "in the moment," they transfer their experiences to the Internet.
It is important to understand that people will not stop commenting on something and expressing their opinions online, this must be accepted, the specialist emphasizes.
— Everyone has the right to their opinion and the opportunity to express it. It's absolutely normal to comment on something," says Sergey Volkov. — But opinions can be expressed constructively and not humiliatingly. This will not reduce aggression, but it will definitely reduce the risk of conflict.
At the same time, people who engage in skirmishes with aggressive commentators, according to the psychologist, are themselves hidden haters.
— Imagine three-year-old children quarreling in a sandbox. One hits with a shovel, and the other throws a handful of sand at the offender. This annoys the first one. He hits his opponent with a spatula again, for which sand flies at him again. This will continue until a third force stops them or until someone runs out of strength," the Izvestia interlocutor argues.
Every person on Earth has mastered these neurological patterns, so people easily get involved in children's games hidden behind adult conversations, the expert believes.
— The problem is that people are trying to force Hayter to stop insulting him. If the question is not to hear hurtful words, then it is necessary not to shut up the offenders, but to stop listening to them — it is more effective, faster, simpler and easier, — sums up Sergey Volkov. — Do you want to stop Haight? Block the hater. Don't you want to be humiliated? Log out of the conversation.
If a person is worried and tormented by thoughts like "they don't talk well about me there," this is a matter of low self—esteem, says a clinical psychologist. You should not suffer because of someone else's opinion, especially if it is the opinion of strangers from the Internet.
Is it possible to punish Hayter according to the law
Sometimes insults offend users so much that they decide to seek help from law enforcement officers. When it comes to responsibility for rudeness on the Internet, lawyers are primarily guided by the provisions of art. 5.61 ("Insult") The Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, recalls lawyer Pavel Korniako. In relation to haters, parts 2 and 4 of art. 5.61 apply. If the boor's guilt is proven, he faces a fine. Depending on the circumstances of the case and the official position of the user, an insult can cost him from 5,000 to 100,000 rubles. The proceedings on such an administrative offense are entrusted to the prosecutor's office — the prosecutor issues the first decision on bringing to justice.
— The identity of the hayter is established by the IP address, — the expert comments. — It is also possible to do this by ID, phone number and other registration data. And in order to find out whether a comment is an insult or not, a forensic linguistic examination is required.
The negative emotions that the user has experienced in a virtual altercation must be supported by hard evidence. So far, lawyers consider linguistic expertise to be the only real confirmation. In the course of this study, it is possible to determine whether a particular statement degrades human dignity or casts a shadow on the professional qualities of an offended citizen. But, according to the lawyer, it is very difficult to do this. For example, one of the most common insults on the Internet is the word "clown."
— It would seem that there is nothing like that, but people just get mad when they hear or read it in their address. However, it is almost impossible to prove that such a word is an insult, because a clown is a profession. One can only speculate that Hayter wanted to somehow humiliate a person with this definition. By all indications, "clown" is not an insult and in no way detracts from the honor and dignity of a person. It's the same as humiliating with the words "builder", "journalist" or "lawyer", says Pavel Korniako.
Meanwhile, experts will probably classify as offensive some slang words that indicate a low social status of a citizen in a certain subculture (for example, "cockerel" or "goat"), and openly abusive language, he emphasizes.
If the commentator moves from insults to threats, then Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation ("Minor hooliganism") may be applied to him. In cases where a person perceives intimidation as real, we are already talking about Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Threat of murder or causing serious harm to health"). And then law enforcement officers will have to assess the degree of danger of intimidation. Popular threats from couch commentators come down to phrases like "Go and look around," "I'll find you," but they're usually unsupported and written for the sake of hype.
How to distinguish a user from a bot
Not everyone can completely abandon social networks — for some, virtual space is required to work as a messenger, for others it is one of the few communication options. It would seem that the easiest way is to close the profile, put a neutral avatar, or at least not get involved in bickering.
— These methods are good, but they are all based on avoidance, which means they immediately put a person in the position of a victim in his inner sense of himself, — comments Sergey Volkov. — And this is an important point — how we feel. The best way to avoid conflict is to be resilient and ready for conflict, but not to provoke it.
According to the expert, psychological stability will help to keep from resentment — such a person is able to withstand unconstructive criticism, because he understands that it does not concern him. This criticism is therefore unconstructive because it is not true. Insults just "don't reach", they don't destroy the opponent.
However, people get caught up in an argument and get into a fight even when they are being talked to by bots that maintain visible chat activity. Users are trying to prove something to virtual interlocutors, as if making excuses in front of them. In the heat of discussion, people don't care that they, like Don Quixote, are fighting with windmills. Meanwhile, it is quite possible to distinguish a bot from a real interlocutor.
"Bots are unable to respond to non—standard logical connections," suggests a clinical psychologist. — They easily bypass absurdity or meaningless sets of words, but are unable to cope with nonlinear logic ("Couldn't you think of anything smarter?" "No, I'm sorry, Jupiter is in Aquarius today, and I'm sensitive"). Bots can't take irony. In this case, they stop the dialogue.
A person can also stop a meaningless dialogue — this is the main task when communicating with a hater, the expert emphasizes. It makes no sense for people who are stable in their life position to respond to virtual critics: they are confident in their opinion, and winning an argument will not increase either their dignity or their sense of importance. After an unnecessary conversation, there will only be a feeling of wasting time.
— Therefore, being sustainable is not just an abstract meaning, but also a real applied skill that has become mandatory in the modern world, — sums up Sergey Volkov.
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