DepricatedZero
New Member
So I've noticed an phenomenon. We're moving away from the age of "online =! irl"
(For those who may somehow have missed out on any of the last 20+ years, I'm referring to "in real life.")
The internet is moving from being a source of information and amusing banter, to a ubiquitous extension of everyday life. Sure there are still pockets of resistance and anonymity, but even on 4chan no one is safe any more(see Dusty the Cat). Technology has caught up with us, and our virtual world isn't so virtual any more. It never was, really, but the distance seems closed, now.
People are hired or fired for things they do online, arrests are made, marriages arranged, the whole burrito. While, don't get me wrong, it is easy to be anonymous, it is inevitable that the safety cushion of a computer screen vanish. While it's easy for those who know how to work a computer, your average layman uses the same sign on (and likely password) on most sites they visit. If not, accounts can sometimes be searched by registered email addresses. In short, it is easy to find people these days, and identify them.
Anyone who's talked to me at all will know that I'm pretty frank about who I am, what I know, what I don't. I'm also pretty respectful and tend to talk to people as I would face to face. For me, the element of a screen is no different than a headset or telephone handset. This forum isn't a bunch of faceless blobs of text, it's lrkun, ImprobableJoe, CosmicSpork, Prolescum - a record of their, mine, our thoughts. While I may not know the sound of IJoe's voice or see lrkun as anything other than an anime character, they're no less real to me.
So why do we still refer to our "real life" when talking about meatspace? Before, sure, it made a bit of sense - since it was easy to flame your teacher or coworker on their Friendster without any worry of anonymity. But now, it's easy to trace back posts like that, and online actions have offline consequences. I feel like we're committing some fallacy in referring to events or people in meatspace as "in real life."
This may have rambled a bit. TLDR: the term is dead, there are consequences to what we do and say online, and it's kind of sad and kind of inevitable.
(For those who may somehow have missed out on any of the last 20+ years, I'm referring to "in real life.")
The internet is moving from being a source of information and amusing banter, to a ubiquitous extension of everyday life. Sure there are still pockets of resistance and anonymity, but even on 4chan no one is safe any more(see Dusty the Cat). Technology has caught up with us, and our virtual world isn't so virtual any more. It never was, really, but the distance seems closed, now.
People are hired or fired for things they do online, arrests are made, marriages arranged, the whole burrito. While, don't get me wrong, it is easy to be anonymous, it is inevitable that the safety cushion of a computer screen vanish. While it's easy for those who know how to work a computer, your average layman uses the same sign on (and likely password) on most sites they visit. If not, accounts can sometimes be searched by registered email addresses. In short, it is easy to find people these days, and identify them.
Anyone who's talked to me at all will know that I'm pretty frank about who I am, what I know, what I don't. I'm also pretty respectful and tend to talk to people as I would face to face. For me, the element of a screen is no different than a headset or telephone handset. This forum isn't a bunch of faceless blobs of text, it's lrkun, ImprobableJoe, CosmicSpork, Prolescum - a record of their, mine, our thoughts. While I may not know the sound of IJoe's voice or see lrkun as anything other than an anime character, they're no less real to me.
So why do we still refer to our "real life" when talking about meatspace? Before, sure, it made a bit of sense - since it was easy to flame your teacher or coworker on their Friendster without any worry of anonymity. But now, it's easy to trace back posts like that, and online actions have offline consequences. I feel like we're committing some fallacy in referring to events or people in meatspace as "in real life."
This may have rambled a bit. TLDR: the term is dead, there are consequences to what we do and say online, and it's kind of sad and kind of inevitable.