Food for thought on Internet etiquette

[deathpixie]

Normally Cracked.com is the place for silly lists and articles to make you laugh. But every so often, they come up with something that is still amusing, but also actually thought-provoking (even if it's unintentional). This article is one of those. There's a lot of interesting observations on Internet behaviour and (dis)function.

The part on "Internet Asperger's Syndrome is especially interesting, given this section:

"Asperger's Syndrome: This rarely diagnosed but often claimed disorder is a mild form of Autism that comes with what seems to be a biological inability to show empathy for other human beings, as well as (and maybe stemming from) an inability to recognize nonverbal cues...

...Calacanis figured out that people who do all of their communicating online wind up mimicking Asperger's behaviors because they are imposing the same disadvantages on themselves. In both cases, when the ability to see nonverbal responses and facial expressions goes away, so does empathy. Soon the thing you're communicating with isn't a person, they're just a bunch of words on a screen." Emphasis mine.

We've all seen this. The "pixel people" phenomenon, where people act like utter jerks to someone they've never seen, just because that person isn't "real" to them. It explains a lot of the really inappropriate behaviour - not just violent outbursts, but also the propositioning, the invasive questions, the just plain "wrongness" of some people's interactions. Asperger's is certainly the flavour of the month in terms of psychology (just as schizophrenia was back a hundred years ago, and ECT was the treatment du jour for everything at one point - psychology goes through trends just like everything else), but I think it tends to be bandied around the internet a little too much, becoming an excuse rather than a legitimate condition. "Internet Aspergers" makes so much more sense - people who admittedly have socialisation issues forgetting even those basic mores as soon as they start communicating online with any great frequency.

If you read the article, you'll probably do what I wound up doing, coming up with examples of just about every 'type' listed. Including myself - I tend towards the Grammer Nazi thing, since there's that whole "the world's a mess and I just need to clean it up" attitude going on. ;)

Comments

[obsidian179.livejournal.com]

Well, speaking as someone who was diagnosed many years ago with Asperger's, dealing with people in person is often a lot more difficult then doing so online. I'll admit, I do sometimes have problems dealing with other people face to face. I don't know if I'd call it a lack of empathy, exactly, as I can often figure out what they mean if I work at it, but that's the thing: it isn't always automatic. Oh, easy stuff, sure: basic emotions, humor, sarcasm, etc. But if I want to actually see something from someone else's point of view, I have to work at it. I am not unemotional, I am not stupid, and that I am not much of a group person is not a huge failing, no matter what some people out there may think.

I don't think much about Asperger's, honestly. Perhaps it's because - as I was told, back when I was diagnosed - I'm fairly high functioning, on the Asperger's scale. I know I don't necessarily think the same way as most people, but it doesn't always seem that way. I have my own apartment, my own car, I pay for anything I might buy on my own. I do prefer dealing with people online because I am able to present myself more coherently this way. Indeed, when I tell people online that I have Asperger's, they're always surprised. (And often confused, leading to looking up links that explain exactly what the heck it is.)

"Internet Asperger's", frankly, is a little insulting. (No, I'm not upset with you. ^_^) If you meet someone like that online and think they have Asperger's, chances are you're wrong. Some people are just jackholes, and take advantage of the anonymity provided by the internet to get away with it.