Hey! My name is Caslynn and I am senior in mechanical engineering from
The internet phenomenon that I find interesting is how people behave on anonymous internet forums. I love reading Craiglist’s rant and rave section in particular. I find it interesting that the typical manners and formalities of meeting someone in person are neglected on these forums. In “real life” it seems like people go out of their way to be polite, make a good impression, and be well liked, whereas on the internet everyone seems to be more antagonistic, blunt, and disregard what others may think of them. Is it possible that people reveal more of their true thoughts and feelings, being who they genuinely are, on these forums due to the anonymity? Or is it more likely that people deliberately assume a different identity online and say things they don’t actually believe, just to stir the pot?
When I read the forums I also wonder about what drove the person to post in the first place, and what they take away from it. Sometimes it is obvious that people go out of their way to say something to cause controversy and get a rise out of people, and I would like to find out why. Also when it is apparent that someone is being a “troll,” why do people justify it with responses?
3 comments:
I've also found it interesting to look through comments on various sites and try to decipher what was going through some of the participants minds. User-content driven sites can be very interesting, such as youtube or digg.com (a site where users submit articles/videos for others to "digg" or "bury" based on whether they liked them).
I believe that the sheer number of participants in online forums combined with the small chance of forming a real relationship through this medium leads people to abandon politeness. You can meet new people continuously on the internet, so in a sense, it doesn't matter how many of them you piss off. If the size of the online space was limited, such as to this blog, I feel that participants would act much differently.
For instance, in this blog, I highly doubt anyone will be antagonistic or rude, because we will be participating in it all semester, with the same, limited, number of people. Nobody wants to burn all their bridges. In contrast, the entire internet will never run out of them.
I think your point about the massive space the internet occupies is an interesting one, Richard. Is it possible that the internet has become the first space within society in which ideas and actions truly flow freely?
Of course there are supposed limitations. Before signing the acceptance of terms on Myspace we must promise to use proper conduct. But how much do these limitations restrict us? The internet allows us to encounter new people daily with false identities at each time. The likelihood of facing punishment for the use of crude language or shmarmy (yes, shmarmy) behavior is minimal.
In society we as a population are limited with the words we speak and the actions we take. We generally see the same people everyday and become accumstomed to certain routines. If I decided to randomly run my mouth off at a professor it would not bode well. I would likely see the man after doing it and have to face the effects. If I ran my mouth off at sk8trdude87 in a HardCore chatroom however, the aftermath would be far less severe. He was just some stranger, right? Who cares what he thinks, because chances are, I'll never come across him again.
The internet has become a powerful tool for amassing much knowledge. However with increased size it has also become a place where "anything goes." Perhaps it is this infitely large space that makes our worst selves come out. Because afterall, we don't have to face the tunes if we make a mistake. Rather than propelling us forward is it possible that this freedom is actually ripping us apart? If kindness and genorosity start to lag, what is next?
I realize I sort of went off on my own tangent there. I think it's because you made so many worthwhile points in your blog entry, Caslynn. Your line that speaks of "typical manners and formalities" being dropped really was a good one. And that, I believe, was the basis of my comment. So well done!
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