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The Internet is "real life" …
Aug. 1st, 2010 10:55 pm… whatever "real life" is supposed to mean.
Connections made over the Internet can be just as deep or superficial as connections made face to face. Asshaberdashery over the Internet is just as unconscionable as asshaberdashery face to face. If you have said a rude, inconsiderate, privileged, clueless, insensitive, &c. thing on the Internet, you have been rude, inconsiderate, privileged, clueless, insensitive, &c. in real life.
Important things are said over the Internet. Important conversations that couldn't otherwise happen take place over the Internet. This idea that face to face is better for communication? Yeah, no. Aside from extreme introversion, which I mostly manage, I'm pretty "normal" (whatever that means), but I freeze in many face to face situations. I like to have time to process my reaction and frame my reply; verbal communication doesn't facilitate that. Now, take my "normal" state and add a communication issue, a processing issue--there's a big ol' list of disabilities that many people contend with that affect language and processing and reasoning--and you see new consequences to saying, "this is a conversation that we should have face to face, person to person." That eliminates a whole chunk of people who have something to contribute. (Not to mention geography.)
Actually, what we should do is bring our personhood to the Internet. Fuck this trollish anonymity bullshit. Seriously, trolls are fucking it up, and we should stop letting them get away with that.
(This has been yet another long overdue post from the Office of Obviousness, prompted by something on Tumblr which has not turned into a firestorm and hopefully won't. IOW, it wasn't any of you.)
Connections made over the Internet can be just as deep or superficial as connections made face to face. Asshaberdashery over the Internet is just as unconscionable as asshaberdashery face to face. If you have said a rude, inconsiderate, privileged, clueless, insensitive, &c. thing on the Internet, you have been rude, inconsiderate, privileged, clueless, insensitive, &c. in real life.
Important things are said over the Internet. Important conversations that couldn't otherwise happen take place over the Internet. This idea that face to face is better for communication? Yeah, no. Aside from extreme introversion, which I mostly manage, I'm pretty "normal" (whatever that means), but I freeze in many face to face situations. I like to have time to process my reaction and frame my reply; verbal communication doesn't facilitate that. Now, take my "normal" state and add a communication issue, a processing issue--there's a big ol' list of disabilities that many people contend with that affect language and processing and reasoning--and you see new consequences to saying, "this is a conversation that we should have face to face, person to person." That eliminates a whole chunk of people who have something to contribute. (Not to mention geography.)
Actually, what we should do is bring our personhood to the Internet. Fuck this trollish anonymity bullshit. Seriously, trolls are fucking it up, and we should stop letting them get away with that.
(This has been yet another long overdue post from the Office of Obviousness, prompted by something on Tumblr which has not turned into a firestorm and hopefully won't. IOW, it wasn't any of you.)