Hello fellow Comm 245ers. My name is Joe Kerekes and I'm a junior in Electrical and Computer Engineering, most likely with a focus on computer architecture. My personal history is a little complicated, but it's always fun to tell. I was born in the US near Chicago, but until I got to Cornell, I had never lived in the States. Instead, I've lived in Vancouver, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Doha, Qatar, and finally Toronto. Like I said, complicated. My dad works as a doctor overseas, where he still is now, so I lived wherever he found work.
Despite living overseas for the majority of my life, I consider myself a proud Canadian. I'm easy going, friendly, and I love telling and hearing good stories. I play the tenor sax, but I haven't yet saved up enough for my own. I enjoy reading Isaac Asimov and Orsen Scott Card. It may be too obvious to say, but I also am fascinated by computer hardware. After all, why suffer through ECE if one doesn't ultimately (i.e. Not right after missing Slope Day to design a processor) find it interesting and enjoyable?
As for an internet related phenomenon that piques my interest, there are almost too many to choose. The unfortunate phenomenon that seems to get on my nerves the most is how many people will outright lie and boast about abilities, qualifications or knowledge that are quickly revealed as the outrageous claims they are. Yet many times they continue to claim truthfulness after such revelations. What drives people, psychologically, to telling lies and sticking to them despite the lack of any apparent benefit to doing so? One is not going to get a job, or a raise, by posting on informal forums or chatting on IRC with strangers. While one may gain temporary recognition or praise, thanks to the anonymity of the internet and the easy and quick access to vast amounts of knowledge (Wikipedia/Google), after being revealed, why continue?
What irks me about this phenomenon, aside from a general dislike of overwhelmingly stubborn people, is that the conversation can rapidly devolve into flaming by all involved. Suddenly and sadly a discussion ends, a game is ruined, or a thread of intellectual thought is lost. I've seen this phenomenon take place in numerous environments; in a party in World of Warcraft, a thread on evilavatar.com, in chat rooms, on IRC, on web pages, everywhere. The phenomenon seems to span all the spaces discussed in Wallace, although, the more personal focused the space; e-mail, private chat rooms, synchronous chat between friends, the less likely.
I look forward to an interesting semester and to reading more of your posts. Cheers!
5 comments:
I think that it is interesting that you brought up the concept of lying given the second reading for this week about “Joan.” I have always been as amazed as you at the lengths to which people will go to lie. This man took on an entirely different persona and it was as if he could not escape his own lie. Your question about the psychology of lying is something that becomes even stickier in the internet space. Are people more likely to lie on the internet? The likely answer is yes, because they can. Your thought about getting nothing out of lying; not a car, not a raise sparked another question of mine: Do you think that the same people that find the need to lie about their strengths online are those lying on their resumes? It would appear that the answer is also yes.
I think that people assume that there is no harm done in lying on the internet because no one really knows who they are. Those on the CB network felt that they were having an extremely intimate relationship with Joan, when this person did not technically exist. How is it possible that we can allow ourselves to believe someone on the internet that in person we may see as “too good to be true?” I think that part of lying on the internet comes from the receiving person actually wanting to believe that this person truly does exist.
It seems to me that the ability to play a part other than yourself is both part of the Internet's magic and its curse. The lack of cues that determine how others perceive oneself opens up an interesting opportunity for both exploration and deceit. Its exhilarating to role play a part that one would never have the chance to try in real life. It is extremely annoying though, as you have said, to be on the receiving end of such a ploy. Perhaps it is similar to hazing, once it has been done to someone, they seem to feel a need to pass it on to the next unsuspecting person. Like the above commenter said, I'm sure a large motivation in lying on line is simply because it is easier to get away with. There is a lack of social consequences when one can largely switch identities on line instantly.
I wasn't so clear on your post and what you mean by "flaming." What is flaming exactly?
Aside from that, I think many people view the Internet specifically chatroom, message boards and other forms of communication with strangers as a way to escape the reality. I don't necessarily think that people wholie on the internet would be more likely to lie on their resumes per say.
Many people take the internet as a paralell world, a place where they can weave any story they want to. Although I think lying internet forms such as MonsterTRAK, or e-mail with non-strangers is a serious offense, what does it matter in asynchronous forums of PerezHilton.com, or War of Warcraft? It's just entertainment!
I feel that the internet is so powerful and can do or link anyone to almost anything. And the fact that there is so much anonymity, it gives people the opportunity to be someone they have always wanted to be. I feel that this sense of “power” almost encourages people to build and describe themselves up as they please since no one really knows who you are; unless it was on Facebook where you have all your friends on it who see it and know you. This lying could just be a way for this particular person to express themselves in an imaginative way since chances are other people online is doing the exact same thing.
After all, people are curious beings and being able to experiment online their personality or the way they talk has much less negative effects than in real life because it is all done anonymously.
Talia, sorry I wasn't more clear. Flaming is when one uses vicious personal slights to attack other people for whatever reason. This can escalate to people just insulting each other, a so called "flame war".
To clarify my post though, I can understand the draw to lying on the internet, for benevolent (curiosity) or malevolent reasons. What I was trying to focus on was that, to me at least, it seems as if people on the net try to keep the lie going despite being revealed. For example, in real life with a group of people if someone says, "my car is faster than yours because of x" and someone else more knowledgeable counters, citing more reasonable proof, the "liar" probably won't continue to argue his point. This is contrasted with Internet communication where I've seen people continue to try to lie; “my car IS faster, i'm not lying.”, “the Playstation IS hard to program, I know, stop saying that I'm lying.”
Hope that clears up my post a bit.
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