Pixels and Posts: The Age of Online Anger

In the realm of cyberspace rage,

Where keyboards click in furious stages,

Folks unleash anger, as if on a mission,

Behind the screen, no face, no admission.

They rant and they rave with wild animation,

Their fingers ablaze with raw indignation,

A misplaced word, a misunderstood jest,

Can turn the calmest netizen into a pest.

They fight for a cause or battle in vain,

Their tempers afire, they can't quite abstain,

Yet meet them in person, they're often quite sweet,

With digital courage, anger's their feat.

In pixels and posts, they find their fierce might,

In forums and tweets, they're ready to fight,

But what fuels this fire? What's the secret, pray tell?

Why the internet's an anger carousel?

Perhaps it's the distance, the lack of a face,

That lets anger flourish in cyberspace,

For without a connection, without seeing the eye,

It's easy to rage, to shout, and decry.

So next time you find yourself starting to boil,

Remember the keyboard's a dubious foil,

Take a step back, breathe, and then reconsider,

For the internet's wrath can make friendships wither.

© Susie Stiles-Wolf