When anthropologists in the apocalyptic wasteland of the near future look back to try and explain how society began its unravelling, they’ll probably focus on the obvious culprits: unhinged world leaders, ideological fanatics, maybe even rap music.
I hope this column somehow survives into this Mad Max-like world because I’d like to point them toward a different, albeit more likely, culprit: gadget fanboys.
These are the individuals who spend their days patrolling the internet for any mention of their favourite gizmos and gizmo-making companies, only to then pounce on even the smallest of perceived slights against them.
No praise of their chosen gadgets is high enough. Any critiques are surely the products of doltish imbeciles who deserve all manner of the harshness the fanboys delight in serving up.
These are the people who have been spewing vitriolic hatred online since well before anyone had ever heard of Twitter, Gamergate or the concept of fake news. It’s fair, then, to consider them the progenitors of internet-driven divisiveness, also known as one of the biggest problems in the world today.
Anyone who writes about technology is more than familiar with such individuals. I’ve experienced the enmity of fanboys - they can be female as well, but studies have found they are usually male - many times.
Years ago, for example, a Nintendo fanboy wrote in a forum that I should have my hands cut off so that I’d be unable to write anything more. That was in response to a poor review I’d given a game.
More recently, someone took to a BlackBerry forum to ominously ask "what to do" about me for some perceived negativity I’d directed at the company. Fortunately, the responses ranged from "nothing" to "ignore him," but it’s disconcerting to know there’s someone out there wondering what should be done about you.
Constructive feedback is good. No one knows everything on a topic or gadget, so well-mannered and good-intentioned comments can be helpful. But fanboys don’t have any interest in helping anyone. Their sole purpose is to push their team and to shout down anyone who doesn’t support it.
Fanboy-ism isn’t endemic to just technology and gadgets, or journalists, of course. People develop heated opinions and blind loyalty for everything from music and movies to politics and sports. Science tells us much of these agreements, which now commonly turn into online anger, stems from the same places.
Social identity theory suggests a person’s sense of self evolves from the groups he or she belongs to. It is primal tribalism that manifests as support for a sports team, political party or gadget maker. Supporting one side inevitably breeds opposition to others.
The concept of "sunk cost fallacy" also comes into play when dealing with gadgets. Simply put, when you spend a good amount of money on something, you often have to convince yourself after the fact that you made the right choice. That can lead to over-inflating its pluses and glossing over its flaws.
There is also the element of supporting the underdog. Popular in sports, the phenomenon also manifests in gadgets. In my experience, Nintendo, BlackBerry and Apple have tended to engender the strongest such support.
All three have at some point been the incumbents of their respective markets. But they’ve also been the underdogs who have at times pugnaciously taken on bigger or better-resourced opponents.

Source : The National