How "real" is the Internet?

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by Xantar

That's all well and good, but here's my point again: you cannot be totally, exactly the same as your real life self on the internet. It's just not possible.

That's a pretty flimsy point though, considering you can also say "You're not the same person over the phone as you are in a letter". I suppose I agree that you are not 100% exactly the same person. But I'd also say you're never 100% the same person as you were yesterday.

Originally Posted by Xantar

If someone messages you over the internet while you're doing something, it's pretty easy for you to ignore them or to tell them you're busy and come back later. If they walk through the door of your room in person, it's a much different thing to tell them to leave you alone.

What's your point other than telling people to fuck off? It's easy to ignore a phonecall. It's easy to burn a letter. It's easy not to open your front door.
I'd also just like to say it's rather easy to tell someone to go away if you're in person. It's easy to lie over the phone and say "Hey, call back later, I'm ___" when you just don't want to talk to them. It's easy to get someone else to answer your door and say that you're not home. Is it different over the internet? Not responding to a message is no harder/easier than not picking up your phone, ignoring a call, or not answering your door.

Originally Posted by Xantar

If you had to donate a kidney and you had to choose between two people you like equally well but you've only met one of them in person and the other person you've only ever met online, which one would you give the kidney to? If you choose the person you've known in real life, I would contend that it's because you know that meeting someone on the internet much less important and real and social than meeting them in person. Humans are social animals. We are built that way.

In my previous comments I wasn't stating I prefer people I've never met. Nor do I bond with them better. I actually only talk to (meaning at least once a week) maybe 3 people I've never met. What I was saying before is that over the internet - in places like this forum for example, or talking via MSN, or text messaging, I'm me. I'm not hiding behind some wall and sheltering who I am. If you ask me something over MSN or face-to-face the answer will be the same. Of course the online answer will be a little more thought-out because you do have the luxury of time, and of not being interrupted - however I won't change what I was going to say just because it's not happening in person. That's what my point was. Maybe I'm more open in my life than most, I'm not sure. Maybe I'm comfortable with conversation no matter who it's with. It's how I was raised.

Originally Posted by Xantar

But the question is whether you are exactly the same and all your interactions are exactly the same as if you were meeting face to face.

The answer is yes. I like social situations. I enjoy talking to people. I'm talking personally, of course. I'm not saying 'Generally people are the same over the internet", I'm saying I am. The reason I view it as the same, is because I view it as just another way to converse with someone, like I do with a phone. Proof of this is my high impatience when talking to someone on MSN, because I do take it in context of a conversation. That's why I type how I would talk. If I'm talking to you on MSN, you have my undivided attention - barring being drunk/stoned/playing a game/listening to music - as would be the case if we were talking over the phone, or in the same room. If I'm busy and can't talk to someone, I sign off of MSN. Why be there in the first place if you're completely unavailable to talk. That's pointless and rude.

Originally Posted by Xantar

This isn't unique to the internet. Back in the print days, it was common for people to speak of someone having a "writer persona" even if they were opinion columnists for a newspaper theoretically expressing their own personal views in their own voice.

Yes, but the problem I have with that - is that is for a job. The same way news anchors aren't themselves, or sports telecasterguys aren't themselves when they're on TV. A job is out of the question in this topic. Maybe if all of us are getting paid to sit around and do sweet F.A. over the internet that would fit in here, but it just doesn't. You can't compare posting on a forum or talking via a messenger service to some guy who gets paid to write articles, and will get fired if they aren't good enough. However if people got kicked off the internet for not being interesting enough, it would be a far better place.