Is It So Hard to Be Nice?

So, I love the interwebz because the interwebz are horrible and wonderful at the same time. People are the internet are frequently creepy or mean. I think that a lot of this is because, in real life, we are expected to be polite and whatnot, but on the internet, we have no fear of retaliation. Honestly, I see no reason to take it that far. I am the first person to admit that I can be a bitch, but I try to keep my mean and sarcastic side to myself, unless I'm dealing with friends who can take it and know that I probably don't mean it. On the internet, people act like it is their God-given right to be ass holes. Obviously the nice person, the honest person, or the people who lack tough skin are the ones to blame, if they get offended. You should be a jerk or grow a pair or get off the internet. Not true. There is nothing wrong with being nice. There is nothing wrong with asking a seemingly dumb question. For JET forums, I don't know that there is anything wrong with asking a question that there might be an answer to 56 pages of threads ago.

Yeah, I like honesty. In fact, I hate lies, even kind ones. I would rather you be brutally honest. But, brutally honest and douche-y are different. There is no need to mock people or cut them down; tell them that they can find it, how to find it, where to find it, or just suggest searching on their own first, but don't just insult them. I think that, on the internet, it is especially important to be less of an ass because online you can't hear sarcasm. There is no sarcastic grammatical device that makes it seem less harsh. Plus, there are just a lot of assbutts (thank you, Cas) out there.

So, to the decent people, just keep being nice and ignore the people who have to be mean. If mean people want to hang out with mean people, that's great; I love being a jerk to my friends too, but not to new people and people that don't know me. I shall continue trying to be nice and helpful in response to all questions and maybe spread some friendliness ^_^

Also, if you don't act like a tool, you have far less of a chance of future employers finding your profile somewhere and going, "WOW!!! That guy's a prick, we don't want to hire him!" So, keep it nicer and you'll probably save yourself a lot of trouble, while still helping people.

/End rant :P