We all know people who have some sort of inferiority complex or another that holds them back and prevents them from openly socializing with people. Anonymous socialization was not possible and the people who lacked the self confidence to present themselves to others for all sorts of judgment in the name of friendship and social relationships. This would often be a painful experience for the likes of these people and often drove them into an almost recluse like state. The advent of the internet changed the dynamics of the way people present themselves to the public. People could now socialize without worrying about being judged because of their appearances, handicaps, or emotional short comings because they could sweep what they believe to be the negative aspects of their personality under the rug and simply highlight what they deem to be their positive and admirable traits.
Internet based communication seems to allow people a different sense of freedom to express themselves and be accepted for their viewpoints more than anything else. Maybe it is because people tend to take a sense of security from the knowledge that they cannot be easily traced by the people they are talking to, or that they can easily create identities far removed from their real personalities in order to deal with the various people that populate the world wide web. One might be able to accurately compare the effects of internet socialization with that of an alcoholic beverage with a kick. If it takes only a few shots of Tequila for one normally reserved and analytical person to lose all his inhibitions, it takes only a few taps on the keyboard for a person who is usually reserved to begin sharing his feelings online without fear of repercussions. Internet deception is not the proper term to use when explaining how and why people present themselves on the internet in a certain manner. People who use the internet do not set out with the intention of deceiving those whom they meet on the internet. If anything, what they actually do is embellish on their strong points, and limit the exposure of what some people might deem to be their negative aspects. Don’t we do the very same thing in real life? We all wish we could hide some of our perceived shortcomings in life but at unable to do so in person because we can only try to hide those shortcomings for so long. But on the internet, we have the power to prevent that side of our personality from coming out because we have the time to analyze our words, how those words will be received, and what potential reactions may stem from it. Therefore, the internet allows us time to check ourselves and make sure that the only personality that the people we are talking to see is the personality that is carefully crafted and presented to them via instant messaging systems, email, discussion forums, etc. In as much as the internet allows us to censor our own thoughts and words before it gets out there to hurt anybody’s feelings, we can probably consider it to be that world wide conscience that the world so needs at this time. Recently, there has been a fast paced move to change internet communication means from text based to imaging based chat programs also known as video conferencing and video chatting. This new technology has added safety measures to the way people use the internet and has forced those who try to practice internet deception to own up to their words and tell the truth. This is because in reality, we tend to trust people more after we meet them in person and are able to judge their body language for ourselves.
The reality is that there will always be people out there who will try to use the internet to deceive others. There will always be the phishing scams, fraudulent emails, flame-war fights, and other possibly deceptive means of relating to others via the internet. But, the technology to keep the internet honest does exist and will continue to evolve to protect the users for as long as the deceptive people keep trying to pull the veil over the eyes of the users.
Work Cited
Chester, Andrea. “The Real Me Online: Identity Play On The Internet”. RMIT University, Australia. 2007. Web.
Thompson, Clive. “The Way We Live Now: The Honesty Virus”. The New York Times. 2007.