The Psychology of Cyberspace Options

[Brainiac]

I have been online since 1995, and since then I have been surprised, happy, romantic, amazed, emotional, disheartened, angry, enraged, and a gamut of other emotions, in online virtual discussion. I have always wondered about the relative ease of online communications as opposed to offline communications. Some early studies of Internet interaction suggested that they contributed to a diminishing of real-life social interaction. On the opposite end of the scale, and in terms of my own experience, I have often found online communications to be much more deep and meaningful than offline. Somehow or other, online interactions have the peculiar quality of being much more personal, invigorating and refreshing as well as stimulating. I have also come up against the "dark side" of the Internet; I have heard many stories of online romances going cold as well as those that attained real-life fruition, stories of deception and financial fraud, general bullying behind a curtain of anonymity, and being stalked is also not a nice experience. The Internet is still very much a 'new' phenomenon, and although there has been some research carried out on it I wouldn't say it was much to speak of. I have sometimes wondered about the psychology of online interactions and whether "straight" psychological principles can be applicable to online situations, which can contain just as much (or even more) vividity or emotion than offline experiences. I wouldn't think so, not if one were being orthodox. And also the other peculiarities; why people behave in ways that they wouldn't in real-life, why they switch gender and deceive people, unwanted forwarded jokes, spam emails promising cheap viagra or lottery wins, and so many other things.

So I was glad to see that one of my (online) friends, Coturnix, has written about a new e-book entitled 'The Psychology of Cyberspace', a collection of essays that are frequently updated and revised. It has apparently been online as long as I have (!) and has an associate blog.

Have fun reading it.

[Apres Laulyam]

This is fascinating to me. I find myself nodding with many of the observations, as I have noticed some of these dynamics myself. (haven't read the whole article/s to which you link)

I have become aware of just so many levels of my 'self', of styles of portrayal, differences between my on-line way and my face-to-face, in the last year.

I usually speak of my on-line relationships as 'attenuated', but, as you say Brainiac, the nature of cyberspace does seem to allow of a direct, mind to mind connection, that happens through WRITING. This intimacy, may be stymied, in real time/space, or enhanced! So many variables.

I was just telling someone last night, that we 'make a body and voice' for people that we write to and read from. This is the same thing we do with a voice on the radio, say a commentator of deejay that we listen to repeatedly over a long period of time. We seem to form a mental picture of them, and I think 99% of the time, how off base we are! Also, there is an aspect of control, in cyberspace, that we may not have in the rest of our worlds.

Yeah this is a fulsome subject. Thanks for posting it. Also, I understood what you said in your own post about 'vividity'. I find many aspects of my own experience outlined in the article you linked to, so won't bother to repeat the observations here.

At the end of the day though, I do long for the glance, the pheremone, the tone of voice, the animal vibration. Sigh. This comes back and circles around to some of my thoughts about being VERBAL. It is only one aspect of life, but for me, it certainly has moved to a level of primacy. Yeah, this is a fulsome subject.