2008-09-19, 11:11 PM
(BTW, this is the kind of thread I wanted to see here!)
I would be willing to disagree, but I think it's not going to be the same for everyone. I do, however, have a basic rule which I believe to be the truth of the internet:
I suppose you could generalize this even further to "any pseudonymous environment."
By this, what I essentially mean is that given the "anonymity" (In fact, pseudonymity, except in rare cases like 4chan which is a whole other issue) that there are certain roles which people can take. There are people who are kind-hearted and interested in helping others, like Sign here. There are people like myself who are interested in learning information and dispersing it to others. Even more, there are people who merely come on to collect information and use it themselves, perhaps leaving an empty "thanks" or an otherwise minor comment, and then head off on their way. There's several other good or decent types, but I'm sure you get the point.
And then, there are people who troll forums, bait people for flame wars, and generally act like asshats. These are the people you need to watch out for. They may not (Openly) behave in such jerkish manners in the real world, but it's there, lurking at the depths of their personality, waiting for a moment of weakness to pounce out and overtake them. They vent this online where they feel like they won't have to take responsibility for their actions. Fortunately for us, there are also people who have the ability to make them do so (At a forum I used to go to, one of the Admins was a pro hacker and whenever someone would harass a younger member he would track them down and call their parents, LMAO!). If you know these people in your real life for a long period of time, you'll surely see it in them. They probably go online and troll because they're too scared to bully in real life. Still, they need an outlet for these frustrations and this is how they do it. More than likely if they didn't have the internet they'd just abuse their wives, girlfriends, or children, and failing all of that, animals. I suppose you could make an argument that everyone does this once in a while, and that's fine, but here I'm talking about people who do this chronically. Multiple-offenders.
How does this apply to the thread? Well, for the latter group, and the people who are only interested in obtaining information, they're obviously not going to mature at all through this. However for other groups, they very well might mature through their experiences online. More than likely, the kind of people who are going to take up a positive role wouldn't have had very much fun in their teen years without the internet around. They're already not good at social interaction, but the pseudonymity of the Internet allows them to relax a bit and become themselves. If they didn't have access to the internet, then more than likely they would have been unhappy in their schooling because they don't have the skills required to make friends.
It can be harmful for some and helpful for others, but I believe the internet does a lot more good than harm.
I would be willing to disagree, but I think it's not going to be the same for everyone. I do, however, have a basic rule which I believe to be the truth of the internet:
The role you take on in an internet community is a direct reflection of your true self.
I suppose you could generalize this even further to "any pseudonymous environment."
By this, what I essentially mean is that given the "anonymity" (In fact, pseudonymity, except in rare cases like 4chan which is a whole other issue) that there are certain roles which people can take. There are people who are kind-hearted and interested in helping others, like Sign here. There are people like myself who are interested in learning information and dispersing it to others. Even more, there are people who merely come on to collect information and use it themselves, perhaps leaving an empty "thanks" or an otherwise minor comment, and then head off on their way. There's several other good or decent types, but I'm sure you get the point.
And then, there are people who troll forums, bait people for flame wars, and generally act like asshats. These are the people you need to watch out for. They may not (Openly) behave in such jerkish manners in the real world, but it's there, lurking at the depths of their personality, waiting for a moment of weakness to pounce out and overtake them. They vent this online where they feel like they won't have to take responsibility for their actions. Fortunately for us, there are also people who have the ability to make them do so (At a forum I used to go to, one of the Admins was a pro hacker and whenever someone would harass a younger member he would track them down and call their parents, LMAO!). If you know these people in your real life for a long period of time, you'll surely see it in them. They probably go online and troll because they're too scared to bully in real life. Still, they need an outlet for these frustrations and this is how they do it. More than likely if they didn't have the internet they'd just abuse their wives, girlfriends, or children, and failing all of that, animals. I suppose you could make an argument that everyone does this once in a while, and that's fine, but here I'm talking about people who do this chronically. Multiple-offenders.
How does this apply to the thread? Well, for the latter group, and the people who are only interested in obtaining information, they're obviously not going to mature at all through this. However for other groups, they very well might mature through their experiences online. More than likely, the kind of people who are going to take up a positive role wouldn't have had very much fun in their teen years without the internet around. They're already not good at social interaction, but the pseudonymity of the Internet allows them to relax a bit and become themselves. If they didn't have access to the internet, then more than likely they would have been unhappy in their schooling because they don't have the skills required to make friends.
It can be harmful for some and helpful for others, but I believe the internet does a lot more good than harm.