I think part of it is the anonymous nature. When a juicy rumor got spread in your high school, you could figure out who was saying it and write them off: "Oh, whatever; that kid's an asshole and is just out to get me, anybody who's my friend knows to ignore them."
But with this, you don't have that. Maybe the bully from your math class is telling everybody you suck dick for money; maybe it's the kid you just started sitting next to at lunch. All of a sudden it's not just the mean kids who might be spreading rumors, it's everybody in the school and that's pretty hard to ignore.
also, it's worth noting that the way you feel about anonymous slander at 33 is going to be heavily coloured by your maturity and perspective: You've been out in the world for a while, and you know that there's a bunch of bullshit that just doesn't matter. That's an admirable attitude, but let's be fair and recognize that 16 year olds are not really well known for their ability to put high school in context. It feels like their entire life for them because at that point, it is.
Even more, you can confront the person doing you wrong. My daughter recently confronted a girl who was spreading rumors about her and that was that.
It takes no courage at all to act out online. It used to be that if you wanted to spread lies, steal money, run a confidence game, you had to at least have the courage to face your victim. Anonymity can be used for noble purposes but the vast majority of the time it isn't. Whatever noble purpose might be available to someone using Secret or Yik Yak, it's going to get lost in the noise.
Yeah, I get that. I think it is a maturity thing. I mean, the fact that it's anonymous allows me to not care about it AT ALL. Who cares what "someone out there" says? I certainly don't. My life experience, and long time exposure to the internet has taught me that right now, someone, somewhere out in the world is saying just about anything you could think of. You can't care about all of it.
But with this, you don't have that. Maybe the bully from your math class is telling everybody you suck dick for money; maybe it's the kid you just started sitting next to at lunch. All of a sudden it's not just the mean kids who might be spreading rumors, it's everybody in the school and that's pretty hard to ignore.
also, it's worth noting that the way you feel about anonymous slander at 33 is going to be heavily coloured by your maturity and perspective: You've been out in the world for a while, and you know that there's a bunch of bullshit that just doesn't matter. That's an admirable attitude, but let's be fair and recognize that 16 year olds are not really well known for their ability to put high school in context. It feels like their entire life for them because at that point, it is.