Psychology
Digital Communication and the Evolution of Social Norms
Quick fact
A 2014 study of 3,000 web users found that the average person considers being ignored online by someone they know to be just as socially unacceptable as being openly insulted to their face—yet the same study found that most people admit to ignoring others' messages regularly. This asymmetry shows how fast digital norms have evolved without explicit agreement.
Why this is interesting
You type a quick reply, hit send, and suddenly realize you've just violated a rule that didn't exist ten years ago. How do digital conversations rewrite the rules of human interaction?