Why Do Computers Turn Some People Into "Tough Guys"?

Does Being Online Change Your Personality?


  • Total voters
    30

EveryDayAmnesiac

Well-Known Member
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I don't understand this.

In person, I tell ya, I'm a shaky, polite, helpful little mouse - just a wimpy, ineffectual pushover.

But you get me behind a computer, and I'll start taking on all comers - I don't care who you are.

Obviously, the lack of fear of physical pain plays a part, but it has to be more than that. It seems like a major personality shift, even a character mutation.

Or is it like putting on a mask, and feeling free to let your "true self" show?

Or is it just a cry to make one's self feel important?

Or does it all go back to when I was an embryo? :rolleyes:

Any thoughts?

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Derrrpp

For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky
I don't think it changes my personality... Although I do feel more comfortable when I'm sitting behind a computer screen. I'm normally a fairly shy, introverted person, and I don't usually go out of my way to socialize or talk with other people (unless that person happens to be one of my handful of real friends). Here on FC however (really the only place on the internet where I interact with people, as I stopped using Facebook long before I joined this forum), I usually have no problem throwing in my 2 cents. I'll even sometimes share personal info about myself that would never be shared in "real life".

So long story short, no I don't think computers change my personality, they just make me less of an introvert.... Wait a minute, would that by definition mean that they DO change my personality then?? :hmm: :shrug: :lol: ;)
 

His_Highness

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
My family just got done binge watching something called 'Catfishing'. I believe the premise is people who met over the internet for romantic purposes but have never met in person, arrange to meet through a third party. Every now and then I'd walk through the living room and catch a few scenes. The guy who arranges the meet ups once said 'Wow! You really are who you said your are!' He said that with such surprise in his voice because its so f'n rare.

As for me....I don't think who I am is really different on the internet. Well...maybe that's not entirely true....it reminds me of the old Bill Cosby joke 'Person A asks..'Why do you take cocaine?', Person B responds... 'It intensifies my personality, Person A responds 'But what if your an asshole?'
 

SSVUN~YAH

You Must Unlearn, What You Have Learned...
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So what! Ya wanna fight about it?


People like to push others buttons, some do it unintentionally others purposely. I know when I first got into COD, it was like a drug or a switch really and I would catch myself yelling profanity at children when in this mode. Wait that proves nothing I do that all the time anyways ;)

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ChippyMalone

Be here now.
Accessory Maker
If anything, I'm probably nicer online because I have the time to contemplate my words and actions before saying them.

However, I think it is only in the past several years that I really became completely comfortable living in my own skin. It took about 40 years, but my new ability to not give a fuck about how anybody might judge me has really made life so much better. With nothing to prove and nobody to impress, life is a lot easier because you can just do what you want instead of always trying to do what you think other people want you to do.

I also assume that anything I submit to the internet will exist forever, so I try my best to make it worthwhile or at least not too incriminating.

TL;DR: I finally let my freak flag fly and it feels so good.
 

Melting Pot

Sick & Twisted
I'm just going short and sweet.
If I didn't tone myself down I wouldn't of lasted very long here. Then I'm the only one who is suffering!!!! I like (love) all the info on vapes the cries, the Laugh's support thru multiple issues OHS,!!!!!!!
If I feel in an aggressive mood I might word something a little aggressive but never like hey I'm a tough guy. If I want to do that I can just drive to any local store I'm sure I can come across some total asshole more deserving of my aggressive intent.But those days are behind me I'm to sick and now day's people just want to shoot it out.No more good old ass kicking!!
Its all cyber bullying and shoot outs. This world is filled with sick coward's insulting you from the other side of computer screen or kill u from afar. Just makes me laugh!!!
So much for short and sweet.
Back to my regular vaping program. Lol
Maybe I read it wrong I'm a lot nicer on FC my only social Media.:lmao::rofl::lmao::rofl::mental:
 
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t-dub

Vapor Sloth
I found FC, and VapeXhale, when I was starting to vape medically for my Psoriatic Arthritis. I admit to being the TMI guy here but I don't do social networking. FC is my community and I am proud of the original content I create specifically for this site and the people that lurk here. Its a passion for me right now, a celebration of a form of joy if you will . . . :peace:
 

Melting Pot

Sick & Twisted
I found FC, and VapeXhale, when I was starting to vape medically for my Psoriatic Arthritis. I admit to being the TMI guy here but I don't do social networking. FC is my community and I am proud of the original content I create specifically for this site and the people that lurk here. Its a passion for me right now, a celebration of a form of joy if you will . . . :peace:
Amen brother
I'm going to add the vapeXhale to my wish list!!!
Its been a good year for vape companies bad year for my bank account. So my wife so repeatedly reminds me. Lol
Oh well the vicious cycle continues!
 

Derrrpp

For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky
I'm going to add the vapeXhale to my wish list!!!
Its been a good year for vape companies bad year for my bank account. So my wife so repeatedly reminds me. Lol
Oh well the vicious cycle continues!
I feel ya, man! I have to keep stopping myself otherwise I'd be completely broke. :lol: I need a better paying job I think!
The classifieds are my friend right now, just picked up a solo on there (should be here tomorrow, yay!) :tup:
 

Eschient

Giga-Dweebess
I have always been a mouse. I had a bit of a DGAF armor to get through school because I couldn't make myself invisible, but if you look up skittish in the dictionary, there's probably a picture of me hiding behind something.

When I first got online, I was enthralled with the idea that I would finally fit in somewhere because now there was literally a whole world of people out there and all I had to do was find my "tribe." Oh, I was so young. Turns out people still suck, so I figured if you can't beat em, find someone to be your bulldog and let them beat em for you. I'm embarrassed to say it felt good to be accepted for "letting off steam" at people who appeared to be bigger losers than myself.

It didn't take long to realize it wasn't really doing anything for me, so I've pretty much stuck with Wil Wheaton's law - don't be a dick. So, despite some random lashing out, I try to be who I am as much as possible online. The only difference between me in real life and online is that I say a lot more online. I'm still incredibly shy and skittish in person - my RL "friends" probably haven't heard me say as much in the past 10 years as I've said in this single post, lol. I've even known people IRL who can't remember my real name because they only "know" me by what I post online. And I'm cool with that, I don't need people to validate me anymore so the internet is just for amusing myself instead of justifying my existence :myday:
 

ChippyMalone

Be here now.
Accessory Maker
@Eschient and @t-dub Wow! I get it. I totally get it. Since moving to Washington State from Birmingham, Alabama, I've finally really found myself living in a place where I feel I can be myself and everyone is ok with it. And since this move coincided with my newly disabled life, I'm really just so different than I was before, and so much better in so many ways.

But moving 2500 miles immediately after my spinal fusion surgery that I am still recovering from and learning how to live my life so much differently than before has left me with less contact with people than I would like. And I now have so much less in common with friends and acquaintances who are so far away both geographically and philosophically.

So this leaves me dependent upon some community for support, friendship, etc, and I've found it here. I've pretty much shut down my facebook account and just let my wife monitor that side of the internet for our family. I've replaced my zillion facebook friends with my instagram account. And it's not like hardly anybody even sees that: just a couple friends from here, a few artists I know, and a few very select friends. But no family or former work colleagues, and definitely not spouses of acquaintences and all their friends of friends. All those people can just look at my facebook and the once a month update I might or might not make.

So I really like to share photos of my day on instagram, and when I need to get something off my chest or put more words down, I come to some off topic forum or one of my favorite vaporizer discussions and find what I need here. My username is in my sig, but please make an effort to let me know you are a FC friend if your username is not memorable from here, because I will likely bump random followers who I cannot figure out the connection.

I'm not remotely desperate for instagram followers or facebook friends or whatever, but I do think I take interesting photos, and you probably won't see a photo of my lunch or take-out coffee order unless I have a damn good reason for it.

@EveryDayAmnesiac Thanks for creating this discussion. There are places on the internet where I just have to keep my mouth shut because people there really need to hear how completely full of bullshit they are, but I just don't have the energy for it. So yes, that inner online asshole exists inside of me, but I keep him in check for the most part.

@Eschient I pretty much follow the Wil Wheaton law as well, but can admit to occasional lashing out here and there, but I have learned that after lashing out, not to return to the discussion. It turns out that is the best way to both be a troll and to out-troll the other trolls.

Try it sometime: Go online and tell someone that they suck balls, and then explain exactly why they suck so badly. Then, simply passively observe the resulting aftermath. It's quite funny to watch someone fight with the shadow of something that isn't there anymore. It's really quite fun once you learn this one weird trick to annoying internet trolls.
 
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If anything, I'm probably nicer online because I have the time to contemplate my words and actions before saying them.
I have to agree with this, in real life i can be somewhat...let's say explosive, because i always am just going about my business, when others force me to react by being rude, uncivil or downright hostile to my face...:rolleyes:
You know the dickhead who'll block the road and make you wait on him (or her! ;)), when parking a few meters further wouldn't have blocked anyone.
Or the very grave sin of trying to get ahead in a line...:cuss::argh::p
There are a number of people who'll just always try to see if they can get away with antisocial behaviour and a lot of people let them, which in itself keeps the viscious circle going sadly.
I have 'vowed' many years ago to never become of on those folks and like to go by the motto 'I'd rather die on my feet then live on my knees.';)
In real life i sometimes get briefly mistaken for an 'easy mark/pushover', due to wearing glasses and a general 'fuzzy/warmness' vibe.
This incorrect assesment has led to some hard lessons learned for some folk in the past(was a bouncer for a while, to give you some idea of what i could do)...:goon:;)
Online however i quickly realised you couldn't take the trolls by their ears to make them see the error of their ways...:D
So i either ignore them or if they are particularly vile and transparant i might see if i can outdo them in general 'smartpantsery', getting quite sarcy and such but always keeping a level of civility, since the most irrating thing to do to a troll is not to get mad at or about them. :)
 

Eschient

Giga-Dweebess
@ChippyMalone I couldn't agree with your entire post more. I'm glad you've found a place where it's your world and your rules as it were. I've had some serious back and forth with this whole social media thing and being "real." I guess it's because back in the day, when the internet was young and geeky, the interaction was an investment for people. It was like having a conversation in a coffee house or something. Then it got popular and socializing became a lot more like drunken college kids shouting random inside jokes at each other across a crowded dance floor. I really tried to get involved with Facebook for family and friends, but it really just makes me anxious, overwhelmed and fake.

I guess if people want to get to know me, they're just going to have to do it in more than 140 characters and without memes.
 

macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member
For me, it is the best part of this board. From the very beginning, rudeness, or adolescent name-calling are banning offenses. I'm so grateful to have found an adult board free of flame wars, name calling, and other verbal garbage.

It's OK to have differing opinions; but no anger allowed.
 

farscaper

Well-Known Member
im far more polite to you fuckers than I am to real people... I have had to tone myself down alot over the years though... I used to get in a lot of trouble for being a smartass... not that I was ever a "tuff guy" im a big guy... but im really gentle, like a polar bear is generally cute and cuddly looking.... til it rips you open for your honey buns!:hmm:

IM NOT FUCKING YELLING, MY VOICE CARRIES! IM BEING TOTALLY FUCKING ZEN HERE!:mad::cuss::bang:
 

Melting Pot

Sick & Twisted
I think we should have an FC tough guy meet up!! Lol
We can all show up in our walker's, power chair's .
Little carts for our meds.
IV drips ,oxygen tanks. Be like I'm Melting Pot who wants some!!!! I'm still trying to hard wire any of my vapes to my ICD (pacemaker/defibrillator)
No luck bloody mess and I'm twitching more than usual. Guess I'm just going to plug in a regular outlet. There is always the future. As soon as I figure out time travel.
 

farscaper

Well-Known Member
I think we should have an FC tough guy meet up!! Lol
We can all show up in our walker's, power chair's .
Little carts for our meds.
IV drips ,oxygen tanks. Be like I'm Melting Pot who wants some!!!! I'm still trying to hard wire any of my vapes to my ICD (pacemaker/defibrillator)
No luck bloody mess and I'm twitching more than usual. Guess I'm just going to plug in a regular outlet. There is always the future. As soon as I figure out time travel.
you need an AC/DC adapter dude! :doh::rockon:
 

Melting Pot

Sick & Twisted
Careful . . . I use a cane and will beat you like a rented mule . . . :freak:
Either way it would make one hell of a video!!!:myday: @t-dub :borg:@Melting Pot
I imagine u have one of those hand carved walking sticks/cane. I like exotic woods. So it will be a classy beating.
That I can do. Lol
Make sure and get it on video!!! We can split the likes. HaHa
Sounds like a party:freak:
 

Melting Pot

Sick & Twisted
Only on FC would you find someone requiring a cane :myday:taking on someone just having had open heart surgery. Man! I love this site :popcorn:
(Buffer) LET'S GET READY TO DROOL and DRIBBLE!!!!!!!
Dribbler 1 ready Dribbler 2 ready.
Unlock their wheelchair's
No meds extra mj I'm VAKED not even 5:00 O, clock gona be a good night. @t-dub Be careful my power chair is fully charged. HaHa
 

arf777

No longer dogless
im far more polite to you fuckers than I am to real people... I have had to tone myself down alot over the years though... I used to get in a lot of trouble for being a smartass... not that I was ever a "tuff guy" im a big guy... but im really gentle, like a polar bear is generally cute and cuddly looking.... til it rips you open for your honey buns!:hmm:

IM NOT FUCKING YELLING, MY VOICE CARRIES! IM BEING TOTALLY FUCKING ZEN HERE!:mad::cuss::bang:


Except for the fact that I'm not a big guy (short and tubby) the above applies to me as well. I curse far more in person, say shit just to piss (some) people off, etc. But not on this or the few other places I post online.

But some of that is job-related. I work in the law, and so much internet posted idiocy comes up in court cases that my firm actually has a very restrictive social media policy, to prevent issues later. So I (and a lot of other folks in the law) are in the habit of severely editing ourselves on the internet.

And I really agree with the last but. Why DO quiet people always think those of use who speak AT AN APPROPRIATE FUCKING VOLUME are always YELLING?? If I was yelling, there would be NO DOUBT it was happening!
 

dorkus_molorkus

Well-Known Member
im far more polite to you fuckers than I am to real people... I have had to tone myself down alot over the years though... I used to get in a lot of trouble for being a smartass... not that I was ever a "tuff guy" im a big guy... but im really gentle, like a polar bear is generally cute and cuddly looking.... til it rips you open for your honey buns!:hmm:

IM NOT FUCKING YELLING, MY VOICE CARRIES! IM BEING TOTALLY FUCKING ZEN HERE!:mad::cuss::bang:



I found FC, and VapeXhale, when I was starting to vape medically for my Psoriatic Arthritis. I admit to being the TMI guy here but I don't do social networking. FC is my community and I am proud of the original content I create specifically for this site and the people that lurk here. Its a passion for me right now, a celebration of a form of joy if you will . . . :peace:


In my world, I dont start trouble, I end it.
However, Im not sure if the public in general would agree with me.

As others have posted, I will not put up with anti social 'fuck you Im ok' behaviour either.

I dont care if you are a 12yr old kid, a 70 yr old veteran or (my fav) a 40 something yr old bitch that has entitlement issues. Either way Im happy to call someone an asshole in public iffn theys be acting like one.

In RL I dont take a backward step, but im always anxious due to my confrontational demeanor.
Its a confusing place to be. I actually dont like confrontation, but its like its my god given right to be an asshole, by calling someone else an asshole.
My therapist calls me his 'crazy cash cow'

I try to keep my internet tough guy to a minimum, but its not always possible. FC is my only social media & I shouldnt post when I am drunk, stoned, tired, hungover, hungry or within the 1st hour of arising.

As brother @t-dub stated, I too am proud of the original content I create specifically for this site & the wonderful people that frequent it.
FC makes me a better person & I am extremely protective of its more delicate members who come here for love and support in difficult times.

and finally, I too have found my tribe.

Dorkus is not who I really am, he is the man I want to be.

& FC gives me the platform to be that man.
 
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NickDlow

Log Hog
I'm in the same boat as you guys also. This is my only social media I'm apart of. More or less for the fact that I just can't stand people in general. So idc what they are doing every 5 min.

I usually come across as an asshole n I guess sometimes, well most of the time it's true.

But it's just because I'm brutally honest and always speak my mind. I guess a lot of people don't like that, oh well.

I have a few ppl close to me and I'm good with that.

Finding FC was about vaporizers for me, I quickly found out that's not the case. So I tone myself down and don't post to much shit, out of respect of the people here.
 
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