how far would you go
if you were faceless and nameless. if the only thing that identified you was a generic handle like koolguy81 or kingjohniii or something similarly vague. maybe your hometown was listed, or your school, but nothing that could pinpoint you among the hundreds of people from the same town or school. in short, if there was no way anyone could pick you out in a crowd.
on the information superhighway, if there was no information about you. or maybe there was, but there was no way of linking it to the person you pretended to be. who would know that jean smith, english professor at some ivy league college, lurked around lesbian chatrooms under the handle nuclearbomb? the internet opens a hundred doors, but it also allows you to hide behind unopenable doors. like little horcruxes, a part of you is stored behind each of those doors, each one doing its own thing, sometimes even beyond your control.
would the power of anonymity change you. would you summon up courage to email the girl you couldnt bear to face in class, now that you know she cant see the braces on our teeth. would you pretend to be someone else, a tall dark and handsome man with straight teeth. would you attempt to make her like you, or at least the you that you pretend to be.
would you say things that you wouldnt dare say in polite company. would you give voice to all your dirty thoughts. would you feel relieved at finding other faceless, nameless people like you and share your perverted fantasies with them. would you shamlessly flirt, would you talk dirty, would you verbalise your nakedness and thrust it in their faces, knowing that the great barrier called the internet would prevent their groping hands from ever reaching you.
would you swear, would you shout. would you vilify those you inwardly hated, would you slander those you were jealous of, would you spread lies through anonymous forwards. would you spam them, would you turn poltergeist in their well ordered lives.
would you find their photographs and morph them, would you hack into their mail accounts and send cruel mails to their loved ones. would you lead them up the garden path with stories of love and romance, before pulling the ground from under their feet and standing back to laugh at their pathetic fate.
how far would you go if you knew you could never be found out?
how far would you go when you knew that there was no chance of your ever being caught?
on the information superhighway, if there was no information about you. or maybe there was, but there was no way of linking it to the person you pretended to be. who would know that jean smith, english professor at some ivy league college, lurked around lesbian chatrooms under the handle nuclearbomb? the internet opens a hundred doors, but it also allows you to hide behind unopenable doors. like little horcruxes, a part of you is stored behind each of those doors, each one doing its own thing, sometimes even beyond your control.
would the power of anonymity change you. would you summon up courage to email the girl you couldnt bear to face in class, now that you know she cant see the braces on our teeth. would you pretend to be someone else, a tall dark and handsome man with straight teeth. would you attempt to make her like you, or at least the you that you pretend to be.
would you say things that you wouldnt dare say in polite company. would you give voice to all your dirty thoughts. would you feel relieved at finding other faceless, nameless people like you and share your perverted fantasies with them. would you shamlessly flirt, would you talk dirty, would you verbalise your nakedness and thrust it in their faces, knowing that the great barrier called the internet would prevent their groping hands from ever reaching you.
would you swear, would you shout. would you vilify those you inwardly hated, would you slander those you were jealous of, would you spread lies through anonymous forwards. would you spam them, would you turn poltergeist in their well ordered lives.
would you find their photographs and morph them, would you hack into their mail accounts and send cruel mails to their loved ones. would you lead them up the garden path with stories of love and romance, before pulling the ground from under their feet and standing back to laugh at their pathetic fate.
how far would you go if you knew you could never be found out?
how far would you go when you knew that there was no chance of your ever being caught?
posted by Vishnupriya @ 11:42 AM
7 Comments:
At 8:05 PM,
Vishnupriya said…
ooofff!!! trust you to miss the point altogether! no no, the lesbian chatroom example is quite harmless, and thats what im saying. you can do relatively harmless stuff like logging in under a false name, but then like in the examples, it can get serious like hacking or spreading doctored photos. thats what im asking, what is YOUR level of comfort with such activities?
At 8:31 PM,
J. Alfred Prufrock said…
What brought THAT on, V?
Good rule to follow - don't do anything even in private that you'd be ashamed to admit to in public. Very few people can stick to that, but it's a good benchmark.
So, whether it's being abusive on the Net or secretly picking your nose while talking on somebody else's phone .... (eewww!)
J.A.P.
At 5:06 PM,
Gypsynan said…
I don't know how far I am going, but I am being more true to my self on the net than in my everyday corporate life where I am a sphinx among the hyenas! That makes no sense but isn;t it great not to make sense sometimes?!
At 5:53 PM,
Sparsh said…
For the sake of philosophical argument, if Calvin was the alter ego of Potter in an alternative b&w sketchy parallel universe,
would that make Hobbes analogous to Dumbledore?
I saw 'Seven' yesterday. Morgan says apathy is the solution. He sympathizes with apathy. Nobody cares. Its easier to loose urself in drugs than it is to face life.
Pitt: 'I dont believe ur quitting because u believe these things. I believe u want to believe these things because ur quitting.'
People dont change. A pervert would inflict as much damage in his/her real life as they do virtually. Its about balance. A sick person finds an outlet on the Net, god bless him i say. It all comes full circle anyway. Know who you are and leave it at that. Apathy or not.
At 12:32 AM,
Sleepyface said…
i think the answer points to underlying motives that prompt people to wear masks. and these motives determine the person's character. there could be a reason for a person to swear on the net, for the simple reason that, his religion prevents him from doing so and he wanted to try without inviting wrath..
At 2:55 AM,
TB said…
I wouldn't go any further than I do, I think.
I've always been more honest on the net - in emails to friends, rather than face-to-face conversation - it's easier because there's a certain facelessness to you. even in letters... that gives you more liberty to tell the truth.
I just tell a little more truth, in my anonymous avatar. When I learn to trust people, I tell them these truths, even when they know who I am.
In fact, most of the people I'm honest with, have been email friends more than real-life friends.
Have never been tempted to become a Paris Hilton in a chatroom. It's such a waste of time pretending... the great thing about the net is, you can stop pertending, or so I think
At 7:07 AM,
Anonymous said…
One can be anonymous in real life as well. The trick is the mind. You can be anywhere you want. Even not there at all.
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