Is there a difference

[Calandale]

Between RL and the internets?

No.

Seems a bit extreme. Care to
elaborate?

[Pyraxis]

It's just that most of this particular debate is predictable. So I figured I'd cut to the chase.

When people ask this question, they usually mean "Are my internet relationships less valuable than my IRL ones?" or "Is the internet a simulation of real life, rather than a part of real life?" My answer to both is no.

Of course there are superficial differences between online and offline communication, the same way there are differences between holding a conversation in person, over radio waves, via letters, over a phone, etc. But my intent is to circumvent the value judgements people put on them, and the real-vs-fake straw man.

[Tesla]

It annoys me when people think they're safe to be mean behind the internet...  being an asshole on the internet is the same as being an asshole in real life.  You just can't see the person you're being an asshole to, and therefore they feel OK about it.  That's wrong.  People on the net are still people, and it IS the real world.

[Tristeza]

It annoys me when people think they're safe to be mean behind the internet...  being an asshole on the internet is the same as being an asshole in real life.  You just can't see the person you're being an asshole to, and therefore they feel OK about it.  That's wrong.  People on the net are still people, and it IS the real world.

Yes.  I'm getting a little sick of all the meanness, especially when it affects people I care about.

[Calandale]

It annoys me when people think they're safe to be mean behind the internet...  being an asshole on the internet is the same as being an asshole in real life.  You just can't see the person you're being an asshole to, and therefore they feel OK about it.  That's wrong.  People on the net are still people, and it IS the real world.

Don't worry. I'm this way, IRL too. 

[Natalia Evans]

My ex played WOW or was it Diablo, who cares, well he play on the computer all day long and never get off except for when he went to bed, ate and went to the bathroom. Never did anything else.


I think there is a difference between real life and online. People pretend all the time online vs they can't pretend in real life to be another age like a 45 year old can't pretend to be a 13 year old because it be obvious he isn't 13 but people online wouldn't know it if he did it online.
Also you can go to places and travel, while on the internet, you're just sitting and browsing the websites and forums and you don't know who anyone is meaning you don't know what they look like after seeing them for the first time until they show a picture of them.

I do better online vs real life because if it weren't for the internet I would have never gotten any boyfriends, maybe get the job I have now because I saw the add on craigslist, never in the newspaper, find the aspie gathering here and the AB/DL. Unfortunitly I can't go to the aspie gathering because it's always on the day I am working and it starts after I am at work. 

Internet is a lot better but risky when you go meeting people in real life you met online. It's the same as in real life, you can meet a real nice guy at a bar and it turns out he isn't the guy you thought he was because he rapes you after going on a few dates.

[Tesla]

[Calandale]

My ex played WOW or was it Diablo, who cares, well he play on the computer all day long and never get off except for when he went to bed, ate and went to the bathroom. Never did anything else.

Maybe if you'd pleasured him,
it would have helped him get off?

[Calandale]

Gods, don't those signs make you wanna punch the
people holding them? 

[Natalia Evans]

My ex played WOW or was it Diablo, who cares, well he play on the computer all day long and never get off except for when he went to bed, ate and went to the bathroom. Never did anything else.

Maybe if you'd pleasured him,
it would have helped him get off?

No he took me for granted. I was his meal ticket and he wanted a mommy instead of a girlfriend because he was like a big kid instead of an adult.

[Calandale]

Better meal ticket than meal worm.

[vodz]

It annoys me when people think they're safe to be mean behind the internet...  being an asshole on the internet is the same as being an asshole in real life.  You just can't see the person you're being an asshole to, and therefore they feel OK about it.  That's wrong.  People on the net are still people, and it IS the real world.

What I'm trying to get at is that you can't predict the way a person acts in real life compared to how they act on the web,

= Difference.

[vodz]

The first question I asked Peaguy was,

"Do you see a distinction [=difference] between your persona IRL and on the internets?"

If you can answer this question "yes", then there is a difference between the internet and RL.

[Callaway]

It annoys me when people think they're safe to be mean behind the internet...  being an asshole on the internet is the same as being an asshole in real life.  You just can't see the person you're being an asshole to, and therefore they feel OK about it.  That's wrong.  People on the net are still people, and it IS the real world.

That's a good point, Tesla.

 

[Calandale]

It annoys me when people think they're safe to be mean behind the internet...  being an asshole on the internet is the same as being an asshole in real life.  You just can't see the person you're being an asshole to, and therefore they feel OK about it.  That's wrong.  People on the net are still people, and it IS the real world.

What I'm trying to get at is that you can't predict the way a person acts in real life compared to how they act on the web,

= Difference.

I tend to. Haven't really seen a reason to think
otherwise, other than claims by those who say
that they are somehow better, IRL.