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I have to disagree. Ascribing your own real life behavior to an online forum seems like an avoidance of introspection, not the opposite.

It's good to want to be a better person, though.

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I don't know, I think there are all sorts of things that can influence our behavior, why not an online forum? A random example, in the past when my friend and I were doing some manual labour work in construction, some of our family friends noticed how we started swearing more. I think this type of social chameleon behavior is very common. We adapt to fit the groups we are a part of. And I think it's totally reasonable to say that a community like HN would influence your behavior if your spend a lot of time interacting with it.

Besides, I think the author's point is less that HN made them act a certain way and more that they've noticed a lot of negativity here and that we should be aware of that.

You have a reasonable basis.

But, I do not find it compelling given my own experiences and how online discourse does influence me.

The big win was recognizing that and then taking an active role in managing it toward what I see as better, or good.

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