I think most of us will agree that we should respect people we encounter in our homes, at work, when shopping at the local supermarket, and anywhere else we might see people face-to-face. We refrain from cursing in public and obviously refrain from insulting people or calling them names. If we own or manage a place where we serve the public, we are polite to them and accommodate them the best way we reasonably can respecting their views and acting on their complaints to resolve their difficulties.
Our "online presence" appears to change these rules significantly at least for a lot of people. Many evidently see the internet as a place of mischief where the distance and anonymity of that medium opens the door to opportunities to treat others badly. Their mistreatment includes bullying in gangs, cursing out those with different or opposing views, insulting others, threats, and engaging in name-calling. Those who own and run these online social mediums are often lax in enforcing rules to prevent this kind of abuse and may even encourage it or engage in it firsthand by bullying anybody who does not support their agenda.
How bad can it get? Pretty darned bad. Here is but one tragic example: Boy reportedly hangs self after bullies tell him to commit suicide.
So I recommend that we rethink how we conduct ourselves anywhere and that includes online. To answer my own question: No, being online does not change morality. What's wrong offline is wrong online.
Our "online presence" appears to change these rules significantly at least for a lot of people. Many evidently see the internet as a place of mischief where the distance and anonymity of that medium opens the door to opportunities to treat others badly. Their mistreatment includes bullying in gangs, cursing out those with different or opposing views, insulting others, threats, and engaging in name-calling. Those who own and run these online social mediums are often lax in enforcing rules to prevent this kind of abuse and may even encourage it or engage in it firsthand by bullying anybody who does not support their agenda.
How bad can it get? Pretty darned bad. Here is but one tragic example: Boy reportedly hangs self after bullies tell him to commit suicide.
So I recommend that we rethink how we conduct ourselves anywhere and that includes online. To answer my own question: No, being online does not change morality. What's wrong offline is wrong online.