Internet: Intensity, Immediacy...Idiocy?

So the advent of Facebook and its raging popularity has spawned two conversations that have made me wonder a few things.  First of all, when did we forget that letting other people have opinions that differed from ours was NOT ok?  And when did we decide that if someone was of another opinion we should "un-friend" them?

My opinion (and you are SOOOO welcome to have yours!) is that the immediacy of the Internet can be a bad thing.  Not always.  I love texting my hubby about something that is tough to sort of test the waters or at least get the thinking process going.  I love Facebooking my friends so I know how they are doing thousands of miles away.  I even love email, where I can email my friend from church with a question about theology.  However, what I am seeing more and more is the nastiness that moves from cyberspace to front lawn when we discuss tough topics with family or friends online.  Instead of taking a moment to recognize the artifical nature of the Internet--the cocoon of non-face-to-face interaction--we just let go.  And get mad.

Two examples:  My hubby who is a very literal kind of guy gets his nose very out of shape when he gets emails that have major fallacy of thought going on.  You know the ones that start out with a statement about the country going to H--- in a handbag and somehow involve the government, the pharmacists down the road and eventually space aliens?  He is constantly sending members of his family to Snopes. com or writing scathing emails about the ability to think being something that separates from animals.  He isn't the really nasty sort, but sometimes in the translation it sounds that way...So, he sent an email to a family member in response to one of these space alien/government takeover kind of emails that was a little on the curt side, but it was to someone who knew him, so they should've known, right?  And if it had stopped there, all probably would have been fine.  Except it didn't.  It was forwarded to a friend of the family member who forwarded it to another friend (probably because if you aren't offended by my hubby's point of view you have to admire his clarity in thought and writing style) who forwarded it to another friend who doesn't know my spouse and there it happened.  The "unfriending" of it all.  Yes, it happened.  Someone unfriended one of my family members for that little email.  Keep in mind, the un-friended wasn't even the family  member Matthew sent the original email to--this was a ANOTHER family member.  So I suppose, my husband could have been a little gentler, but really?  We unfriend people for forwards that aren't pornographic in nature now?

Second example was my friend who sent an email with his political opinion in it. He was responding to a query from someone in his debate-loving family.  It got forwarded.  Things got heated.  A second perhaps less gently worded email got sent.  Things heated up.  Time passed and things seemed ok...until the family dinner where someone brought it up.  Guess who isn't invited to dinner anymore?  Guess what people?  YOU DON'T UNFRIEND FAMILY for disagreeing with you...especially when it all starts in cyberland.

I guess I just think that sometimes what starts in cyberspace should stay in cyberspace?  Or maybe we are all losing the ability to screen our irrational desire to be right all the time because of the immediacy of the Internet.  Here we can say what we want and someone, somewhere will agree--and usually before we get done typing.  We get accustomed to that and when someone disagrees we become two years old again?  I don't know.  I know I've done it, but hopefully, I've gotten over it fast enough to stop my finger from the "unfriend" button...

What do you think?