Volatility in Electronic Communication For several decades it has been noted on various forums that communicating on the Internet can be downright mean. Anonymity, lack of accountability, absence of visual cues, and perceived distance have led to increased hostility and rudeness on social media on the Internet. This uncivil communication has also been shown to “hurt the perpetrator more than anyone on the receiving end” (Rope, n.d.). As a result, it has been established that face-to-face communication is more productive and healthy than communication via electronic formats for all parties involved in the conversation. This volatile communication is not a recent development following the explosive growth of social media sites. Lee Sproull, PhD was quoted by Rope in her article, Why is there so much negativity on the Internet?, stating "an escalation of critical comments and an increase in the frequency with which people respond with short negative messages" (page 1 ). These early virtual conversations were called “flame wars” (Rope, n.d.) in the 1970s, when scientists first began communicating virtually. From that point on, virtual communication began a downward spiral, with evidence in almost every blog, news feed, review and every other social media site. So why is virtual communication taking this negative turn? Wolchover says there are three factors that constitute a “perfect storm” (page 1) of conditions that generate aggressive comments in public forums. These three factors include anonymity, distance, and the ease of being volatile in writing. By being anonymous, the writer is not required to atone for volatile comments that are made. Remove consequ...... middle of paper ......nd/human-brain/psychological-reason-mean-on-internet.htmGardner, A. (2012, August 2). Troll Psychology: Why People Are So Mean on the Internet - Health News and Views - Health.com. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://news.health.com/2012/08/02/troll-psychology-mean-internet/ Eveleth, R. (2012, September 16). Why You're So Bad on the Internet - SmartPlanet. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/why-youre-so-mean-on-the-internet/Rope, K. (n.d.). Why is there so much negativity on the Internet? | Really simple. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/technology/communication-etiquette/negativity-00100000073022/Brossard, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2013, March 3). This story sucks - NYTimes.com. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/opinion/sunday/this-story-stinks.html?_r=0