Toe in the Water

Net Thoughts

Net Thoughts

QOTD on this date asks about our responsibility for things said on the internet. That sparked lots of old theories in me, mainly having nothing to do with responsibility (I’m not sure I understand what the question is trying to get at) and, rather than bore everyone by departing so immediately from the topic, I decided to write down my thoughts in a blog post.

And this is it, I guess.

The central point of my thinking is that the internet is like reality but more so (rather like American weather compared to British). Because we do not have to take responsibility for what we say on the net, we have the opportunity to be both more honest than in real life and to lie if we feel like it. The net result is that we create a net world that is more true than our experience of reality. What we put out there, whether boldly honest or a figment of our imagination, is reflective of who we are. Liars may lie to their heart’s content and become known as liars in the doing of it. They are, indeed, being more true to their real selves than they are in the actual world. And the same for the honest - their masks are gone.

This is why I don’t like seeing photos of the people I meet on the net. My experience of them has already created a picture in my mind of what they look like and it is invariably a disappointment to find that my imagination is always optimistic. So, if you introduce reality into my created digital world, I have to adjust my view of it - and that is inevitably downward. We all, and it’s true of myself too, spoil the appearance of my online world. I am weak enough to prefer the false beauty of the internet over the flaws and unhappinesses of reality.

Of course, this whole idea is dependent on my own experience of the net. Others may see it very differently. But I can only deal with the thing as it appears to me. And that won’t change unless you tell me what your opinion is on the matter.

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