How much of the web is just a race to the bottom?
JayNeely: I think it balances it out. People have a need to express their 'dark side' because so much of what we would normally say or do is suppressed by fear of what others would think of us or other types of social mores. Often we learn where the lines are by crossing them and either feeling shitty about it or being reprimanded for it. But if things were opposite, if we lived in a world of dark ugliness, there'd be the same longing for an escape into beauty, peace, and politeness.Have you read about T-Shirt Hell shutting down? ( http://bit.ly/YkX4 ) Is it unfortunate that they existed to begin with, or unfortunate that they're closing? Some of us may have strong opinions about it, but I'd be most of us would say that as a whole, most people would find the issue ambiguous... that the lines aren't clear.In some cases, the lines are clear. Spitting on someone is unacceptable. Maliciously harming someone is unacceptable. But in other cases, let's say humor, the lines aren't clear at all. And it's because we, as a society, don't make our opinions heard, clearly or even through signals like frown power ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Frown%20Power ). We need to tell people doing something offensive that it's offensive, and why. We need to tell people telling someone that things that _aren't_ offensive are offensive are wrong, and why.Otherwise, people are going to continue to repress things they'd like to do/say, and it will continue to be spewed forth in concentrated venom.