People illogically differentiate between speaking and typing. It's far easier for me to send out a strongly worded email than to give someone a dressing down, and I think this is true for many people. Nonetheless, the words and the effect of them are the same, whether spoken or written. If anything, it's worse to write something mean or stupid, because the words can sit there in someone's inbox for years, and can be pulled out and dusted off when a spoken argument would be long forgotten.
People remain afraid of public speaking, but not of public typing. One facebook post can reach hundreds of people. How many of us, however, would walk in front of 500 people and report that we had pizza for lunch?
As I read my 100th squabble on the USAG Daegu Facebook page, I have to wonder if there was an evolutionary purpose to our fear of public speaking. Sure, deep down, we don't want to hurt or offend people. Our adrenal glands tell us this. Now, by removing ourselves from the podium, we have bypassed this ingrained impulse to be polite in front of strangers and I, for one, don't like it.
And yes, I originally tried to make this a Facebook post, but couldn't condense it to 160 characters.
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