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(Page 51 of 53) Indecent language is another deviant behavior that spans the range from mild to severe. Relatively benign examples involve “colorful” expressions in which less than polite words are used to convey emphasis and emotion. No particular person is the “target” of the colorful expressions and the words are not intended to offend, although they might insult some people. In the middle range are the lascivious users who try to seduce other users who are much less than interested in their advances. Due to inexperience or a basically tactless personality, their come-ons often are not at all subtle. Higher up on the continuum, dirty mouths are deliberately aimed at antagonizing a specific person - as in the case of the breather, the stalker, guest bashers, wizard bashers and, of course, the ubiquitous acting out teenager. Some offensive talkers may try to antagonize a whole room. More rarely, exhibitionist users may engage in verbal cybersex out in the open. | ||||
The subjective impression of some wizards is that foul talkers more often tend to be the guests. The generic smiley face - with a number instead of a name - feels left out, alienated, and hostile. Abusive language is one way to have an impact on people and wield some power. Some foul talkers are deliberately trying to get themselves killed. These rather masochistic self-destroyers gain some control over their alienated condition by deliberately setting up a situation where they will be disconnected. Once booted, they may feel justified in their rejection of the community that rejected them. Less Anonymity, Less Bad Mouthing If anonymity does fuel the tendency to mouth off, then one preventative strategy would be to decrease anonymity. At the TPI sites, guests were given the opportunity to become “trial members.” For a limited time before registering, they could experiment with creating avatars and changing their username. These trial members were much less likely to use offensive language than the smiley-faced guests. With a name and an av to identify themselves, they felt more like they belonged. They had some control over their role in the community, something to talk about (avs), and more to do to keep their otherwise idle hands busy. They were more interested in learning the ways of Palace than in being a snert. The Purely Human Intervention with Foul Talkers In the more mild cases of scatologia, a simple whisper about etiquette may be enough to curb the user's mouth (“please don't use profanity here”). A friendly or at the very least POLITE approach is preferred. Curt or nasty barbs launched at the bad mouther might add fuel to the snert's fire, especially for stubborn and oppositional people. They may feel like a reprimanded child, and get more angry. In what becomes a positive feedback loop, nastiness breeds more nastiness. This principle also holds true for scripts that display over the snerts head an automated message or image that's designed to humiliate or chastise him. Humiliation tactics most likely will backfire. Because foul talkers are looking to shock and provoke others, giving them NO reaction at all might be enough to extinguish their unpleasant behavior. According to operant theory, there may be a momentary INCREASE in their snertish talk once the cold shoulder begins (a last ditched attempt to provoke a reaction), but eventually they'll get bored and move on. Some designers of multimedia environments (like Jim Bumgardner and Randy Farmer) believe in the philosophy of letting social pressure curb bad language, rather than crafting software to mechanically eliminate it. If there isn't sufficient social pressure to stop the problem, then perhaps it isn't a problem. It's a feature of the subculture. However, some gnarly users won't respond to social pressure or that friendly piece of advice. They're not interested in the community or simply being colorful in their language. They want to abuse. Although the first and best strategy should always be a purely social/personal attempt to reach the reasonable and benign part of any offender, some software tools sure come in handy. “I Can't Hear You!” (the mute command) Each Palace member has the power to “mute” any other user(s). All typed text of the shunned user(s) will be automatically vanquished from your screen. If everyone in the room mutes one particularly repugnant person, that person is effectively speechless. This rarely happens since there is always someone who is entertained by such snerts, eager to take them on, indifferent, or doesn't know about muting. The beauty of the mute command is that it upholds the principle of “Have it your way.” If you want to hear him, you can. If not, click him off. “Sometimes, I just TELL them that I'm muting them,” one user reported, “then I don't respond to anything they say.... It can be quite hysterical.” Unless you inform the foul talker that you have muted him, he doesn't know because he CAN see his own words. It's something like a Twilight Zone episode in which an obnoxiously loquacious man talks and talks and talks, but the only victim in a room of unresponsive people is his own ears. Poetic justice? It may be possible, from the standpoint of software design, to make the offender's words invisible to everyone, even to himself. However, giving the person an opportunity to say something nice, rather than not being able to say anything at all, may be a better strategy for extinguishing the bad words and leaving the door open for good ones. The down side to muting is that inexperienced users do not know about it. Education then is the key. When inappropriate language begins to surface, some wizards like to announce to the room how to use the mute command. Being tactful, they don't mention the offending snert by name. When they hear that they can be silenced, some snerts stop. Some users DO know about the mute command but decide to page a wizard rather than use it. Perhaps they would like to see the snert “punished” and enjoy witnessing the drama of the powerful “good guys” defeating the “bad guys.” Wizard Meets the Foul Talker (gagging and killing) Wizards have a tool that the ordinary user does not - the “gag” command, which will silence a bad-mouther's typed text so no one can see it (although the snert CAN see it). Before gagging, some wizards like to politely inform snerts of the site rules about foul language to see if they will stop on their own. Other wizards prefer to gag immediately (especially when the language is very foul) in order to protect everyone's ears from further abuse. Then they discuss the matter with the silenced snert, and then turn off the gag. If the snert persists in uttering garbage, wizards may repeat the procedure, just in case the snert missed the point. If the snert still persists, there may be a final warning and ultimately a kill. In some cases wizards may leave the offender gagged until they relent and promise to be behave. Two hour gags may be set for people who refuse to respond to the wizard or resist curbing their abuse. Clever snerts know that they can disconnect from the site and then sign back on, which undoes the gag. This loophole leaves some wizards wishing for a TIMED gag command that would endure despite such maneuvers. After being killed (disconnected), some very determined snerts may sign on again in order to offer a sequel to their obnoxious ploys. Wizards usually will continue to kill them until they give up. Very persistent abusers may be reported to TPI/EC, along with excerpts from the log to verify the offender's persistent abusive language... just in case the company later gets “complaints” about how the offender was treated unfairly. Tit for tat, some foul talkers (as well as other misbehavers) threaten to report the “unjust” wizard to the company. In these conflicts, which some members experience as sibling rivalry, TPI/EC can become the symbol of the parent (“I'm gonna tell on you!”). As always, it's a good idea to politely let snerts know what actions are being taken against them (gag, kill) and what that entails. Being left in the dark about disciplinary procedures may generate confusion and more acting out. People who want to argue about their rights to free speech are known as “freedom fighters” and may require slightly different interventions. In order to avoid embarrassing the snert (which also may escalate their antics), wizards will always whisper when they speak to them. Because this leaves the other users guessing about whether anything is being done to control the offender, wizards might mention to the room that they are dealing with the problem. The wizard might also take this opportunity to mention the mute command. If wizards aren't in the room, members usually will page them to inform them about a foul talker. But not always. Wizards have debated the possibility of a script that would automatically detect vulgar words and expressions, and then relay those words and the name of the offender into the paging system. The informed wizard could then pop into the room to intervene. A number of complications and controversies emerged in the debate. Would wizards be flooded with a barrage of naughty words that clog the paging system? Should the script detect whispers as well as public speech? If so, would that include whispers in private rooms and private cybersex encounters? Would people feel violated and controlled if they found out that their speech was being automatically monitored and relayed to all the wizards? Isn't it simply eavesdropping? Speaking across rooms to offenders (aka “ESPing,” which would be a temptingly easy way to intervene) surely would give away the fact that users were being wiretapped. So wizards would have to first go to the room and observe in-person the foul talk, wouldn't they? Even then, the “secret” about automated monitoring would eventually leak out to the community, resulting in a paranoid, Big Brother atmosphere. These issues were never fully resolved. As we'll see, automated interventions tend to generate much debate. Automated detection of “bad” words is a particularly tricky issue. Time Out in the Rules Room One possibility is to send foul talkers to a “rules room” where they are temporarily held captive while the rules of the site are automatically displayed for them. Their ability to converse with other users also may be suspended while they are learning their lesson. The users-in-charge (such as wizards) may send the offenders to the room, or scripts can detect lewd words and automatically deposit the offender into the time-out tutoring session. Whether this time-out method is effective or not depends on how infantilizing the experience feels to the offenders. If the display of rules sounds like it is “talking down” to them, or contains harshly reprimanding language, they may feel like they are being treated like a child, which might escalate their snertish behavior. The very idea of being timed-out reminds people of being a child sent to the corner, which can backfire. A purely automated punishment may aggravate rather than rehabilitate some people because there is no opportunity to explain or defend themselves (that ol' feeling of helplessness which makes people act crazy). A more detailed discussion of timed-out lessons appears later in this article. And as we'll see next, a purely automated detection and intervening with nasty language is a complicated business. Automated Mouthwash and Word Substitutions The beauty of computers is their ability to do simple, repetitive tasks much faster and more efficiently than humans. If you want to eliminate unpleasant words and expressions from a chat environment, apply the computer's strength to this relatively straightforward task. At the Main Mansion site, if you type “fuck” or “shit” people will end up seeing “f***” and “s***” on their screen (assuming they have this “censor” script turned on in their client program). Essentially, the computer washed your mouth out with asterisks. Simple, easy. A variation on this strategy is a script that detects bad language, gags, and warns the user. However, there are some complications associated with this automated mouthwashing:
Some of these problems can be solved. Deleting the inappropriate words or phrases COMPLETELY (no asterisks, nothing appears) might prevent mischievous users from flooding the room with a string of “f***” and “s***.” Or the script might reply with a “Sorry, language like that is not allowed on this server” instead of allowing the display of offensive words. Sophisticated scripts can leave untouched naughty strings of letters that are embedded within acceptable words. Programs can be modified so that whispers are left alone. Some rooms can be censored, while others allow fast and loose language. A humorous alternative to bleeping with asterisks would be scripts that automatically substitute silly words for the offensive ones. Wizards have joked about various possibilities:
While not everyone will find these word substitutions funny, the power of humor should not be underestimated when attempting to control offensive behavior. Humor can help people step back from the intensity of the feelings that fuels acting out. They can laugh about it. After all, the purpose of these online communities is to have FUN. One powerful and flexible solution to dealing with offensive language follows the “Have it Your Way” principle. The client program can offer the user the option of modifying a language filter. The user can add or delete words from the list of unacceptable words to be censored. The type of censoring (asterisks or complete deletion) could be another feature. If the user wants, the censor can be turned off completely in order to experience all language in its most raw form. Of course, the language filter option assumes that the user (or the concerned parent) knows about it and how to use it. Currently, the Palace program includes a censor/on/off option in addition to the “mute” command. Many wizards believe this is sufficient in “pushing the power down,” as Randy Farmer, a multimedia environment designer, is often quoted as saying. It gives each individual the tools they need to have it his/her way. Unbecoming User and Room Names If you build it, some will abuse it. Unfortunately, this principle also holds true for two rather unique features of Palace - the ability to change your username to whatever you want whenever you want, and the opportunity (at the Member's Palace site) to create your own personal room using whatever graphic backdrop you desire and any name you choose for the room. Some user and room names were slightly offensive, some a “creative” double entendre, and some blatantly inappropriate. People using borderline names tend to be more receptive to the suggestion that they change it. Perhaps they are testing the limits of what they can get away with. Those using outlandish names may be more stubborn or downright defiant. Possible Interventions - Creating names is part of the Palace lifestyle of identity experimentation, so doing away with these features to prevent unsightly signatures would be cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. It also would be possible to program in a list of unacceptable names that user's would be unable to adopt, but that strategy would run into many of the same social, cultural, and logistic problems as the attempts to automate mouthwashing of bad words. For example, what about the name “CrackBaby?” Would anyone ever think of programming that word into a list of unacceptable names? Is the name even unacceptable? In the debates among TPI/EC wizards about a user who indeed chose this handle, personal opinions varied greatly. The best intervention is probably a case-by-case, one-on-one attempt to reason with the offender - similar to the strategy when either a wizard or a fellow member approaches foul talkers. Through whispers, explain the site's rules of etiquette, try to politely reason with the misbehaving users, and if all else fails, disconnect them. One wizard called for a “namegag” feature. Similar to propgag, it would enable the wizard to force the person's name into a generic form, for example “Member .” It would be a useful “firing across the bow” before having to kill a recalcitrant user. It also would spare others the unpleasantly of having to look at someone called “PenisInYourMouth” while the wizard tried to reason with him. Breathers In the manual for wizards, Bumgardner describes what he calls the “breather.” Most often a male, the breather is a special species of lewd talker who continually propositions female users, usually by whispering. Any member with an even remotely feminine name could be the victim, which suggests the rather “driven” (desperate) quality of the breather's motivational state. Bumgardner divides the breather into two types. The “horny breather” simply wants a sexual encounter and will typically say things like “Will you go upstairs with me?” (the location of the private rooms where flirting, propositioning, and cybersex is more socially acceptable). They usually go away when asked, or when told to “take it up stairways, please.” If they do respond to such simple interventions, it's probably a sign that they possess at least SOME modest degree of interpersonal sensitivity. Bumgardner calls the more pernicious type the “psychotic breather.” They deliberately are attempting to offend and their motives may be more aggressive than sexual. Their language tends to be more obscene and derogatory than the horny breather's. In rare cases they may launch violent threats at other users (one disturbed person told a female member that he was going to kill her and cut her up). Although probably not “psychotic” in the technical sense - because their reality testing most likely is intact - these breathers do not respond positively to others attempts to divert them, reason with them, or reprimand them. Instead, they become more persistent and offensive. They are looking for a passive or willing target for their hostile needs to shock, control, and hurt. Possible Interventions - The strategies for dealing with breathers overlap with those for dealing with generally offensive language that I discussed earlier. Start simple, with “purely human” interventions aimed at reasoning with the breather. Try ignoring them to see if their breathing extinguishes, or use the “mute” command to silence the person. If necessary, a wizard will step in to reason with, warn, gag, and, if necessary, kill the offender. Wizards usually first gag the breather, whisper to the victim that they are dealing (also in whispers) with the abuser, and explain the mute command to the victim. Before they can intervene with the breather, a wizard may feel the need to verify that the alleged breather is indeed abusing the supposed victim. Breathers usually whisper to their victims, and no user can see a whisper except the sender and receiver. The wizard must take the word of one user over another. Bumgardner suggests asking for specifics. For example, it's not enough that a member named Jane says “Guest 3412 is being rude to me.” It's possible, Bumgardner states, that Jane is 12 years old and is offended by words she doesn't understand, like “existential.” It's also possible that Jane holds a grudge against Guest 3412, or is playing a game (sometimes in collaboration with others) that Bumgardner terms “Kill the Guest.” As a form of guest bashing, this game is designed to trick wizards into bumping-off random, innocent guests. In these difficult-to-verify situations, the wizard may ask Jane for more specifics about what the alleged abuser is saying (unfortunately, this may compel the victim into repeating the very things she finds offensive). If Jane knows how, she can copy the abuser's language from her text log and insert it into a whisper that she sends to the wizard. A clever user may be able to fake a log excerpt, but it probably wouldn't be worth the effort. When there have been ongoing complaints about a breather, wizards have had some success in going “undercover” to catch that breather in the act. Some experienced wizards prefer to skirt the whole issue of verification. They simply inform the victim of the mute command (thus giving them their own defense) and then tell the alleged abuser that the the victim wishes to be left alone. If victims continue to complain about the breather, then they did not comply with the wizard's advice. They are allowing the abuse to continue, which is their choice, or they are playing games. At this point, the wizard may simply say, “There's nothing more I can do.” Occasionally, there will be a user who frequently complains about abuse from other people - almost as if they are attracting that abuse. Unconsciously, some people may indeed place themselves into the “victim” role. They perceive harm where there really isn't much harm, or create situations in which others tend to mistreat them, perhaps even provoking that abuse. Verbal Exhibitionists Verbal exhibitionists engage in explicit sexual conversations out in the open, rather than in a private room or via whispering. Essentially, they are two (or more!) breathers who are enjoying each other's company, but violating the ears of those around them. They may think - rather inappropriately - that their public display is just fun entertainment, or they may be trying to impress or shock other users. It certainly is an attention-getting behavior which speaks to their strong need to be in the limelight by having an intense impact on others. Hopefully, the amorous couple will respond to peer pressure suggesting that they either desist, whisper, take their encounter to a private room, or move to one of the adult Palace sites that allows such behavior. Intervening wizards will make the same suggestions after gagging (and then ungagging) the loquacious pair. In the unusual case that they persist, they will be killed. Of course, the mute command is another option for the offended user who can't find a wizard to help out. Stalkers Stalkers are exceptionally hostile breathers who follow a victim from room to room. Their need to intrude upon, dominate, and control the other user is obvious - and probably reflects their own underlying anxieties about being helpless and victimized (“doing to others what one fears will be done to oneself,” also known as “turning the passive into the active”). Some victims of a stalker have described the experience as quite creepy and frightening. The mute command will take a lot of steam out of the stalker's abuse, though they may also resort to antagonizing their victim by using their avatar to poke at and sit on the victim's avatar (blocking). The “hide” command will enable the victim to delete his/her name from the list of users at the site and the room they are in, which will make it more difficult for the stalker to track the person. But it still means the victim has to run to initially escape the stalker, which is not a pleasant option. It may be necessary to page a wizard for help. At first, the wizard will probably intervene in a manner similar to dealing with the ordinary breather, which may include the necessity of verifying that an abuse is really taking place. Persist stalking deserves a long kill, or even a ban. Guest Bashers Guest bashers are members (registered users) who find it amusing to badmouth and harass guests who are using the default smiley face and a number instead of a name. They may verbally abuse guests, don names like “Guest Killer,” or display props that depict their malicious sentiments, such as a picture of a guest smiley on a pet lease or with an ax planted in its head. At the bottom of the Palace class system, guests are a convenient target for prejudice and displaced hostility. Their greater anonymity (no name, no personal avatar) enhances the tendency to treat them badly because they seem to be a non-person with no established identity or status. Some guest bashers consciously think that they are just having fun and no harm is really intended. Unconsciously, they need to feel superior and powerful - to feel that they belong while the guest does not. That need to feel “better-than” disguises underlying insecurities about their status in the community (and perhaps in life). Rarely do well-established members behave like this. Guest bashers experiment with new and more insidious ways to mistreat the newbie. For example, they may page a wizard and insist that a guest has been harassing them via whispers. Because some guests, protected by anonymity, indeed do this sort of thing, wizards usually take the claim seriously but will try to verify it, similar to situations involving “breathers”. To catch a suspected guest basher in the act, some wizards immediately gag the breather without telling the basher. Then when the basher continues to complain about the guest's whispers, the wizard politely informs the basher that the guest is gagged and CANNOT whisper. The response from the basher usually is something like, “oops,” “uh oh, busted!”, “tee hee,” or “sorry, won't happen again.” Some users have reported favoritism among wizards towards members when there is a conflict between members and the guests. Sometimes guests are just defending themselves against a guest-basher, but the wizard's bias prevents a clear perception of this. This favoritism might be an unintentional form of guest-bashing. Possible Interventions - In his manual for wizards, Bumgardner suggests that only rarely should guest bashers be killed. Usually they respond well to reason, which indicates that the healthy, rational side of their personality can snap them out of their unbecoming prejudice and displaced insecurities. Bumgardner also suggests that dealing with a guest bashing situation is a good opportunity to explain to the whole room that such bashing just isn't right. Guests are people too. TPI/EC also knows that guest bashing is bad for business. Guests are potential buyers. Giving guests the opportunity the become trial members who (for a limited time) can experiment with creating names and avatars can kill two birds with one stone. It minimizes guest bashing because the guest now looks a lot like a regular member, and it simultaneously encourages the guest to buy the software. An interesting twist in the history of guest bashing was the “PRA.” This anti-member “association” attempted to retaliate against the prejudice of members and what they felt was an unfair, racism-promoting class system. In it's attempt to create support and fellowship in the face of inappropriate and hostile prejudice, the PRA became a bit inappropriate and hostile itself. Here's a log excerpt of an encounter with a PRA spokesman, complete with his shouting caps:
Wizard Bashers These users go out of their way to antagonize wizards. They send hostile messages into the wizard paging system. They verbally abuse the wizard through whispers and in public. They attempt to whip up a room of users into siding with them, including their all angrily accusing a wizard of being a “trigger-happy Nazi” when the basher finally gets killed. More deviously, the wizard basher may become an impostor by adopting the wizard's avatar and name, and then behaving obnoxiously in order to destroy the wizard's reputation. Or a basher may try to set wizards against each other by “befriending” one wizard and then using that relationship to badmouth and accuse another wizard of various injustices. Persistence in this “splitting” - including the befriending and idealizing of a “good” wizard while attempting to criticize and destroy the “bad” wizard - is usually a sign of significant psychopathology. In fact, the more the group of wizards are in disagreement and conflict over a particular user, the more likely that user is engaged in multiple splittings, and the more serious that person's psychopathology. For some wizard bashers, a vicious paranoid cycle is set in motion. They think wizards are out to get them, which makes them angry, defiant, and abusive, which leads to wizards reprimanding and killing them, which confirms their feeling that wizards are out to get them, which perpetuates the cycle. Wizards who are overly active in their reprimands, pins, gags, and kills will be prime targets for bashing. If a wizard often finds himself in the bashing hot seat, it might be time for him to think twice about his style of dealing with people. In most cases wizards are not mean or trigger-happy. If possible, they should not take the wizard bashing personally. Wizard bashers usually are troubled teenage males who are trying to impress their friends and prove themselves. They are acting out their need to challenge and rebel against authority figures in order to establish some sense of independence and power. Basically, they are very frustrated. Their hostile antics probably says more about their relationships with their parents than it does about the wizard. To keep their composure and self-esteem intact, it might be helpful for wizards to remember that the basher is simply displacing his angry conflicts onto a convenient but undeserving target - a process called “transference.” Sensing this, one wizard wisely commented, “I prefer to have these guys take it out on me instead of another member because I have more tools to deal with it. I know these guys come and go and are no big deal.” Possible Interventions - Strategies for dealing with the wizard basher are basically similar to those for dealing with any nasty talker: First try to reason with the person, then gag or kill if necessary. The primary difference is that the wizard is the victim, so the wizard's ability to maintain composure and objectivity is being taxed. Asking for backup support and a reality-check from another wizard might be a good idea. If splitting is suspected, the wizard should compare notes with the other wizards (see the earlier section on “second opinions” about avatars). It's always a good idea for wizards to share their experiences concerning problematic users and act together in a unified, consistent manner. Self Destroyers Some blatant foul talkers and bashers may be self-destructive. They abuse others in the worst way they know how and recklessly provoke wizards because they WANT to be killed. Unimaginative examples are users who type over and over again “Suck my dick,” “Wizard X is an asshole,” or simply, “kill me, kill me, kill me.” Bumgardner calls them “psychotics.” Although their reality testing probably is intact, their behavior certainly seems bizarre. Why do they want to be disconnected? They may imagine themselves as bold and defiant rebels who dare to take a wizard's best hit. Teenage gangs often consider kills a badge of honor and turn it into a contest where they compete with each other. For some users, provoking a kill may be their way to gain control over their feeling alienated and rejected. Because they intentionally create the rejection, they feel they have some mastery over it. The kill also justifies their hostility towards the community and its authorities, which they probably felt even before they arrived for the first time (more “transference”). Paradoxically, some people may use kills to establish a unique identity in the community. They are the outcasts, the bad boys. Psychologists might like to speculate about their “masochistic” personality dynamics. Possible Interventions - Due to their blatant, unrelenting style, self-destroyers generally are very easy to identify. Bumgardner does recommend being careful not to confuse them with children who are experimenting with the novelty of being able to say naughty things in public. Self-destroyers aren't interested in attempts to reason with them, so such efforts probably will be a waste of time. As with other types of foul talkers, members can be reminded about using the mute command, or the wizard may try gagging the offender. But in many cases the wizard may do best by quickly disconnecting the user. Unfortunately, self-destroyers often immediately try to return to the site. With self-destroying members (who usually belong to gangs), wizards may need to set the disconnect period for a long period of time. With self-destroying guests, wizards may need to track their IP to detect when they try to reconnect. For chronic self-destroying members and guests, a ban might be necessary. Event Crashing In the past, TPI sponsored or assisted in some special event at a Palace site - for example, the live Rock Concerts where visitors could speak to the musicians when they were offstage, or the special Palace site set up in Washington during the Inauguration of Bill Clinton. Such events are intended to promote the Palace software and the Palace way of life. Unfortunately, some snerts take the unique event as a unique opportunity to harass people, especially famous people. They consider it a center stage to act out and attain some special sense of anonymous notoriety. They probably think of themselves as brave and daring. Usually their attempts to disrupt the event are not subtle, and the wizards reactions to their behavior aren't subtle either. At the first sign of obviously inappropriate behavior, the wizards act quickly and decisively. If you say “Are you queer?” to the lead singer, or “You suck!” to Vice President Gore, you are unceremoniously, expeditiously killed.
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/ More by John Suler, Ph.D. |
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