[Chris G.]

I am a heterosexual Caucasian male, 25, with some college and above-average test scores. In every sense, I fit the description of average. As I read postings throughout the Internet, I wonder what is gained. Postings are poorly worded, badly misspelled and generally full of diatribe and drivel (Director's Note: Except at Y Forum, of course.). Does the person making these postings feel he/she is convincing John Q. Public of the validity of an argument? I don't understand.

User Detail :  

Name : Chris G., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Buddhist, Age : 25, City : Lansing, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : bartender, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Dawn]

As A black female, I am really not surprised you don't understand.

User Detail :  

Name : Dawn, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 22, City : Greenville, State : NC Country : United States, Occupation : sales, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Dan27170]

It's the medium of the everyman. It's where the average Joe can throw his opinion around on the same message board as Ph.Ds. It's where the average Jane can go to tripod.com, build a fast & easy web page and advertize her love for kung fu movies to however many passers-by stumble across it. As for typing and grammar errors: not everyone in the world is an English major, and we tend to take for granted that the majority of people don't know how to type. Remember the days of typing out a term paper via the hunt-and-peck method? A close friend of mine is a year younger than I and has a high-powered architecture degree, but she can't type very well so she uses some sort of short-hand typing. Also, not everyone has the opportunity of seeking higher education, so their arguments don't always sound well-constructed and logical because they were not trained in such methods.

User Detail :  

Name : Dan27170, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 21, City : L.A. area, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[M.K.]

You say you have above average test scores, and are in every way average!!! What was that about drivel ? In answer to your question, I suspect many people post on the internet in order to elicit the responses they desire; for instance people who deliberately invite abuse are known as 'trolls'.

User Detail :  

Name : M.K., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 31, City : Sydney, State : NA Country : Australia, Education level : Technical School, 

[todd k]

well, people have opinions, and they like to express them. :) they may write messages in an unwieldly manner, but that doesn't mean one should discount their ideas. the internet is the first place where humanity has been given true freedom of speech, not only in the ability to post whatever you want, but because your audience can't have an inate bias against what you say based on your race, gender, religion, etc. cyberspace is the realization of ideas transposed onto magnetic tape; it's free and beautiful. let people say whatever they want, however they'd like to. yes, you may see it a meaningless drivel, but somewhere on this planet there's someone who will get something out of those comments, and that was their purpose. communication can be an art form... there's no requirement for ideas to be formal and structured.

User Detail :  

Name : todd k, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 17, City : rochester hills, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : student, Social class : Middle class, 

[PW30329]

Let's see: you don't understand why others do it, yet here you are posting yourself. And here I am replying, even though I have no particular insight into this subject and generally feel the same way about the drivel that others post (your post excepted, of course). Strange isn't it? My only explanation is that people are weird; if you expect people to act logically, get used to disappointment. Surely a 25 year old bartender would know this?

User Detail :  

Name : PW30329, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 33, City : Sydney, State : NA Country : Australia, Occupation : I.T., Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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