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I either completely agree or completely disagree, not quite sure. On one hand, yes, it is not exposing things that don't already exist in human nature. On the other hand, I've seen lots of things said on Twitter (and other social networks) that I've just never seen people say in in-person interactions, because the normal rules of social interaction would make people feel an intense shame/embarrassment to say it face-to-face without the benefit of pseudo-anonymity.

I think this "context collapse" explanation is really accurate, because it explains that it's not just "human nature", but it's actually taking advantage of how humans have really only evolved to have back-and-forth conversations with other people who have the same conversational context.



On the other hand, I've seen lots of things said on Twitter (and other social networks) that I've just never seen people say in in-person interactions

People will use any medium to express things they won't express in in-person interactions.

I've seen things written on bathroom stall walls that I've never seen people say in in-person interactions. Is that a problem with bathroom walls?

It's not the medium that's the problem. If there is indeed a problem then it's a matter of reach and not the medium.




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