In other words, do you feel people flex their e-muscles a lot more online as opposed to real life?
I wouldn’t engage in lengthy debate with my co-workers the way I do on the board. I’d be afriad of offending them, and then I’ve got to work with pissed-off people. My Hubby and I debate a lot, but neither of us take it personal when we don’t agree-- I don’t trust that I’d have the same understanding with my family or co-workers.
I don’t take the anonymous nature of the internet as a chance to be rude or mean, if that’s what you meant. I’ve always been skeptical of claims of people who are hostile or nasty to others online but say they’re really nice folks in person. I have a feeling if you got to know them well, you’d find they’re not really very nice at all-- how could they be if they need to have an “outlet” for their spite?
It’s sorta like the old morality question of whether you’d steal if you could get away with it. I think that people’s real personalities come out online when they don’t fear the consequences.
Most certainly! Just go read some of the threads in The Pit. There are certain members posting there that routinely call other poster assholes or idiots, tell others to fuck off, etc, ad nauseam.
I believe this group of people would never have the guts to say these things face-to-face. I imagine them to be wimps IRL, and when they get to an anonymous message board they try to act like a badass.
I do have a personal policy of not “saying” anything here that I wouldn’t say to someone’s face, and so far, IIRC, only one person has caused me to lose my cool and insult him, but that wasn’t his fault. It was my fault for letting him get under my skin.
I take a certain amount of pride in being pretty much the same in real life as I am online. Many people that I’ve met after talking to them online are surprised by this; they expect me to, in the words of John Carter of Mars, be a wimp when I don’t have a keyboard to hide behind. I’m not.
Now, a text-only medium is different from communicating verbally. You can respond in a different way, you have more time to express yourself, and so forth. The kind of truly convoluted (and beautiful, in their way) insults you see online isn’t possible in real life. But the gist, sense and tone of it can be the same.
There’s also the factors Lissa mentions, of having to work with pissed-off people. This puts a natural brake to your behaviour in real life out of pure pragmatism. Here, our sole purpose is talking to each other, so pissing each other off isn’t really counter-indicated. In real life, you often have to put up with people while here you simply stop reading.
Of course. It’s the anonymity.
Rather idiotic comment (see I wouldn’t say that to you in real life- I’d be far more diplomatic 
).
Answer: Yes. Not only are you anonymous, but I also believes it veils the credentials of the person (or audience) you may be talking to.
I don’t think that *everyone * is different online, but sure, lots of people are. Just like lots of people are assholes when they travel, or are rude to service people, because they *can * be. The world is full of people who are **only ** kept in line by consequences. When those consequences go away, it’s Lord of the Flies time.
Yeah I’m pretty much a smartass IRL too. It probably sounds meaner online though if you don’t know me.
I think you can get the gist of someone’s personality through an online conversation. If they’re a jerk online, they’re probably a jerk in real life too. But almost certainly a lot of what gets said on an anonymous message board would never be said in a conversation between real life coworkers or acquaintances, simply because the ramifications of (even accidentally) offending someone are so much greater when you can’t just close the window.
I’ve had some extremely strange conversations on YIM with men who seem to think it’s appropriate to ask personal questions. I always ask them if they’d walk up to a woman in real life and speak to her in that manner…?
The thoughts I express here are my real thoughts and I don’t make up an online persona.
However, I share my thoughts much, much more freely online than in person. I’m positive I’ve posted more words here on some days than words I uttered out loud the same days.
From what I’ve seen and read on the 'net…the world would be an even shittier place if everyone’s “net persona” was their “meat space persona”.
It certainly makes me more bold. I seldom talk about religion or politics IRL, for fear of being attacked. As well, I have Asberger’s syndrome and find it difficult to talk to people IRL at all.
I don’t see why my comment was idiotic, but judging from your condescending tone, you must be right.
Aren’t unknown credentials (and identity) a part of being anonymous?
There was a time early on in my membership that I was a little more outgoing on the board than I was in real life but after every outburst I’d generally feel very guilty and apologetic (sometimes I actually apologized and others I didn’t).
Now I’m pretty much the way I am in real life as I am on the boards - however that is.
You…don’t…say. 
(and fuck right I would have said that IRL too)
I think I’ve revealed too much about myself on these boards to risk offending anyone, who knows when those nekkid pictures of me will surface due to some off-hand comment I made to some irrate doper with some google-fu.
Suck my male chicken…I am not sure.
Dude, considering the middle sentence, I’m not in the least surprised. With the best will in the world, and I say this out of pure-minded Christian love 
, I wouldn’t want to hear you discussing religion or politics IRL unless I had a towel handy, if you get my drift.
Mal, not in any position to throw stones at anyone over Aspieism
It’s not all one-way traffic, though. I mean, exactly zero women in real life have ever given me photos of their snatch, whereas in cyberspace… :dubious:
I asked you not to tell anyone about that!
:o
Oh? And when did you change your name from <slams on brakes>
If I acted in real life the way I do on the SDMB, I’d be going up to people and saying, "You know a couple of hours ago, when you said
? I’ve thought of a good reply to that…"