Ranting on Websites May Just Make You Angrier

Studies link Internet venting to short-term relaxation, long-term frustration

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- It's so tempting. You read something on a website about a hot-button issue that makes you mad and you've got to respond. Before you know it, you're verbally sparring with a stranger. But you may want to think twice before jumping into the fray.

While you might like getting your point of view off your chest, over the long term your rants may be making you less happy and more angry, suggest two new studies by a single research team.

The first study showed that while visitors to common "rant" websites reported feeling more relaxed immediately after posting a comment, overall they tend to experience more anger in general and can express their frustration in maladaptive ways.

The second study found that both reading other people's rants and writing your own are associated with negative mood shifts. The research was published online in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

"The Internet brings out impulsivity problems more than anything else," said lead author Ryan Martin, an associate professor of human development and psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. "It's too easy to respond right away when you are most angry."

Martin said while the study focused solely on rant websites that are devoted to back-and-forth virtual screaming, the research has implications for Facebook and Twitter, and even news sites and blogs. He said the combination of being anonymous by using a screen name and having what he calls "social distance" reduce an individual's sense of restraint or caution about how to interact.

Websites that function as virtual punching bags reinforce harmful behavior, Martin said. "Most of these sites encourage venting as a way of dealing with anger," he said. "They think of venting as a healthy adaptive approach, and it's not."

For some people, venting online is caused by a sense of powerlessness and a feeling that they just can't make a difference, Martin said. A third study he did related to the published research looked at the content of rant sites and found that "people are angry at big groups of people: Democrats, Republicans, illegal immigrants," he said. "People want to feel they're doing something and think just expressing their feelings to the world will help."

Martin said venting has been described as putting a fire out with gasoline. But it's not actually the anger that's detrimental, according to the researchers. "There is nothing wrong with being angry and there are lots of things to be angry about, and that is healthy," said Martin. But he added that a healthier and more effective approach is to get involved and do something to effect the kind of change you want, or focus on problem solving.

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