May 13th 2008 / learned, shared
www != the wild west
Sadness prevails within me.
I’m tired of hearing: “Hey man, you should have known _blank_ would happen, it is the ‘web’ after all.”
Initially, I thought maybe this topic didn’t belong on TAO, but the more I think about it, this is exactly where it belongs. It concerns the internet and that is exactly the place our industry calls home, so ultimately it’s about our home.
When I visit a friend’s home I treat them with respect and kindness. I just do it. It’s not an option to do otherwise. It’s not my home, and therefore It’s a privilege to be there, not my right. Treating them with anything other than pure undiluted respect is blasphemy.
Likewise, when I invite someone to my home I expect the treatment returned in kind.
This idea translates directly to the web. There is no acceptable reason for pretending to be someone other than yourself in every aspect of your life. The Internet is an extension of your “real” life, not another/different life.
The Internet is not a free-for-all playground where you can assume any persona you like, saying and doing whatever you want. Yes, I know it’s possible and yes, I know people do it all the time. That, my friends is exactly why I wrote this.
As a human being it hurts to know that other human beings treat each other in such terrible ways online and off, but it happens. Constantly.
That doesn’t make it alright. Which brings us back to the web, where it is also not OK.
I believe, treating others with kindness, is a non-optional social convention and there is no acceptable excuse to do otherwise. None.
So next time you log into an anonymous web account to lay down some hurt on an unsuspecting n00b, remember you’re just perpetuating the myth that anything goes online.
Which is my cue to pull on my boots and grab my shovel.
“www != the wild west” was written by James Mathias on May 13th 2008
A writer, artist and outlaw. Living, working and playing in Tennessee. James writes TAO in a vain effort to teach, learn and share with the industry he loves.
feedback, comments & opinions
9 comments
well put, I wish everyone would read and follow that.
Thanks! I appreciate the support!
I’ll buy that. Though I think there’s a distinct difference between the way different generations view the internet. For the older guard, myself included, communicating with people online is the same as communicating with people in person, and the world is small. For the newer, younger, hipper generation where every minute of every day is spent feeding their every innermost thought into the web, it’s something completely different.
Here’s what I’m waiting for: A flame war breaks out on Digg, two people really going at it. One of them tracks down the other’s Bright Kite account, finds him, and curb stomps the poor guy. Imagine what would happen if “STFU n00b!” turned into a real, honest, foot in the ass.
Age, experience or generational designation is in no way an excuse for behavior online or off.
I don’t buy it. It’s not OK to excuse someone’s behavior because of their social standing, or lack there of.
I hope your hypo-scenario never happens, it’s unnecessary and it’s exactly the opposite of what needs to be.
Besides, the majority of people arguing on the internet have; One, never been in a fight. And two, probably haven’t left their mom’s basement in a few years and the resulting sunlight exposure would most assuredly destroy their well cultivated paleness forever ostracizing them from their peers and Wednesday night D&D meet-up, in said basement.
Don’t misunderstand, I don’t WANT my scenario to play out… I’m just saying that as our online society becomes more transparent, things are either going to get worse or better, and given the nature of the up-and-coming generation, I’d put my money on worse.
Totally agree with you. It doesn’t excuse anything. It’s just a theory.
Totally agreed. I’ve seen online behavior in games as well that tend the same way. A married man stays “loyal” in real life, but online in Second Life or in “You name it” environment, he is unfaithful. I don’t believe this is excused because its purely online behavior.
We are accountable for our actions in any environment.
Thanks Rogie! I agree, you should be accountable for your actions online and off, gaming or not.
Well done, James.
The exploratory and newly available forums, arenas, chatrooms, and ultimately worlds, whether we recognize it as such, or not, allows all sorts of behavior.
Some choose to explore what’s been forbade of them most of their life for better or for worse, some choose to attach the web as another appendage to real life and make their online fascia an extension of the current behavior/persona.
While an extensive psychological topic, it’s really very difficult to cover the breadth of it in a post as you’ve done. Great job.
Ultimately, it’s like any other tool, I think: Guns, bubblegum, automobiles, religion, democracy, garden shears, or a sharp edged shovel.
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Kenny Saunders
05/13/08 6:25 pm
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