Why do people rage on twitter?
For the same reasons you scream death at that
little old lady for driving five under the
speed limit, and play different music at your
party than you would at home alone.
As General George S. Patton said, "If everyone
is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking."
Humans are social, we're pack animals.
But sometimes our pack overwhelms our sense
of individuality and we end up doing things
because other people are doing them -- psychologists
call this herd mentality.
It describes a tendency to follow, even when
following leads to terrible results -- think
riots after sporting events, runs on banks,
the salem witch trials, jumping off a bridge
if all your friends did it, et cetera.
Recently, a lion was killed by a Minnesota
dentist, and people freaked; like FREAKED.
The dentist's Yelp and Facebook pages were
overrun with hate comments, protestors stood
outside his practice, and law enforcement
stepped in to help the man who, as of this
writing, has gone into hiding.
The thing is, regardless of how the lion was
killed -- the circumstances of which are being
investigated -- and regardless of how people
feel about big game hunting… why is he being
attacked by strangers?
The herd mentality has roots in social pressure.
We all want to be accepted, and in times of
stress that pressure is even more powerful.
When people join crowds they lose a sense
of individualism; causing lowered inhibitions
and restraints.
Studies show people in a crowd feel less guilt,
experiences less judgement and feel more support
from their fellow de-individualized mob members.
Peer pressure is a type of herd mentality,
so is a riot or pitchfork-wielding mob; but
highly positive events like concerts and sporting
events are herds too!
I mean, it’s unlikely you'd chant, shout
and sing for a stranger's athletic prowess
unless others were doing it too.
Herd pressure is so powerful, we all likely
listen to different music alone in our cars
than we do when we're trying to belong to
a group.
But speaking of cars, there's a strange thing
that happens when humans enter a car; they
become deindividualized.
Basically, they lose their sense of self…
similar to being in a mob.
This is why road rage happens and people yell
horrible things when they feel even a twinge
of annoyance.
They aren't acting like their normal selves
because they're not themselves at all.
This sense of deindividualization is powerful,
but fragile.
Studies by the American Automobile Association
(AAA) found people in convertibles don't exhibit
the same rage as those with tinted windows.
Deindividualization was summed up nicely by
19th century psychologist Gustave Le Bon,
“In a crowd … a man descends several rungs
in the ladder of civilization.
Isolated, he may be a cultivated individual;
in a crowd, he is a barbarian.”
To bring it all back, people using computers
are deindividualized and are still susceptible
to herd mentality and something called positive
herding.
The journal Science found that once a few
people click LIKE on something, other people
will click LIKE too.
They called this, "positive herding."
According to their findings positive herding
can drive 25 percent more LIKES on a post.
People don't even know what the post is!
It doesn't matter!
We recognize the popularity of the thing,
and want to be on the bandwagon.
And according to another study from the University
of Sussex, joining this bandwagon makes people
feel empowered because they're part of a greater
whole.
Thanks to the global nature of the internet,
this is a mob that anyone can be a part of,
from anywhere.
And when you extend mass social pressure,
deindividualization and herd mentality to
the internet, things spin out of control fast.
And that's where our dentist is living now.
The reason people are so crazed isn't necessarily
because they actually care -- though 5 percent
of them probably do based on the research
-- 
but instead because they're following an intense
need for social belonging, and feel deindividualized
enough that they'll not experience guilt when
direct terrible and offensive language at
a stranger!
It's like road rage, but via twitter, facebook,
yelp, and wherever else.
If you're worried that you might be part of
the problem -- think critically.
Stop and wonder if your comment will ADD something
to the discussion or if it's just to feel
like you belong.
If you're not adding a solution, or a new
perspective, or a piece of important information,
then perhaps you're just jumping on the rage
dogpile…
What do you think?
Have you ever raged and regretted it?
Share your experiences with me in the comments.
Also, if you want to know more about big game
hunting and whether it can be GOOD for conservation,
check out this video I did when Kendall Jones
was caught being proud of her trophy last
year.
