https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/1i9x990/how_awful_did_people_talk_presocial_media/
created by MirandaR524 on 25/01/2025 at 21:15 UTC
53 upvotes, 176 top-level comments (showing 25)
I see some absolutely *vile* things in the comment threads on various social media platforms.
What was it like before social media? Did people talk like that in real life? Or is it more a keyboard warrior thing?
Comment by AutoModerator at 25/01/2025 at 21:15 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See this post[1], the rules, and the sidebar for details. Thank you for your submission, MirandaR524.
2: /message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople
Comment by patawpha at 25/01/2025 at 21:20 UTC
339 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Basically you could talk like that once.
Then you would find out why that wasn't a good idea.
Comment by southerndude42 at 25/01/2025 at 21:20 UTC*
99 upvotes, 2 direct replies
You'd get punched in the mouth. It' s definitely a Keyboard warrior thing. It has translated over to real life now a days though but still you can get punched in the mouth. :)
Comment by peaceful_raven at 25/01/2025 at 21:19 UTC
63 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Keyboard warriors.
Comment by OldGtrGarden at 25/01/2025 at 21:20 UTC
58 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You’d have to cash that check you wrote.
Comment by ShesGotaChicken2Ride at 25/01/2025 at 21:21 UTC
50 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Most people would never have the balls to talk shit to your face, and if they did they probably got slapped because there were real life, Immediate consequences. Most people didn’t have that kind of reach back then, either. I can click on any random social media profile right now and roast someone I know nothing about and have never met. 25 years ago, you couldn’t do that.
Comment by Professor-genXer at 25/01/2025 at 21:24 UTC
31 upvotes, 1 direct replies
People are less inclined to be directly rude or nasty to your face. That’s why kids used to write notes saying mean crap about other kids in school , or scrawling stuff on bathroom walls.
Over the years I have also noted some people willing to be unkind via email. I think it’s only gotten worse with social media and the ability to be anonymous. There have always been rude angry people, and now it’s easier for them to spew hate. I block people as needed.
Comment by nomadnomo at 25/01/2025 at 21:24 UTC
31 upvotes, 1 direct replies
nope
people are a lot braver when they can't be punched in the face
Comment by trripleplay at 25/01/2025 at 21:21 UTC
16 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Some people talked that way. But most people- even those who were thinking hateful things- were motivated to tone it down or keep it to themselves because of the lack of anonymity.
Comment by InadmissibleHug at 25/01/2025 at 21:21 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Directly and to each other? Sometimes. Bullying existed, and existed in workplaces.
Often the worst stuff was reserved for when they found other people with equally repugnant views.
People are still people. What I used to hear IRL has improved, and online has worsened.
Comment by ideapit at 25/01/2025 at 21:37 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You were basically your word.
What you said represented who you were and you'd have to stand by it.
Because there was no anonymity.
Face-to-face communication also meant you would see the effects of your words immediately.
I'm not saying there were no assholes but you knew who they were and they would be held socially (and sometimes physically) accountable.
Comment by Edward_T_M at 25/01/2025 at 21:32 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Not at all. Only skanky drunk people talked that way in public.
If you spoke that way at work, you’d get fired. If you spoke that way at school, you’d go to the principal‘s office and put in detention for a month. If you spoke that way at home, you would get grounded and put in your place.
The anonymity of the Internet is the stupidest thing that any of the social media companies ever did. When they first started, I saw this and I knew civilization was gonna go to hell.
Younger people made fun of me and said I was an idiot.
Comment by Street-Baseball8296 at 25/01/2025 at 21:38 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This depends on who and where. On a construction site, even now, you hear some stuff that would shock most people. With social media, you’re hearing from people you may have never run into or heard from otherwise.
Comment by Droogie_65 at 25/01/2025 at 21:29 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
People were mostly polite and had freaking manners. If not you found out the card way to get some manners.
Comment by FuckYourDownvotes23 at 25/01/2025 at 21:33 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
There were consequences for saying stupid shit in person that don't apply to typing garbage on your keyboard
Comment by Ollie-Arrow-1290 at 25/01/2025 at 21:36 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Once upon a time, civility kept us in check. You only spewed that crap venting to a close friend\family member.
Comment by gregaustex at 25/01/2025 at 21:44 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
People are much worse when it is anonymous. Kind of like road rage.
As others have said - some of what people will say to others on line would get them punched in the face irl.
So I guess the real answer is there was only face to face and it was more or less like you’d talk to someone in person now. That includes some people saying terrible things when for whatever reason they think they can get away with it.
Comment by AfterSomewhere at 25/01/2025 at 21:45 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
No, we didn't talk like that.
Comment by Unboxinginbiloxi at 25/01/2025 at 21:52 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
No we did not. This is a phenomenon of the last 20 yrs.
Comment by The1Ylrebmik at 25/01/2025 at 21:26 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Keyboard warrior. People didn't tend to immediately drop into discussions of political, religious, and social issues with complete strangers. Closest thing you would see is comment sections of magazines or letters to the editor in newspapers and those outlets would generally not print it if you were a jerk.
Comment by gorkt at 25/01/2025 at 21:27 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Nope, if you said the things a lot of people say on the internet now in public back then, you would get ignored or shut down. My grandmother once said something racist in public and my dad immediately called her on it. She was a lot more careful after that.
Comment by ProStockJohnX at 25/01/2025 at 21:28 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It was much better. Now when I bump into my ranty FB friends I see their face and I immediately think of the last 4-5 politi-crap posts they shared.
Comment by AuroraDF at 25/01/2025 at 21:28 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Occasionally drunk people might be pretty abusive. But on the whole, people don't talk like that to your face.
In the early days or chat rooms and forums, I moderated or was admin for a few. My rule of thumb was, if you wouldn't say it aloud on a stage in a stadium in front of tens of thousands of people, you shouldn't be saying it on a forum/chatroom. I did apply this to social media for a long time, and mostly still do, but too many folk do not!
Comment by nosey1 at 25/01/2025 at 21:34 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
They had to cash that check. So, many of them stayed silent.
Comment by ocTGon at 25/01/2025 at 21:37 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Not as awful as you think. You would be a member of the FAFO club real fast if you talked shit to someone. Also, people knew how to socialize because we had to in order to do things like work, party, shop etc... You know, all of the everyday living skills that so many kids today are lacking...