I believe that being a totally different person on the Internet, if it’s either by using a different name, or describing themselves in an idealistic way, makes people feel and believe that they will be accepted because they are meeting a certain societal expectation.
I consider that this is wrong, because they aren’t living a reality and they aren’t accepting themselves as they are. The Internet is a powerful tool that allows people to fake and play with other people’s lives; they can be anyone they want to be living in a fictitious world. The consequences that these people have to face are that sooner or later these people are going to have to face problems that come with dual personalities. These people are still living a life that they do not accept creating depressions, addictions or pathological behaviors. In addition it becomes harder for them to face problems and real life situations when presented.
On the other hand the Internet is a medium where you are exposed to different languages, cultures, and communicate with people that might have the same issues that you do and you can identify and feel supported by them. These alter egos help users to keep their identities secret and make them feel free to say whatever they want online.
The down side to this is that people take advantage of these services. Some people use this to stalk people. I found a video on youtube showing how people stalk other people.
I also found a really interesting book online called Web Stalers which explains how to protect yourself from web stalkers. This is the cober of the book:
www.librerialuces.com/fotos/9780974599397.jpg
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2 comments:
Its sad that people use this medium of innovation and creationism to stalk others and do other malice acts. It unfortunately is a reality and does put a damper on what we do when we are on the internet. However, some companies like facebook are understanding the threats of stalkers and are providing more ways to protect yourself. Malice acts will never go away but at least the internet is catching up and giving us the tools to protect ourselves
Not really.. I mean just recently young men and women have been committing suicide because of online bullying.
The fact that Second Life could actually aid to stalking and this type of bullying.. is scary.
It's just another medium for people to disguise who they truely are to become some variation of their imagination.. and in some cases this is disturbing behavior.
If myspace causes suicides.. you don't think second life will?
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