In Defense of Online Psychos posted 11/2/2008 6:36:29 PM | 10 kudos what's this?     report abuse

PsychoMagnet

I've had no less than three other bloggers convey to me recently that they were becoming disenchanted with the online experience because of all the wackos one must endure online. I admit that at the time, I was in agreement with these bloggers. Certainly, this medium offers both a physical distance and the relative anonymity one needs to behave in a manner that is not in good keeping with traditional social norms.

I've thought about this the last couple of weeks. I've been spending a lot less time online - and therefore my time undistracted in the real world has increased. I've concluded that I'm more productive and perhaps thinking a little more clearly now that I spend less time in the virtual world. However, I've also concluded that the number of wackos in the real world is at least proportional to those in the online world, and without distance and anonymity, the real world nut jobs are much more of a concern than the virtual nut jobs. Actually, the nut cases are disproportionally greater in the real world as we can safely eliminate all the nuts who can't turn on a computer from our virtual world.

Of course the virtual world has the burden of hosting seemingly sane people who behave psychotically simply because they're online. This may not be a negative. If a person is bound to "go off" once in a while, is it not better that they do so using the written word in the virtual world as opposed to using a meat cleaver in the real one?

I'm going to continue to spend less time online as a time management consideration. However, if you see me back with a constant "online now" icon, you'll know that there were simply too many nuts out there in the real world.

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Blogs by PsychoMagnet: What a Great Day! Filling gaps Notes from the Real World Blogland is Your Land - Blogland is My Land . . . jentoblues: B.I.P. (Blog in Peace) In Defense of Online Psychos I've Nothing to Write Rog-a-thon: Closing Ceremonies Sittin' on the Dock of eBay One Day In The Life (finale)