I love opinions.  Opinions can be constructive, enlightening, and even life-enhancing.

As an opinion columnist, I am deeply invested in my own opinions and the opinions and perspectives of our student body. One of the best benefits of attending NC State is that we have a student body that is diverse in ethnicities, life experiences and opinions. Our school is made better by the fact that we all have a unique perspective.

I’ve seen this firsthand in my classes when my classmates have disagreed on matters ranging from sports to politics; I’ve seen this among professors who challenge the opinions of myself and my peers.

I’ve even experienced it firsthand when last semester, I was very close to writing a critical opinion column about something, before a friend helped me realize that I wasn’t completely educated on the matter. What I thought I knew was wrong. Now, before I write a column about an opinion I have on something, I research the topic to see if what I think, aligns with factual information. In many cases it hasn’t, and my opinions have shifted for the better.

Our opinions and how we communicate them with one another, whether we agree or disagree, matter not just on our campus, but also when we step out into the world. Therefore, seeing constructive opinions of other columnists in Technician every week, and hearing them from our peers on campus is a great experience. 

I wish the same could be said for the online community of NC State students on Facebook and other online platforms.

Whenever I visit the Wolfpack Students group on Facebook, I am met with memes, random musings and, of course, opinions. These opinions range from current events to politics, and everything in between. Unfortunately, the discourse surrounding these opinions isn’t always pleasant. In fact, a lot of the time, the comments and conversations on the Wolfpack Students Facebook page are rude, belittling and, honestly, counter-productive.

Whether it be about current events or politics, the page is rife with arguments and animosity. It is also often filled with mean-spirited posts, meant to invoke a negative reaction. It is not entirely surprising that the online community of the Wolfpack Students Facebook group succumbs to arguments and online confrontation, when so much of the online discourse in society at large mirrors these problems.

It is no secret that the comment sections on other social media platforms between people outside of our community are often just as vitriolic. The comment sections of online articles about issues big and small, are the exact same way. Researchers and psychologists have been conducting studies into this phenomenon of incivility online. 

According to a study conducted by Columbia University researcher Keith Wilcox , browsing Facebook lowers the self-control of people who use it, and can cause an inflated sense of self-importance. Wilcox argues that people say things on Facebook that they would never say in real life, because of these things.

Unsurprisingly, a 2013 University of Madison-Wisconsin study found that people are more likely to make rude comments online because they will not face the same pressures or consequences as if they said rude things in person. The study also found that uncivil online discourse led to further polarization between parties who disagree on issues ideological and otherwise.

While not all of the discourse on the Wolfpack Students Facebook page is negative, it’s the posts and discussions that are negative that get the most comments and feedback. This ruins the experience and the purpose of the page, which is supposed to be for meaningful communication.

Last semester, there was even a bill introduced by the former student body president, Paul Nolan, to regulate the Wolfpack Students group, in order to reign in a lot of the negativity.

Opinions are great until they result in name-calling, judgements and believing our own perspectives to be the only one that matters. Moreover, opinions are just opinions until they become an excuse to label another person as inferior or inept. Our opinions are always useful until they aim to mock, or turn reactionary, as often happens on Wolfpack Students and other online platforms.

The discourse in the Wolfpack Students group is discouraging, but it isn’t at all surprising. In a society where the stakes are so high politically, and discourse in other online communities is just as vitriolic, the Wolfpack Students discussions are not unique.

But, even with this in mind, our online community does not have to stoop to the level of insensitivity that is often displayed in the posts and comments. Maybe bills like the one introduced last semester are a good first step in having more meaningful conversations about our dissenting opinions as a community.

I do not believe that we should censor our own opinions, or those of others, but we do need to be able to discuss our differences as civilly online as we would in person. While I am not inclined to remove insensitive comments just because they make me or others uncomfortable, the discourse on Wolfpack Students is not indicative of the accepting, understanding community that I have encountered at NC State.

I do firmly believe that comments that are especially vitriolic, or that mock someone’s race, sexual orientation, etc. should not be tolerated. Furthermore, I do believe that simple arguments about dissenting opinions are to be expected, and should not be moderated. What should happen, instead, is everyone working toward listening to the opinions of others without being reactionary, insensitive, or rude.

We are all one student body, but we are all very different people, who will disagree on matters big and small. What we don’t need to do, whether in person or online, is use our opinions to belittle or shame anyone else. After all, we are all capable of being wrong.