Anonymity Makes Us Ignorant

With all the great things the Internet provides us, from services to entertainment, you also see things in people that you usually only see when they are stone cold drunk, ignorance. It's been talked about before, people lose all control of their animal instincts and hurt others as quickly and as often as they can, because, on the Internet, you aren't as accountable. You can say things on a message board, like you hate black people, the Holocaust never happened or that some other guy's wife is a fat pig, things that would get your nose bloodied in some company. Safe behind your computer screen, no one can hurt you so your fingers type what your mouth could never safely say.

This isn't always a bad thing. Anonymity can also allow us to say things that people need to hear without the backlash that sometimes goes with these things. For instance, protesting the tyranny of the Chinese governments lock-down on intelligent freedoms in China or signing a petition to support a cause you might not otherwise support in public.

Rudeness in general comes from anonymity, and this one really irritates me. When trying to do business with people, especially on a message board or through Craigslist, I might reply to questions about a product I'm trying to sell, like price, location, or cost to ship and I answer them as quickly and nicely as possible. They never reply. They never say weather they want the item or not. Not even a "Go To Hell". They just never reply. It's Irritating.

I'm currently trying to sell a PlayStation 2, 10 games and accessories and have had many people ask me about it and with each reply of mine, I get cool silence. If they don't like the price, we can negotiate. Don't want to pick it up, I can meet you somewhere. They never find this out because they believe I will act like they do, with rudeness and general uncooperativeness. I'm willing to bend. People on the internet, generally just don't get it.