The Causes Of The "Internet Mob"

"Internet mob" is a new but severe social phenomenon over the internet. Although the freedom of the speech deserves preserving in internet, we can not ignore the negative side of the freedom. When people abuse their freedom of speech, it becomes a devastating problem, called"Internet mob". Thus, it is necessary to regulate and administer the internet. This essay analyzes the causes of the issue"Internet mob"by utilizing some typical cases happening recently. Various methodologies such as psychology, sociology, communication theories as well as statistics are used in the essay.The essay discusses"Internet mob"from three different aspects: communicator, communication tools and social context. First, as the communicator in the internet, cyber citizen have their unique properties, such as unconsciousness, blindly following others, boundary conflict and polarization, which may lead to their violent behaviors. It particularly applies to Chinese cyber citizen who are mostly young people. Secondly, as a communication tool, internet media is not neutral but influential for people's mind and even their behaviors. As the largest communication platform, forum offers people unlimited freedom to express themselves. However, this freedom sometimes becomes a violent speech disaster. Finally, internet is not an isolated virtual world, but closely connected with social context, which may affect the thinking of the cyber citizen. By tracing back to the Chinese"Cultural Revolution", we can discover some commonalities between the"Red Guards"and the"Internet mob". In some sense,"Internet mob"can be regarded as an extension of"Cultural Revolution". Beside the influence of the historical factors, the underdeveloped language system seems to justify the legality and appropriateness of the violent language. Furthermore, since everything in China is in transition, diverse ideas merge together, which gives Chinese people a feeling of anxiety. The anxiety also plays a role in the cause of"Internet mob".Thus, accordingly, this essay proposes several solutions from four different aspects (cyber citizen, technology, society and law and politics), such as accomplishment education, technical support of software, independent management of the trades and oversight mechanism. All the advised solutions provide reference for how to deal with"Internet mob".