by Angel Sharum

Created on: August 28, 2008   Last Updated: July 29, 2011

Message boards are great tools offered on the Internet. You can interact with others that share common interests, medical conditions, or hobbies. It is possible to make true friends on message boards. The problem comes in when people abuse others on message boards.

Not everyone practices good manners online. Message boards seem to be rife with mean, abusive, obnoxious people. Here are some reasons I think people are mean on message boards:

• They were never taught good manners in the first place. Some people just don't know how to talk with others. They are like this in person as well as on message boards. These people believe they are correct all the time, and get belligerent when anyone disagrees with them. There really is no way to talk with someone like this. It's best to just ignore them.

• Not being face-to-face with others makes them brave. A person who is picked on in real life, or who never speaks up for themselves, may find message boards a place to vent their frustrations. Instead of learning to stand up for themselves in real life, they will talk mean to someone on a message board. The old "misery loves company" saying comes to mind in these situations.

• Mistaken identity can play a role in meanness on message boards. Sometimes trolls are a big problem on message boards. When a new person comes along, the regulars may mistake them for a troll and say things that aren't too nice. If this is the case, it can usually be resolved if each party will talk with the other and sort the misunderstanding out.

• Really trying to make your point or get your opinion across can sometimes sound mean to the person on the other end of the message board. If you are a really opinionated person who doesn't have the best social skills, trying to get your point of view across might be hard. In your quest to make others see things the same way you do, you can sometimes go overboard.  

• It's always best to re-read everything before you post your response on a message board.  Doing this will stop a lot of message board disagreements. Also, reading a message someone else writes more than once before replying is a good idea. If you take the time and really read the message thoroughly you may find that you don't have as much to disagree with as you first thought.

If everyone would just give the other person the benefit of the doubt in the beginning, a lot of message board problems could be avoided.

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