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| 05 Jun 2015 05:33 AM |
Earlier, I had found out a user had taken their own life. Regardless of what lead this to happen, weather abuse here, or elsewhere in that person's life, I think it's a very sobering thing to understand that even online, we are all still human beings.
More often than not, I think people tend to let go online without thinking about what they may be doing to others. This is called the Online Disinhibition Effect. It is characterized by a loosening (or complete abandonment) of social restrictions and inhibitions that would otherwise be present in normal face-to-face interaction during interactions with others on the Internet. This effect is caused by many factors, including dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociative imagination, and minimization of authority.
It is important to note that there are two forms, with the later being what all users should be wary of.
Because of this loss of inhibition, some users may exhibit benign tendencies, including becoming more affectionate, more willing to open up to others, and less guarded about emotions, all in an attempt to achieve emotional catharsis. This is called Benign Disinhibition.
With respect to bad behavior, users on the Internet can frequently do or say as they wish without fear of any kind of meaningful reprisal. In most Internet forums, the worst kind of punishment one can receive for bad behavior is usually being banned from a particular site. In practice, however, this serves little use; the person involved can usually circumvent the ban by simply registering another username and continuing the same behavior as before. This is called Toxic Disinhibition, and is the most damaging form.
This is what we should all be careful of. Most Toxic Disinhibition is brought on by 6 primary factors.
"You don't know me" The notion of "You Don't Know Me" comes down to simple anonymity: when the person remains anonymous, it provides a sense of protection; within the framework of the Internet, this allows the user to move about without any kind of indication of identity or even distinguishing characteristics other than potentially a username. This kind of protection can provide a meaningful release for people in that they feel free to say things they might otherwise be embarrassed by, but by the same token, it also provides an outlet for behaviors that others might term antisocial or harmful.
"You can't see me" The Internet provides a shield to its users; often all one receives when interacting with another person on the Internet is a username or pseudonym that may or may not have anything to do with the real person behind the keyboard. This allows for misrepresentation of a person's true self; online a male can pose as a female and vice versa, for example. Additionally, the invisibility of the Internet prohibits people from reading standard social cues; small changes in facial expression, tone of voice, aversion of eyes, etc., all have specific connotations in normal face-to-face interaction. This particular aspect overlaps heavily with anonymity, because the two often share attributes. However, even if one's identity is known and anonymity is removed from the equation, the inability to physically see the person on the other end causes one's inhibitions to be lowered. One cannot be physically seen on the Internet, typically: therefore, the need to concern oneself with appearance and tone of voice is dramatically lowered and sometimes absent.
"See you later" The asynchronous nature of the Internet can also affect a person's inhibitions. On internet message boards, conversations do not happen in real time. A reply may be posted as shortly as several minutes; however, it may take months or longer for someone to post. Because of this, it's easier for someone to "throw their opinions out" and then leave; a person can make a single post that might be considered very personal, emotionally charged, or inflammatory and then "run away" by simply not logging in again. In this way, the person achieves catharsis by "voicing" their feelings, even if the audience is just as invisible. However, the asynchronous nature of the Internet also allows a person to more closely examine what they say and to more carefully choose their words; in this manner, someone who might otherwise have difficulty in face-to-face interactions can suddenly seem eloquent and well-mannered when reading message board posts or even in text-chat forums such as IRC or instant messaging.
"It's all in my head" Lacking any kind of visual face-to-face cues, the human mind will assign characteristics and traits to a "person" in interactions on the internet. Reading another person's message may insert imagined images of what a person looks like or sounds like into the mind, and mentally assigns an identity to these things. The mind will associate traits to a user according to our own desires, needs, and wishes: traits that the real person might not actually have. Additionally, this allows fantasies to be played out in the mind, because the user may construct an elaborate system of emotions, memories, and images: inserting the user and the person they are interacting with into a role-play that helps reinforce the "reality" of the person on the other end within the mind of the user.
"It's just a game" By combining solipsistic introjection with the imagination, a feeling of escapism is produced: a way to throw off mundane concerns to address a specific need without having to worry about consequences. According to Suler's[1] personal discussion with lawyer Emily Finch (a criminal lawyer studying identity theft in cyberspace), Finch's observation is that people may see cyberspace as a kind of game where the normal rules of everyday interaction don't apply to them. In this way, the user is able to dissociate their online persona from the offline reality, effectively enabling that person to don that persona or shed it whenever they wish simply by logging on or off.
"Your rules don't apply here" Online, a person's real life status may not be known to others. If people cannot see the user, others have no way to know if the user is a head of state, a celebrity, or a regular private citizen. While real-world status may have a small effect on one's status on the Internet, it rarely has any true bearing. Instead, things such as communication skill, quality of ideas, persistence, and technical ability determine one's status in cyberspace.[1] Additionally, people can be reluctant to speak their minds in front of an authority figure. Fear of reprisal or disapproval quashes the desire to speak out, and on the Internet, levels of authority that might otherwise be present in real life are often completely absent; this turns what might otherwise be a superior-inferior relationship into a relationship of equals, and people are far more likely to speak their mind to an equal than a superior.
Above all else, stay sharp, and stay thoughtful. Best regards.
~GhostOfThePastP2~ |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:40 AM |
| im pretty sure ive read this somewhere before |
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quamisido
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| Joined: 18 Apr 2014 |
| Total Posts: 8599 |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:40 AM |
@nin
This thread
DisCalls4AMuzz ;) |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:43 AM |
| I'd rather not say who the user is, because I don't want this to be a PA, or defamation of character. RIP to him. |
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quamisido
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| Joined: 18 Apr 2014 |
| Total Posts: 8599 |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:45 AM |
| I wish I had known him before. I would have tried everything I could to help him. |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:50 AM |
tl;dr lol get a life and stop writing walls of text
Jk
I read the first few paragraphs before I remembered I was on OT and am not allowed to do such a thing |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:50 AM |
rest in pepperoni :((((((((
jk i don't give a crap.
"I can show you how to be strong,in the real way..."|New main of GoldenBrains| |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:52 AM |
You may believe what you wish, Brodey. People who know me in the forums, know me to be very positive person. I usually smile, but my heart breaks for whatever pain he must have felt to push him over that edge. The purpose of this thread is to hopefully heighten awareness of users about one simple fact. You can hurt people online, and things can damage them.
I know I'm strong, but I know that standard I live to is hard for others to reach. This plight is for the weak. |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:56 AM |
OT:"It's just a game" is actually a normal response to someone angry because they lost a game.
But if that did happen,I'm sorry. |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:58 AM |
this actually did happen
⋄ ⋅ ⋆ ⋇ ⋈ ⊿ ⋀ ⋁ ⋂ ⋃ ⋄ ⋅ ⋆ ⋇ ⋈ ⊿ |
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| 05 Jun 2015 05:59 AM |
@WhiteYoshi, every one of the "s are the names of each of the 6 factors. I have decided to link you to a thread.
http://www.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=163749812 |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:32 AM |
tl;dr: "LIfe is rare, and gets better if you try"
"OP thinks he's so smart when his stupidity is so stupid it actually borders intelligence" |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:36 AM |
this is the internet unfortunately, not many people are selfless here, and they dont truly understand the value of a life until its gone
-2baked4siggy |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:36 AM |
| Hehe. :) First time I've smiled in a bit. Good job, Gyno. |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:37 AM |
| @Rock, You're right. But it's worth trying. Even if only one person learns something from this, it'll be 1 less person potentially hurting another. That to me, is better than giving up. |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:40 AM |
props for the effort, i hope this changed some people
-2baked4siggy |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:43 AM |
| I never learned how to give up. I hope it does too. |
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qdhxx
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| Joined: 02 Jul 2010 |
| Total Posts: 56658 |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:43 AM |
it's whether not weather
nice thread tho
respect
Let's fight together! http://www.roblox.com/My/Groups.aspx?gid=1218474 Check this out: http://www.roblox.com/face-item?id=241134674 |
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| 05 Jun 2015 06:44 AM |
yes i knew i read befor e this is copypasted from wikipedia |
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