Dissociation Effects

In my last post, I explained what it means to be anonymous. An entire blog could be decided to how to be more anonymous online, so for now, I will skip that and dive straight into how people change their behavior online while they are interacting in ways that they perceive themselves to be anonymous to the general public.

With this perceived anonymity brings on different types of behaviors one would not exhibit in normal face-to-face interactions, such as the Online Disinhibition Effect.

The Online Disinhibition Effect

The Online Disinhibition Effect explains how we communicate digital without the benefit of face-to-face interactions. [1] This is the influences the feelings, needs and drive that a person has and the dissociation that comes with not having the person on the receiving end in front of you. This can manifest in both positive and negative ways. For most people this dissociation is minor and allows the person to feel more like their true self, while in others there is much larger gap. Take for example the bullies on news sites that attack each other and the authors of the article. YouTube is laced with references to the posters homosexuality in derogatory terms. Sexual deviants are allowed to run free on 4chan. Most of these people would suffer large repercussions in the real world if acted out publicly.
Even when speaking to people we know online, we cannot see their reaction to what we are saying. Emoticons have effects that trigger the same emotional responses as a genuine smiling face in front of us does; however, these can be presented falsely when hiding behind a screen.

In a recent case involving one of the more notorious of these trolls, Michael Brutsch,  we can not only see the impact the reality this behavior has on the individuals its directed toward, but also the repercussion that happen when anonymity is lifted and the individual responsible is exposed [2].


Despite this, there appears to be such a strong drive for individuals to act in an obscene fashion that they disregard common decency and forget about any possible legal action. One could guess that these individuals are so dissatisfied with their own lives and look to cause harm in others. It is possible that these people are just so restrained in their own lives and that when given the opportunity to exist in a world that has no perceived repercussions, they go a little wild. Regardless of the reasons, trolling and bullying appear to be a “new normal” among online personas.


References:

[1] Suler, J. (2004). The Online Disinhibition Effect.Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7(3),

[2] Fitzpatrick, D., & Driffin, D. (2012, 10 19). Man behind 'Jailbait' posts exposed, loses job. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/us/internet-troll-apology/