John Suler, Ph.D.

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Trouble-Makers: The Higher End of Deviance

At the upper end of deviance we find users who are deliberately trying to make trouble and/or resisting any benign attempts to talk them into behaving properly. These users may include relatively “normal” people who insist on doing things THEIR (inappropriate) way, as well as people who are - well, to use a less than technical term - socially challenged. If we do use some technical terms, we're probably talking about personality disorders, such as the anti-social, paranoid, passive-aggressive, and narcissistic types.

I remember an old Kung Fu TV episode where one of the masters at the Buddhist temple describes how to deal with an attacker. While we watch a string of quite unsuccessful students go at the master one after another, the narrator says something like, “Avoid rather than divert; divert rather than restrain; restrain rather than maim; maim rather than kill.”

This strategy of moving from mild to strong interventions also is a good one for dealing with trouble-makers in cyberspace. If possible, try to prevent deviance from occurring in the first place (an ounce of prevention....). When it does occur, first try talking and reasoning with the offenders - maybe even try to redirect or rehabilitate them. If that doesn't work, restrain (pin, gag, propgag) before temporarily disconnecting them (kill). And temporarily disconnect before permanently disconnecting (ban).

1. See No Evil: Deviance Involving Offensive Avatars

The beauty of a multimedia chat environment is how the graphics enhance its psychological power. The problem is that things can get TOO graphic. For some people, the anonymity of cyberspace makes it a sexy space, so they will take the opportunity to create avatars (also called “props” at the Palace) that test the limits of decency. In some cases, users innocently will wear avatars that they think are sexy in a cute sort of way, without realizing some (but not all) users are offended by them. Such people usually are not trying to make trouble. They may be trying to draw attention to themselves, communicating an interest in flirting or cybersex, expressing a sensual/sexual aspect of their personality (i.e., exhibitionist tendencies), or simply showing off their skills in avatar creation. If asked politely, they usually will remove the naughty attire - and perhaps even be apologetic and embarrassed about it.

The more serious problem are the users who wear obviously offensive avatars that are intended to shock and victimize. They are looking for attention, control, and power by abusing others and violating the common sense rules of decency.

Setting Avatar Standards

One of the biggest problems in controlling naughty props is defining exactly what is “naughty?” Views will vary widely among people and cultures, both online and real-world. The supreme court has a difficult time determining what is pornographic, so the job is no easier for people running the show in virtual worlds. In small communities, official standards may not be needed since the implicit norms and social pressures of the group will keep people in line. As the population gets bigger, official and publicized rules may become necessary. Setting these standards will go hand-in-hand with defining the philosophy and purpose of the community. The most basic question: is the site for adults or kids?

At the TPI/EC Welcome Palace - where a demographically wide variety of new users arrive - the rules about avatars are rather strict. It makes good business sense to keep the first Palace experience as benign as possible for as many people as possible. The rules are less strict at the Main Mansion site, where more experienced users hang out and the community tries to remain true to the original philosophy that Palace is a somewhat mischievous place where people should be allowed to “make of it what they will” of the environment. The strictness of the rules also may vary from room to room at a particular site. Very public areas (for example, where users arrive) may require more stringent standards than rooms with less traffic. Private rooms - those which can be locked - may be exempt from these rules. At the Palace, anything goes in a private room, as long as all the people in the room consent.

The wizards engaged in many long and sometimes heated (pun intended) debates over setting rules about pornographic props. Listed below are some of their ideas. The more of these strategies adopted, the more rigorous the program for controlling inappropriate props. Setting rules, and making sure people are aware of them, fall under that first Kung Fu category of preventing a problem before it even occurs. Here are the strategies:

- Create clear and specific rules about what avatars are inappropriate as well as what ones are appropriate (people need to know what they CAN do as well as what they can't)

- Make the standards public and easily accessed by the users, as in a “rules room” where the rules can be automatically displayed

- Make the publicly displayed rules clear but concise. People may not read or may get confused by complex policies. A separate and more detailed (written) version of the rules may be needed by the superusers (e.g., wizards) who must enforce them. However, make sure these two versions of the rules are consistent with each other.

- In addition to the specific rules that are publicly displayed, provide a “short-hand” rule of thumb for users. For example, inform the users that acceptable avatars are anything you would normally expect to see someone wearing in a metropolitan area during the summer, or on prime time TV.

- Public signs based on well-know rating systems may help orient users (“This room is rated G”). This strategy might be especially useful if the rules vary from one room to another at a given site. One problem: few, if any, rating systems are recognized internationally.

- Contrary to the “Do as I say, not as I do” principle, authority figures (i.e., the wizards) always should adhere to the standards.

- To insure that the authorities (wizards) understand the standards that they must enforce, create a private room or web page where they can see examples of acceptable and unacceptable avatars, and/or have meetings where they can show and discuss examples of “borderline” avatars (of course, this results in an ironic situation similar to Supreme Court justices viewing pornographic movies!).

Pros and Cons of Setting Avatar Standards

At the Palace, setting standards made it a bit easier for wizards to uniformly and fairly manage the types of avatars that users wore. Much less was left open to the vagaries of individual judgment. Having written, publicly accessible rules also gave wizards a handy alibi when they had to enforce them. If users argued, wizards could simply deflect the debate by saying, “Those are the rules. I'm sorry. We all have to follow them.” Generally speaking, though, most people need and like having some rules. They feel more secure, more comfortable, knowing what they can and can't do.

Attempting to create rules about avatars can lead to some problems. As is the case in any classification system, no matter how precisely you try to define “acceptable” and “unacceptable” avatars, there will always be borderline or ambiguous cases that don't fit the categories. This can result in heated debates (is an avatar of someone pointing a gun at you acceptable?). No matter how precisely you define the standards, people will vary in how they interpret and apply them, resulting in inconsistent interventions, conflicts. and more debates. No matter how fair or clear you try to make the rules, someone will not agree with them. The result? You guessed it- even more debates. When some superusers (wizards) enforce the rules while others don't, a “bad guy/good guy” perception may develop among the users while arguments flare up among the superusers. It wouldn't be a surprise if conflicts about the new classification system became more of a problem than the problem with avatars that the system was intended to solve. At the Palace, some wizards noted that becoming overly preoccupied with rules and regulations could damage the sense of freedom that was part of the original Palace philosophy. The rules about naughty avatars could also have a paradoxical effect on some wizards. As one wizard joked, “I now find myself peering at the screen searching for stray pubic hairs or nipples. All my magnifying glasses are steamed up. I've taken so many cold showers I've caused a drought. It's turned me into a pervert.”

Some of these problems are associated with the initial process of creating new standards where none existed before. In the long run, many of these problems may subside as the bugs are worked out and everyone becomes familiar with (and hopefully accepts) the rules.

Intervening When a Naughty Av Appears (“propgaging”)

Members and Guests at the Palace have no way to deal with an avatar that offends them, other than attempting to convince the person to take it off or leaving the room. Although this software option frequently has been suggested, they cannot block out another person's avatar similar to how they can block out someone else's text messages (“mute”). Wizards do have the ability to “propgag” - which forces the users avatar into the generic smiley face and cripples the ability to wear any custom-made avatar until the propgag command is turned off. There are some individual differences in how wizards deal with a user wearing an inappropriate avatar, but the generally accepted, basic strategy goes something like this:

(1) Ask the person to remove the avatar and explain why. Be polite and always whisper, even if the person is talking out loud.

(2) If the user refuses, remove the avatar yourself using the “propgag” command. If the avatar is obviously obscene, propgag first then explain (so other people don't have to look at it while you talk). If the user agrees not to wear the avatar, turn off the propgag. Some wizards like to propgag then immediately turn off the propgag.

(3) If they put the avatar on again, propgag them again and let them know that they have been propgagged (a brief explanation is important, since the user still sees the avatar while propgagged even though no one else can).

(4) In order to avoid the users attempts to debate the issue, some wizards like to leave the room quickly after propgagging and explaining why. If the user does attempt to argue, state that you cannot debate the issue. Simply point to the rules that must be enforced. Let the person know that he/she might want to visit other Palace sites where that type of avatar is acceptable. Giving people a choice or an alternative in a situation where they feel restrained is always a good strategy. Users who persist in arguing should be treated as a “freedom-fighter.”

(5) Users who persist in wearing inappropriate avatars may be propgagged indefinitely during their stay at the site, or killed. Usually only users that have a known track record of wearing particularly nasty props are disconnected.

Second Opinions about Avatars

If wizards are unsure about whether a borderline prop violate the rules or not, they may page the other wizards and ask for a second (or even a third and forth) opinion. Some believe it's a good idea to get that opinion first before speaking to the user. Otherwise, “discussing” the issue could be perceived as harassment. The decision among wizards about a borderline avatar occurs privately, in whispers, to avoid embarrassing the user. Wizards also like to avoid publicly debating, disagreeing, or over-riding each others decisions. It's a good idea to present a unified front to the community. If a user comes to a wizard to ask if an avatar is acceptable, some wizards like to page the other wizards to see if it's a case of a “splitting” - i.e., a user who attempts to play wizards off against each other.

Flashing and Prop-Dropping

Not being the bravest of souls, the flasher quickly clicks on a naughty av, then clicks it off. It might be a playful tease, or a peek-a-boo attempt to draw attention, surprise, shock, or thumb your nose at the rules. Obviously, flashers are not as easy to catch as users who parade around in their malapropos costume.

Even less brave than the flasher, a prop-dropper will toss an obscene prop into an empty room and then run, so as not to get caught. The exhibitionist and rebellious psychology of the prop-dropper is probably similar to the flasher, with the exception that they attempt to dissociate themselves from their dropping. A Freudian would love to speculate about the “anal expulsive” nature of their personality. Quite literally, they deposit their unsuitable stuff so others are forced to clean up after them. It's an act of defiant anger, and probably disguises underlying feelings of shame.

Hate and Violence Avatars

Unfortunately, people use avatars not just to inappropriately express their sexual drives, but their aggressive ones as well. Hate avatars might involve anti-gay and anti-women sentiment, religious prejudice, Nazi swastikas, or pictures of a guest smiley face with a bloody ax planted in its head. Violent avatars can span the range from menacing figures bearing weapons to mutilated bodies.

Many of the issues concerning sexual avatars apply also to hate and violence avatars: the importance of individual and cultural differences in defining what is unacceptable, the pros and cons of setting standards, and the techniques for intervening when these types of avatars appear. Controversies about political correctness may surface when dealing with the mild versions of “hate” avatars. When creating and enforcing rules about acceptable avs, it's probably a good idea to keep in mind that western (American) culture tends to more accepting of public displays of violence than of sex - unfortunately so.

Abusive Blocking

Members consider it a social faux pas to place your avatar on top of or too close to another person's prop. Unless the person is a friend who's in the mood to be close, it's an invasion of personal space. “Please get off me!” and “You're sitting on me!” are two common complaints. Some naive users (mostly guests) do this without knowing it is inappropriate, or the person may be lagging and unable to move. But some hostile people deliberately accost others by blocking or poking at their avatars. Often snerts who are verbally abusing others will use blocking to supplement their attacks, or will resort to blocking when others try to ignore their offensive language. Blocking is one of those unique examples in which it is not the content of the avatar that is offensive, but rather how it moves (jumping your avatar frenetically about the screen also is considered inappropriate because it is both distracting and a source of lag).

Blockers first need to be politely informed of avatar etiquette. If they don't move or reply verbally, they might be helplessly lagged. In the case of obvious abusive blocking, there's not much a user can do except ignore the person and hope that he gives up and goes away... or page a wizard. Wizards have the special ability to “pin” a user's avatar. When pinned, the avatar is stripped down to the generic smiley face, wrapped in tiny visual chains, and trapped into the corner of the screen until the wizard unpins it. Usually wizards will reason (via whispers) with blockers while they are immobilized. If the blocker repents and/or promises to behave, the wizard will set him free. Blockers who persist in assaulting people, even after the pinning, will be killed.

Eavesdroppers

Ironically, eavesdroppers (a term coined by Bumgardner) are not deviant in the content or behavior of their avatars, but rather in the fact that they don't have one. By reducing their avatars to very tiny or camouflaged images - and their usernames to only one character - they try to become invisible so they can secretly listen in on conversations. They may search for couples who are alone in a room talking, or wait in a room (usually the private rooms) for other users to enter. As a type of lurker, they are acting on voyeuristic (and perhaps schizoid) tendencies to avoid intimacy and gain a sense of advantage and power over others. I wonder if chronic eavesdroppers last very long at the Palace. People enjoy so much the ability to express themselves visually through their avatars - and the camaraderie revolving around that activity - that it seems self-defeating to avoid this opportunity by hiding. Maybe that says something about eavesdropping. It *is* self-defeating and, literally, self-negating.

Bumgardner suggests that it's a good idea from time to time to warn other users about eavesdroppers. The best way to detect their presence is to keep an eye on the counter that lists the number of users that are present in a room. An eavesdropper who won't leave a private room when requested will be warned, and killed, if necessary. In the case of a chronic but elusive eavesdropper, undercover work by wizards might be considered.

Tags: Internet Psychology

About the Author

John Suler, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at Rider University. This article comes from his online hypertext book The Psychology of Cyberspace which describes his ongoing research on how individuals and groups behave in cyberspace. His work has been reported by national and international media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, and CNN. www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/