Had a fascinating conversation online with a philosopher acquaintance about the psychology of online interaction.
I showed him some of my amazing, fabulous, lovey-dovey messagess from men online.
He said:
It’s a unique window into human psychology. Distorting one though.
Do you agree? Do you believe that our interactions online are distorted by some sort of filter that the internet creates? A lens made of keyboards and monitors, cables and electronic surges?
My view:
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Maybe the real world and people behaving as they “think they should.” is the distortion.
I think it may be like a peek into what these guys will be like after five years, when they aren’t on their best behavior anymore, and they are willing to show you the ugliness they don’t show anyone else.
The REAL them. The one deep inside that only comes out when people are super-comfortable or super-angry or drunk, or whatever that removes their filters.
The person under the veneer.
Now, me… I think most everyone who knows me in real life would say I’m pretty much the same online as I am in real life.
Everything I say, I’ll say directly to people. I try to be both direct and considerate in all parts of my life. But that’s a conscious choice.
A choice that’s hard to make, for those who don’t think or introspect.
So, how about you?
Are you YOU online, or are you a different person? Do you enjoy playing a role online? Do you use it to escape? Or is it a direct representation of who you are as a person?
And how do you see others? Do you know many people who are different online and off? Or exactly the same?
