From my observation and experience I think I understand a little more about the nature of human communication.
There is a large group of us who are outspoken and like to speak up and be heard and identified by others. Some of that group are well educated and intelligent although the two terms are NOT synonymous. Another portion will just say or write anything to be recognized. The remaining few are pure babbling idiots. I am somewhere in this outspoken group. So are politicians. You can pick what subgroup.
There is an equally sized group of vocalist who are inherently personal identity cowards. They are eager to speak but only under the cover of anonymity. Street culture “handles”, CB radio “handles”, internet reply “handles” all show evidence of this trait. It’s just a part of human nature for many folks. There is safety in hiding who you are. A kind of mob mentality and personal secret.
The biggest group I believe are the lurkers or silent majority as they were once named. They observe, read and are aware, but never speak up or voice an opinion. They are the most shy or afraid of involvement. Again it is a natural human trait. They will usually privately vote if they don’t have to raise a hand.
I don’t think any of these types can be changed easily into another. Any change is from lurker to anonymous to outspoken. I think there may remain a tendency for those who do change to retreat back into their more private comfort zone.
I write blogs like this one and run BBS systems on the Internet. They have become personal diaries more than a comment opportunity for the identifiable outspoken, as I require careful scrutiny of who I permit to join and post comments. There are many people in the middle anonymous group who will spam and act up because they hide their identity. These folks add no value to my efforts.
The silent majority has almost no effect at all.
I don’t post world changing propaganda. I just rant and ramble on my personal ideas and thoughts and on the things I actually can accomplish as a single person. Probably boring to most who first discover my websites. I do have some steady readers who will comment to me privately but not post on site. These are probably the silent majority folks. 🙂
I keep going on, having my say as I keep filtering out the word bombers. Hmmm… That word might attract some attention… It’s a strange culture today.