Attitudes: Reporters, Reported, and YouTube (Cont.)
Real Problems
Attitudes can develop from over reporting. People can choose to keep negativity out of their lives, but great development and learning will spawn if different points of view are at least appreciated regardless of if they are valued or believed. Someone can become a stronger person from difficult comments. As I discussed in the previous page, it is important to defend oneself, but no one will ever completely be able to defend himself or herself completely from the often chaotic and callous world we live in.
Having the power to rid of anything one finds offensive can be very gratifying, but it can also give a sense of Godlike invincibility. If people are searching for words by which to be offended, then they might not think critically and might begin to be paranoid and take everything the wrong way. Unfortunately, no one is more special than anyone else, and sometimes a sense of humor is an important asset to deal with one’s faults, insecurities, and life as a whole. People often misconstrue ideas, and hearing other points of view is crucial to not only widening one's perspective, but it is also important to have something for which we need to fight. We can accomplish more if we allow people to say what they want while carrying on a good debate rather than shutting others up or forcing their comments to be deleted.
When people are reported for something that they do not understand or, on the contrary, they understand their comment to be completely harmless, humorous, or even helpful, they may begin to become bitter when people do not react the way they had inferred. Sometimes "trolls" say insulting things just to bother people, and they know it will work. Ignoring people can be the best way to make them stop bothering others. If someone wants to look like a pompous jerk, then we should let them ruin their reputation. Eventually, bad things will come to people who deserve it when they mess with the wrong person or people. When there are a lot of people that are trolling, ignoring them is probably best. However, if many people are ganging up against another person, then reporting and contesting their viewpoint is important. If someone does report a troll, it is important to make sure there is a serious problem going on that is definitely bullying or harassment of some sort. It just depends on the circumstance when it is best to comment, report, or ignore.
If someone tries to defend themselves online, it may be futile in the real world anyway. An attitude of entitlement or lack of a tough spirit could follow from censoring everything. Especially on YouTube, people can either have an overly defensive attitude or an overly offensive attitude. When I bring up the word entitlement, I am specifically talking about instances where people think their problems are the most important problems in the world, and they act like they cannot handle it on their own. There have already been instances of YouTube struggling to keep up with removing content of all types due to a constant flow of reported comments and videos. Maybe we should focus more on reporting threats and dangerous comments.
Sometimes trivial stuff will still be reported, and there is nothing we can do about it. Maybe we will find out that the person’s intentions were not as negative as we thought, but they did not articulate their thoughts as well as they should have. The main goal should be to report what is deemed as most necessary based on valid criteria as judged by YouTube, the target, and other audience members’ experiences.