Is the internet making people more in touch with their rude inner selves?

[OZGOD]

Well? I've been managing and participating in online forums for over five years now (and did a bit of IRC before that) and I can say that life online has certainly empowered people by allowing them to express their opinion in a way that they might not have been able to do so in their offline lives (eg because of their age, or lack of an audience, etc), it's also clear that behaviour standards that people adopt online are not the same as those they adopt offline - mainly because when posting behind the safety of a computer some people feel like they can say anything at no personal risk to themselves, while if they had done so in real life they might have ended up with a punch in the nose.

So does this mean that in our true selves, we are inherently rude and disrespectful to others? Or is it just that some of us use the internet as an outlet to let off steam in a "safe" way?

Just wondering if the internet might end up driving some long term change in human behavioural interaction. And no, nobody's been rude to me today. Not that I would care, anyway. :D

EDIT: Bugger, title typos...

[PlanetPakistan]

Interesting thought.... It is quite apparent that in real life we don't do certain things that we want to do simply because of the fear of law, fear of personal disrespect or even fear of personal safety. So i suppose you can say that all these factors have confined us to live in a far more civilized way than we would if were given total freedom.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Well? I've been managing and participating in online forums for over five years now (and did a bit of IRC before that) and I can say that life online has certainly empowered people by allowing them to express their opinion in a way that they might not have been able to do so in their offline lives (eg because of their age, or lack of an audience, etc), it's also clear that behaviour standards that people adopt online are not the same as those they adopt offline - mainly because when posting behind the safety of a computer some people feel like they can say anything at no personal risk to themselves, while if they had done so in real life they might have ended up with a punch in the nose.

So does this mean that in our true selves, we are inherently rude and disrespectful to others? Or is it just that some of us use the internet as an outlet to let off steam in a "safe" way?

Just wondering if the internet might end up driving some long term change in human behavioural interaction. And no, nobody's been rude to me today. Not that I would care, anyway. :D

EDIT: Bugger, title typos...

not really true cos here in the UK some guy was recently sentenced cos he stabbed a guy who dissed him on the net

[wasoo77]

not really true cos here in the UK some guy was recently sentenced cos he stabbed a guy who dissed him on the net


how often does that happen?

[Geordie Ahmed]

how often does that happen?

only 1 reported case as far as im aware BUT it tells you that some ppl would go to extreme lengths to get back at someone - too many psychos out there

[wasoo77]

only 1 reported case as far as im aware BUT it tells you that some ppl would go to extreme lengths to get back at someone - too many psychos out there

one case yaar.. if you insulted somone face to face, is it not more likely they'd attack you back? chances are, hardly anyones going to attack you for some internet argument.

[wasoo77]

and no one restricts writing an abusive comment cause they feel the person will hunt them down

[Mercenary]

I couldnt agree with you more. The growth of hate forums is a huge indication of this. There are tons of racist white supremacist forums, Hindu supremacist forums and there are Muslim hate forums too.

Then you have websites that defame religions in ways that wouldnt be published in the offline world.

Just go to somewhere like ICF to see the freedom that anonymity gives to hateful people. Posters there and on similar sites say things they would never say in real life. They think they are safe in their houses behind a virtual forcefield but for how much longer?

I envisage a future where we will all need a virtual 'ID' to log onto the internet (perhaps a fingerprint/iris scanner) and our opinions will be identifiable back to us!!

[OZGOD]

Just go to somewhere like ICF to see the freedom that anonymity gives to hateful people. Posters there and on similar sites say things they would never say in real life. They think they are safe in their houses behind a virtual forcefield but for how much longer?


LOL I'll agree with this. I got banned for suggesting that India wasn't as good as they thought they were...

[Mercenary]

LOL I'll agree with this. I got banned for suggesting that India wasn't as good as they thought they were...

I got banned (way back in the day) for using stats to prove that even Sami was better than Agarkar!!

[MIG]

In a way, the internets based anonymity is a good thing for some. Its liberating ! Consider the really polite bloke at work, sitting next to you - chances are that he has suppressed his desire to speak his mind in return for an image that may help him win friends or promotion at work ! But is that the real him ? On the internet, he can hide behind a nick and be himself!

[Mercenary]

But what if he's a Nazi or an extremist inside MIG??

[MIG]

No gain without pain !!

But yes, the Nazi gets a chance to express himself as well I suppose !

I think it also comes down to peoples appetite to ignore provocation.

In our culture, we have less of a tendency to do that - in others, maybe not .