What defines a safe community?
If you consider this question in relation to the real world, most would say low crime, good schools, maybe even a more elderly demographic. You might consider a gated subdivision as a safe community. Whatever you consider safe, we can all agree that if everyone follows the rules, the community will be safe. Now consider how this correlates online. Let’s take a look at a facebook group and determine if it is safe or not.
This group here is a Florida Kayaking group on Facebook. I chose this group to use as an example since it is one I am a part of, but also because it is public and everyone who clicks can view it. The group hosts about 21,000 members and is very active with several posts a day. If you look at the “about” section, you will find the rules. The rules are very simple:
- RULE #1 — All postings must be related to kayaking in Florida.
- RULE #2 — Abusive or insulting conversation will not be tolerated.
- RULE #3 — Commercial postings or posts that promote a business are only permitted with prior authorization from Florida Kayaker group owner.
Most posts in this group are similar to the one pictured below. People explaining about their recent experience in a Florida spring, or asking the best places to visit. Overall, the group is happy, peaceful, and very informative.
Occasionally, I scroll across posts with heated arguments in the comment section. Although it is rare, it is nasty and can be very hateful. The admins tend to remove the comments and ban the members causing the problem. Censorship seems to be the answer for creating a safe community online. This raises the question if censorship creates a safe community.
If censorship is the answer to the problems in an online community, why is that not one of the typical qualities of a safe real world community?
I don’t think censorship should be what creates a safe community. A censored community leads to the idea of an echo chamber, which in my last article we determined that echo chambers are particularly harmful to society. Censorship is a very useful tool that can be used in not-so-good ways online. Every admin of an online group has the right to censor or allow any post or comment. Many Facebook groups have a feature built in where an admin must approve a post before it is shown to the rest of the group. This action creates a false sense of “safe” but rather can easily create a community of people online to cater to their own opinion. This theory would mean that “safe” means “similar ideals”.
Why are people online so mean?
Have you ever thought about why people collectively can be more mean online than in person? An average member of a community would not be so bold to be hateful and disgusting face-to-face in the same way they would to someone they don’t know online. The idea of hiding behind a proverbial wall of the internet creates a fake sense of boldness which contribute to name calling and belligerent comments online, particularly rampant on Facebook. Laurie Dove talks about this idea in her article here. Dove states “by continually presenting only our “best selves” online and reaping the emotional benefits of lots of “likes” on Facebook for instance, psychologists say our self-esteem may bloom disproportionately — and negatively impact self-control. The result? You’ll feel entitled to be an online meanie.” (Dove, 2020)
I think Dove’s statement is incredibly accurate. The appeal to having an online life is to curate how people see the user. Look at Tik-Tok and Instagram. The whole purpose is to share things you find interesting. Many users post videos and images of themselves that they like. The online trend is not to post the unflattering photos, but the ones that make you look the best. But since this is a large part of living online in 2020, then how do we prevent people from negatively impacting self control? I simply do not have an answer, but this is a major contributing factor to why it is so difficult to curate a safe online community.
