The Stupid Internet Jerks

Andrew Rickmann hit home when he asked, “Have I offended you?” Andrew was in a circumstance where a blogger thought he was offended by something.

In Andrew’s case, the blogger actually cared enough to follow-up and make sure everything is okay. However, the blogger’s behavior seems to be the exception to the rule after reading several articles this week on Internet behavior.

What can be taboo and obscene offline is usually fair game online. Calling someone a moron, an idiot, a jerk, a noob, or a host of other names is as simple as typing them on the keyboard, hitting send, and hiding behind a monitor.

PC World calls these people Jerks of the Web.

Within this article I will detail some of the jerks mentioned, and add a few of my own.

E-mail Jerks

These jerks pay no mind to how high someone might rank in the corporate world. With e-mail, everyone is equal, and is reduced down to their writing ability. Don’t like how your boss spells thier? Rip him down and call him an e-mail noob!

Scamming Jerks

Another point the PC World article brought up was those who write sponsored posts. It’s a topic I’ve avoided writing about here personally because I’ve done some in the past and I do think that there are decent sponsored posts out there.

However, there are some sponsored posts out there that are the equivalent of a 500-pound guy getting on television explaining how the “XYZ” diet is the best thing since sliced bread. Sometimes it’s too obvious that the writer of the post doesn’t give a crap about the product — the writer just wants the paycheck at the end of the month.

While writing a sponsored post in itself isn’t bad, if one isn’t writing honestly and without bias, then the post is just nothing but a scam.

Noob Jerks

Jonathan Fields writes about how to deal with blog hecklers. He was new to blogging and wrote a controversial post. And here’s what happened:

I ended up being called names that, only three-weeks into blogging, made me seriously re-think whether I really wanted to keep going.

Sue @ TameBay is also wary of the noob jerks:

But the bigger problem is the other commenters. They don’t have the vested interest in reader appreciation, and how you say to them “if someone’s a newbie, don’t go for the jugular”? I don’t know. On some of the blogs I was thinking of when I wrote the comment, the regulars have got so used to each others’ pet issues, and their arguments are so well-rehearsed, that a newbie is almost like ‘fresh meat’ to play with.

Trolling Jerks

Jonathan Fields called trolling jerks “The Genuine Thrasher”.

Some people literally spend the better part of each day looking for a fight. It makes them come alive. And, very often, with the added separation of the screen, people feel even freer to let loose online.

Trolls are out for blood. They feast on noobs, bloggers, forum members, commenters, and just about anything else. They are the fungi of the Internet, willing to infect all.

How to Deal With These Jerks?

I’m afraid that even I have not mastered how to deal with all kinds of Internet jerks. For starters, try to identify what kind of jerk the person is. Once again, I refer you to the article on how to deal with hecklers, which has a nice breakdown of the kind of hecklers (not all jerks) you might deal with.

My way is to try not to take anything personal, even if it is personal. If the comments are starting to get bad, I usually turn them off for a post, or I put my foot down and say, “Keep the comments on topic or they will be deleted.” I don’t like deleting comments, but sometimes it’s necessary to make a point.

I’ll also let a post with a lot of negative comments sit on the shelf for a while. Then, with a friend, I’ll read through the comments again. It’s amazing how personal attacks seem utterly pitiful and sometimes funny in the company of others.

Conclusion

It’s easy to be a jerk on the Internet. But one must remember that we are all human, flaws and all.

I’ll close with this paraphrased quote when I watched a customer-service video from Disney. It was a training video I watched while in college and it was of a manager talking to some of the maintenance people:

You all are very visible to the customers of the park, so you’ll be asked a lot of questions. You’ll be answering the same question over and over throughout the day. Just remember that although the answer will be quite obvious to you, each one of those customers has a brand new and genuine question that needs a genuine answer.

The above quote is quite different from the noob experience when visiting a forum, where the common phrase is, “Use search!”

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