Ok guys thanks for the good responses. Let me see if I can sum up and continue with a bit more.
1. It looks like we believe that most of the language we see is not necessarily accompanied by hateful intentions toward the group(s) deing negatively described.
2. Second it looks like it is not necessarily a direct threat to the wellbeing of the message sender (shittalker) or the receiver (shittalkee). No one will get into pyysical fights across the internet.
3. This language is not created by online gaming, instead developed somewhere else, possibly from culture's pull to be 'cool'. Perhaps television has played a role.
4. Harmful or Harmless (yet to be truly deturmined), it IS passive-aggressive ######/race bashing, and by letting it become the norm we EACH do in fact contribute.
5. It is not something that we necessarily need to stop, nor could we do so if we wanted to. Filters and such are few in numbers and seldom enforced.
Does this sound about right? Is that what you read above?
Ok great. If not, I misread. Going into Devil's Advocate mode, lets further explore.
WHAT IF... while this behavior brings no direct fight right NOW on the computer, the positive feedback a player receives from his clan mates reinforces this language to be accepted. Maybe the player takes this into other aspects of life where he misuses it in the wrong crowd. Is there EVER a 'right crowd' to be running around firing off ######GOT and I'm Stupid for Swearing at will? Maybe a clan rally?
WHAT IF... a group of friends begin using these words together in all settings. They are at school, at the mall, on the street etc. If another group happens to be walking by and takes offense, this may just look like a gang fight, eh?
WHAT IF... I am blowing this completely out of proportion for the sake of a good discussion, and most kids will eventually grow out of the phase, perhaps after a few bad seeds are punished or asses are kicked for using such words in the wrong context?
These are all possibilities.
I do know that a guy was shot at a local cyber cafe a few weeks ago. I don't know whether race was a factor, or whether shittalking sparked the fuse. I do know they were playing cs prior to the incident, and 2 close friends stood less that 8 feet from the victim. Vegas is quite diverse, and prety cs crazy. These 24 hour places keep pretty busy around the clock. Kids... hell anyone under 21 does not have a ton to do in this '21 and over city'.
People find a special connection to the gaming world, and in cs especially where many kids have their first dealing in clans. People put more faith and emotion in their clans in the mid-teen years than some of us older players want to see. A clan may be a teen's only real sense of acceptance and belonging. Language is one of the few contagious traits we can take from others online. Trends travel fast, and creep into other aspects of everyday life.
Heh, I think I just had a Springer final thought... anyway lets not make it final in any way. Keep it coming folks!
Beastie
1. It looks like we believe that most of the language we see is not necessarily accompanied by hateful intentions toward the group(s) deing negatively described.
2. Second it looks like it is not necessarily a direct threat to the wellbeing of the message sender (shittalker) or the receiver (shittalkee). No one will get into pyysical fights across the internet.
3. This language is not created by online gaming, instead developed somewhere else, possibly from culture's pull to be 'cool'. Perhaps television has played a role.
4. Harmful or Harmless (yet to be truly deturmined), it IS passive-aggressive ######/race bashing, and by letting it become the norm we EACH do in fact contribute.
5. It is not something that we necessarily need to stop, nor could we do so if we wanted to. Filters and such are few in numbers and seldom enforced.
Does this sound about right? Is that what you read above?
Ok great. If not, I misread. Going into Devil's Advocate mode, lets further explore.
WHAT IF... while this behavior brings no direct fight right NOW on the computer, the positive feedback a player receives from his clan mates reinforces this language to be accepted. Maybe the player takes this into other aspects of life where he misuses it in the wrong crowd. Is there EVER a 'right crowd' to be running around firing off ######GOT and I'm Stupid for Swearing at will? Maybe a clan rally?
WHAT IF... a group of friends begin using these words together in all settings. They are at school, at the mall, on the street etc. If another group happens to be walking by and takes offense, this may just look like a gang fight, eh?
WHAT IF... I am blowing this completely out of proportion for the sake of a good discussion, and most kids will eventually grow out of the phase, perhaps after a few bad seeds are punished or asses are kicked for using such words in the wrong context?
These are all possibilities.
I do know that a guy was shot at a local cyber cafe a few weeks ago. I don't know whether race was a factor, or whether shittalking sparked the fuse. I do know they were playing cs prior to the incident, and 2 close friends stood less that 8 feet from the victim. Vegas is quite diverse, and prety cs crazy. These 24 hour places keep pretty busy around the clock. Kids... hell anyone under 21 does not have a ton to do in this '21 and over city'.
People find a special connection to the gaming world, and in cs especially where many kids have their first dealing in clans. People put more faith and emotion in their clans in the mid-teen years than some of us older players want to see. A clan may be a teen's only real sense of acceptance and belonging. Language is one of the few contagious traits we can take from others online. Trends travel fast, and creep into other aspects of everyday life.
Heh, I think I just had a Springer final thought... anyway lets not make it final in any way. Keep it coming folks!
Beastie