KCTV 5Is the internet making people mean?

People do not have to look far to see how hateful others can be on the internet.

If anyone has been on Facebook or Twitter recently, they probably saw some posts or Tweets that were just downright rude.

Sites, like Facebook, where users have a harder time remaining anonymous have no shortage of hateful speech.

A quick browse of KCTV5's Facebook page shows how certain topics really get emotions running high.

A recent post about flags flying at half-staff for the late Whitney Houston prompted one person to say, "She didn't do nothin for me. Sure she sang good, so what. She's a crack head."

And just last week, Washington reporter Andrea McCarren learned first-hand how damaging social networking can be after her series of reports on underage drinking.

"It felt like an orchestrated Twitter and Facebook campaign of hate. People put my home address on the internet, there were calls for revenge and retaliation against my family," said WUSA reporter McCarren.

So what is driving this behavior?

Dr. John Wisner with the University of Kansas School of Medicine says human beings are wired to communicate the old-fashioned way, face-to-face.

"The brain is built to interact with people in real time and in real space. Take one of those out, all of sudden we are no longer following those guidelines. We can give free reign to our imagination or impulse," said Wisner.

But just because a person hides behind a keyboard and mouse doesn't mean there aren't consequences.

"It gives people a false sense of a shield around them. Sometime people say things that are hostile or defamatory that they wouldn't say to a person's face, but they are typing something that is defamatory, we call that libel," said trial lawyer Matt O'Conner.

A Kansas City lawyer, O'Conner focuses on social defamation cases and has seen an explosion of web-based libel lawsuits in the past two years.

Proving someone is a victim of internet-based libel is no easy task.

O'Conner says someone must be able to show concrete proof that they were victimized by what someone wrote online, such as losing a job, for example.

And proving any sort of emotional loss is much more difficult, O'Conner said.

According to O'Conner, lawmakers at the state and federal level have failed to keep up with the ever-evolving social networking landscape and need to create laws to protect people from defamatory comments.

But Wisner is not so sure the government needs to step in. He says it all comes down to teaching the right lessons early on.

"I would rather we educate young people to speak truthfully and respectfully in all settings and all contexts," said Wisner.

A lesson Wisner hopes children and adults alike will take to heart.

Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved.