Why are people such jerks on the internet?

[Retro*Derpy 3,197]

I'd imagine it's the same reason we have offline jerks. Bad childhood, recent death, bullying, life crisis, ego, so on. They need a place to do whatever they want to without punishment, and what better place than the internet? There have been people and will be people that will act like total jerks, but it's best to just ignore them and get on with your life.

[Rinkitty 589]

Also, people are just jerks in general. Humans are some vile, nasty creatures. This may not be the case for some, but a majority are disgusting.

[Princess Lona 382]

I agree with what everyone is saying about how internet jerks exist because there are no consequences on the internet, but I also think it has to do with the fact that when you're communicating with others in writing, it's not immediate. I like talking and engaging in civil debate on forums because it gives me time to think of what I want to say, phase it nicely, and if I'm debating, do a little research before responding. Because in real life I don't speak so well. I just can't form my thoughts into words quickly enough to keep up with the conversation while remaining eloquent. I short, I'm no Oscar Wilde, but online I am a bit closer.

 

I think this same problem can happen to people who want to feel big by acting like a jerk but have trouble with their words when speaking face to face. If you want to burn someone in real life, you have to have perfect timing. You have to throw out your insult at just the right moment or it just falls flat and you look stupid. On the Internet you don't need precise timing, so if, for some reason you want to be a jerk to pump up your own ego, it's a lot easier to do so.

[The Pulse 210]

Anonymity is a very large part of it. Most assholes on the internet are usually like that because there is very little chance that it could have serious repercussions in the physical world, which is the only thing they actually care about. If there is no consequences, then why not act horribly. I'm not saying that it's right, or that I agree with it, but I feel that it's the mindset that most people have.

 

Another interesting thing to consider is that it doesn't just work in one way. For instance, someone who is a jerk in real life might be nice on the nets (unlikely but possible). 

 

A good way to look at the situation is to think of the internet as one immensely large MMORPG, but with a completely different basis for the games purpose. In a regular mmo, you start out with a blank slate and proceed to build your character to become as strong as is possible in the game to defeat monsters and such. In contrast, the purpose of the internet (game) is to become as known/recognized as possible(either good or bad) through likes on facebook, or brohoofs on this forum. If that wasn't the case, why do you think that people make endless Facebook/Twitter/Instagram posts vying for your attention, or try their hardest to gain fame as a troll.

 

On a forum it goes to a whole new level because of a much smaller and constant community in comparison to the vast internet. First you create an account on a given forum and  that account starts out as a blank slate, with your actions from then on being what you are remembered by in the forums community. Whether you are a kind hearted person or a hardcore jerk/troll, you are going to be recognized as such. The latter tends to get recognized more often because most people have a tendency to focus on the bad in things, when in fact there is quite a bit of good occurring as well.

 

Whether any of that is even remotely understandable, I think it fits the topic well enough.

[Oblivion 20,270]

Because you don't have to come face to face with whoever you are calling out. In real life if some skinny teen calls some random guy a "faggot" then chances are he is going to get his ass handed to him in a matter of seconds.