The psychology of cyberspace

solicitous

For those of you who are interested in the psychology of cyberspace, here is a link i found interesting.

http://www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html



I'm quite interested in the persona's that users undertake when they switch on their pc's.

Suaimhneach

You know what, so am I. I tried and failed to start a discussion on it.

The whole, internet freindship. Is it any less than a real freindship? Some people feel clsoer to ppl they know online etc. At the same time, it can be siad that it could detract from "real life" socailising and all that.

Will have a read of that link. Thanks.

snorlax

an awful lot of communication does get lost when you go the net (90% of communication is non verbal) so i'd say that leaves to a greater rate of misinterpreting/ misunderstanding each other, and i'd also i say people are more honest then they are in real life.
personnally i can say that it deisn't really detract too much from my real life socialising as it's always good to have more then one set of friends so your never too reliant in people (in which case they will likely take advantage of you). i v learned that there's a great variety of people of the internet, there's an a few i would like to steer clear of but for the most part it is interesting to get different persepetives as there's alot we can learn from each other.

if you ever read one of the threads in this forum we have people from many different backrounds posting, acadamic and otherwise. i can say it has helped me to learn the role others have and the different perspectives/ theories that they have. it can really open your mind but you always have to take everything you read with a pinch of salt and not take it too seriously, otherwise you'll end up debating 24 hours with people who may not want to listen to your side of a debate.

Suaimhneach

wrote:

and i'd also i say people are more honest then they are in real life.

Really? I think some people use it as an outlet and are much more honest online. Personally I am the same all round, but I know ppl who'd just share anything online, through a username, becuase of the anonimity it almost holds.

snorlax

yeah that's what i meant they're more honest online then in real life and are more likely to speak they're mind because of the anonymity.

Eoghan-psych

snorlax wrote:

yeah that's what i meant they're more honest online then in real life and are more likely to speak they're mind because of the anonymity.

I actually think the anonymity plays at best a secondary role. I think the most relevant factor in the honestification [I said it, you understood it, so it's now a proper word :-)] of communication seen online is the WYSIWYG factor. In online communication, nobody can but in mid sentence or interrupt a thought - we can write what we intend to say, and it goes out as we intend it [barring typos etc].

This allows us to say things we wouldn't say in 'normal' life because we can say the whole thing in one go. There are no negative cues along the way, no hands on hips or pursed lips to hold us back from saying our piece. This is quite liberating for most people, as it makes communication much more democratic.

As an example, take this board - the equivalent to this board in 'real life' is the Friday evening chat down the pub with whichever members of the dept don't have children to put to bed. Random strays from the lay community are collected along the way and the evening is spent contemplating life the universe and everything. Invariably, the conversation is not evenly distributed - some people aren't as forceful in a group, or aren't as confident in their knowledge, or can't handle the level of stimulation.

Online there are no such constraints - people will be posting on this board with no more background in psychology than I have in critiquing ancient Japanese poetry. They can put their comments right out on the table. I think it fair to say that such comments will be thoroughly shredded in a short space of time, but at least they can be made.

I'm rambling. It's Friday, half past four, nearly time to start rounding people up so that we get the comfy seats in the non-smoking section of the pub [so much for the UK being a bastion of civilisation].
Eoghan

snorlax

what's funny is when you bump into people who you know in real life and it turns out they use boards too. it's funny because sometimes you learn a hell of a lot more about that person through reading a few of their posts. my sister uses boards and iv discovered a whole different side to her!:D

i wonder what Pighead is like in real life? i v been to a few beers and some people are entirely different to their internet persona and other people are quite simliar. probably as you mentioned they may be shyer in real life or not as confident/ forward. i'm just wondering has anyone here gone to any of the beers? and if so what was your impression of meeting fellow boardsters, and we're they any different from what you expected?

Btw Eoghan-psych honestification can be my new word of the day !