[WikiEN-l] incivility consciously as a tactic.

[Fred Bauder]

> The point being that those who actually use incivility as a wedge to
> divide the community are quite well aware of that, and this is what
> needs to be stamped out as disruption, not intermittent breakdowns of
> the civility code.
>
> I saw a recent study suggesting, alarmingly, that online many people
> find angry language and comment relatively persuasive; presumably
> because they assume it is sincere, and assume that sincerity has
> something to do with being right. I find this much more worrying than
> the traditional "lack of affect" argument, because you'd assume over
> time people would adapt to that (have we not adapted to the phone?)
>
> I think there are probably a couple of serious fallacies being allowed
> to dominate this discussion, still.
>
> Charles

Yes there is research:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/how-rude-reader-comments-may-undermine-scientists-authority/32071
Nastiness works. However, our problem is with the enablers.

Fred