Why people do what they do – 1

In an attempt to bring myself back to writing and to revive this sad little blog, here’s presenting a new series.

The recent brouhaha in the blogosphere has had me wondering. There are several people who invest a lot of their time and passion into their blogs. They have opinions and they’re not afraid to air them and get into arguments with people, as long as the people arguing remain in the realm of civil behaviour.

Now that’s the issue I have. What causes people to cross those limits of civility? Why are trolls trolls? What is it that motivates them and causes them to leave nasty comments? What causes them to wish the blogger ill? They’re most welcome to dislike what a blogger has to say and disagree, but what is that chemical in their sorry heads that causes them to shoot off that hate mail, that nasty comment, say things like “I’m done reading you. You don’t deserve the readership you have” etc.

Is it a case of too much time, too few worthwhile things to do, too few friends, a bad childhood, not enough love in their lives? What?

On the other hand, what causes bloggy bonds to forge? (this is something I needed to have done much earlier, but better late than never). I was really touched by the response I received to my last post, comments, and emails. Thank you guys, it really cheered me up and I got caught up with a hundred different things and couldn’t post replies, but it really meant a lot to me.

What causes some people to reach out to a virtual stranger to just convey some understanding, a simple “Hang in there”? Whatever it is the world is a better place for it!

Edited to add:
While I’m on the topic of blogs, I have to mention food bloggers. How do they do it? On the one hand you’re cooking, on another, you’re taking pictures, mentally composing your blog post. How do they get the motivation to do these things! I doff my hat at them. Seriously, major admiration comes!