Qian and Scott informs us of how some people get online to deceive people they don't know, whether then people they know. Bloggers do this because they can get away with their past, or who they really are. They tend be more cautious about targeting people that may know them. I do believe most bloggers read web pages and then go and research that person. Once this process is complete, and the background check comes back good, the blogger began to plan an attack. That's why real names and contact information should never be displayed online. Some people make themselves easy targets by trusting people they don't know, or can't see.
Disable people tend to want to conceal their identity while online, is what Bowker and Tuffin describes. A disable person don't want to be known for their disability. They will go on for a long period of time chatting online, and not let the other person know that they are disable and can't do what a regular person does. I do believe this is done out of fear of losing communication on the web. Some disable people are bored and need a hobby, while confined to their homes. I don't believe that they are being deceitful due to evil. But, I think it is done out of lonliness. Their is definitely a difference between bloggers that are after things of value, where as a disable person is after companionship.
Like you said, real names and contact information shouldn't be used online. Unless all you want to do is pander to your readers, i.e., say nothing controversial. The minute you say something that can be taken the wrong way, someone is going to jump on you like flies on dog crap and do a virtual body slam and try to put you in your place. For as advanced and smart and sophisticated as people can be, it's easier to be jackwagons (remember, my new curse word?) and deride someone. And because they can hide behind a false name, people will be immature and do so.
ReplyDeleteThe Qian & Scott article wasn't really about deception, you may want to go back and read that again. Their goals was to see how much personally identifying information people revealed in their blogs, and how that related to self-disclosure. Many people use personal blogs as a kind of written therapy, and being able to vent online, so to speak, can be helpful. But if you are venting about your job, or your professor, for example, you might not want to reveal your name or location, because you don't want to get in trouble. Is that being deceptive?
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe even if you don't release your contact information it is still going to get out. We are living in a new age where there are many way around what we think cannot happen on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI try and teach my kids that not telling the entire truth is a lie. I suppose that online communication is going to create for us as a culture a new type of moral guideline per se. It seems as though the idea is leaning that if it is for your protection (although you may or may not be gushing all types of personal information on a basically public forum) then you are allowed to fudge the truth (only for protection of course). I don't know it just seems like there needs to be a line drawn somewhere. When is it a lie?
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