We've heard about road rage and air rage. But what about online auction rage? I'm working on a story for AuctionWatch that has to do with how folks sometimes can't control their anger when it comes to buying and selling at online auction. I'm looking for examples of such behavior.
Have you been the victim or heard about cases of online auction rage (harassing a seller with threats via email or the telephone, placing bids on all of a seller's auctions to get back at him/her with no intent of paying, etc.)? And do you have any thoughts on why this kind of thing happens? Does the anonymity of the Internet and online auctions embolden people to commit acts that they might not otherwise do?
Feel free to post your comments here or send them to me via email at [email protected]. Many thanks.
The eBay Outlook is loaded with stories about whacko, out-of-control buyers who threaten sellers or send hate-mail to bidders who outsnipe them. Best bet would be to sift through the threads one page at a time. Your quest will be amply rewarded.
posted on May 18, 2001 07:15:21 PM newDoes the anonymity of the Internet and online auctions embolden people to commit acts that they might not otherwise do?
ABSOLUTELY!!!
Take two old ladies so sweet that sugar won't melt in their mouths and place them outside a store entrance. They will insist the other go in first for what will seem an eternity and smile the whole time. Take the same two old ladies and make them an anonymous driver and they will perform a demolition derby in a competition for a parking space. On the internet I think it is even worse. Without facial expressions, or voice inflections many will read insults and threats into messages that aren't there, and from the first misunderstand things snowball.
I see people frequently launch a crusade against a person or company on the internet that can only be compared to Ahab's hate for Moby Dick. I can't believe they could function in the real world with the same actions. The amounts involved are frequently trivial compared to the energy expended on the matter.
"Drink, ye harpooneers! drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful whaleboat's bow -- Death to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death!"
