Thumbs Down to Users on StumbleUpon

Recently, a friend of mine was using the social networking site, StumbleUpon, when she received a nasty message from another StumbleUpon user (whose name and message I will not repeat here). It turned out that this other person didn’t like the fact that she had “thumbed up” a certain web site and thus, had a few choice words for her. As she sat there, perplexed at why someone would trash talk her for no real good reason, I began to doubt the value of social networking. After all, the whole point of “stumbling” is to review sites that you like or dislike and occasionally give a reason or leave a comment as to why you felt that way.

If you can’t express your opinion without having someone else berate you for it, then is social media really doing its job? We’re supposed to be building connections and discovering new things. Now, I’m not saying that we have to all get along; but shouldn’t social networking come with some sort of general protocol that everyone should adhere to? Clearly, cursing at someone or stalking someone on the Internet, leaving disparaging remarks at every presentable opportunity is not the way to build camaraderie while surfing.

If you don’t like a web site or you read someone’s blog and disagree, you should be able to disagree without being shot down. In the same respect, if you really like a web site or a blog, you should be able to leave a remark about it. The key here, I think, is always trying to find a way to channel your emotions. You may not agree with what someone else has to say or with their point of view. In fact, reading what someone has written, whether it be fact or fiction might even make you upset; but you can’t surf around putting down others who don’t share the same point of view as you. The world wide web would be an awfully mundane place if everyone shared the same view point. It is the diversity of information that is available to us at just the click of a mouse or a few keystrokes that keeps Internet readers coming back for more.

In the meantime, what can be done about users, like the one on StumbleUpon, who leave insidious comments? Does simply “reporting” them have any profound effect?

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