Also internet anonymity brings extremism out of people.
IRL, when debating another person, most people IMO wouldn't be at least half as extremist as they're on reddit or HN
IRL, when debating another person, most people IMO wouldn't be at least half as extremist as they're on reddit or HN
The interface of reddit and HN kind of encourage this. Old PHP BBs used to have avatar pics and signature blocks and stuff that distinguished your post as yours. It sort of anchored your “content” to an identity, so over time a community develops and people start to develop reputations and stuff. That doesn’t happen as much when everything is visually indistinct from everything else.