Boards›Player Behavior

So I am done my research on being toxic online.

ISOzHell·2/20/2018, 6:03:19 PM·2 votes·1,557 views

I wanted to thank you to everyone, who helped with this even though you were not aware. It had to be that way in order to get a proper psychological and data analysis for it.

I do apologize for being verbally and mentally abusive in games and in the forums, to instigate in order to do the research. It was not something I liked doing, and was very hard for me to do. Also in most cases, I didn't even have to, people took that step for me. I am a firm believer that mental and verbal abuse is far more dangerous than physical. They are all bad and wrong to do to someone, but studies have shown, and proven mental and verbal abuse is the leading cause to most suicides and mental breakdowns leading to violent acts.

This all being said, I do hope people in games and online can see the big picture here.

I will say one thing I was fond of studying is how easy it was to just say whatever I wanted without really any penalty, and to be honest I don't think the punishments for this type of behaviour in games or online is strict enough.. But what really fascinated me and also makes me worry about the future, is how humans show their true nature online, that they keep hidden in public. All because none of us know who we really are behind these computer screens. What happens when VR really takes off, and Quantum Computing comes to light and brings AI to a whole new level?

My question then to most is, why don't you just act the way you do online in public, in real life? Why just online, because no one can see you? Or know who you are? Wouldn't you rather be real, than fake?

20 Comments

Colgate Gator2/21/2018, 5:27:37 PM5 votes

Did you really need to do a research to conclude that people are dicks when they don't have to show their identity?

Pandemic Punch2/20/2018, 7:30:41 PM4 votes

I hate to break it to you now OP, but you were the test subject all along. You were the community's research project to study someone who researches toxicity on the internet. Thank you for helping even though you were not aware.

y0r1ck2/20/2018, 6:59:53 PM3 votes

I think those toxic people are being real online and fake irl.

La Belle Sauvage2/20/2018, 7:22:29 PM2 votes

This question is very naive. Proving someone's actual personality is quite complex. It can't be captured in just one aspect of someone's life. Let alone the entire human race.

I think it rather obvious why some people are aggressive online. Because the potential risk of actual danger is very low.

Similar things happen to people while driving. They feel a bit safer to gesture, yell, honk, and chase. The risk is a bit higher than the internet, but overall still low risk.

People have bad days. They make mistakes, and if you're judging the entire human race based on your claim of miniscule experience, (and I mean there is no way that you experienced a large enough pool of humans and their emotions in all aspects of their lives well enough to understand what's actually going on let alone support your claim), then I think you're making a very weak argument.

Furthermore I doubt you have the requisite experience in psychology and sociology to understand whatever it is you researched. You don't cite any supporting evidence like articles, interviews or any kind of test results that support your claim.

You jump right to concluding people are fake. How would you know? You have no idea what I'm like or anyone is like, yet you assume most people are fake because you hypothesize that they are more aggressive online than in real life?

And then you through in VR, quantum computing, and AI! As if it's a point for your argument but you don't expand on the point.

I understand there is a small truth to your claim, that is people are aggressive when it's safe to be so. The fact that you don't understand that's a fundamental trait of many beings is a little sad.

Look I agree that people in this game community should be more civil. But your whole post seems like many others filled with unsupported claims and hyperbole.

If you're going to pretend that you conducted research, at least present evidence and cite your sources.

YerroFever2/21/2018, 5:34:47 PM2 votes

{quoted}

My question then to most is, why don't you just act the way you do online in public, in real life? Why just online, because no one can see you? Or know who you are? Wouldn't you rather be real, than fake?

People can avoid most social consequences by treating people poorly online while doing it in person can lead to lots of social consequences.

Dehumanizing a person through the internet makes it easier to be awful to them.

EDIT: I don't think the issue is whether they're real or fake, it's whether they want to use pro social coping mechanisms or want to be anti social.

chaoticgabby2/5/2019, 9:06:53 PM1 votes

I do enjoy the concept of your project as I am doing one myself. I just do happened to be googling research done on a similar topic when this league forum popped up. I thought this was funny because I just started playing league a few months.

Anyway the reason i decided to comment of this forum is for two reasons. The first being that while I am very interested in your research, it does seem like you are being very naive, or in better words, it seems like there is a lack of actual science and research going on here. You say people release their "true selves" online or their "inner demons" which to be honest is kind of horse shit. Also your questions at the end are very philosophical instead of psychological. Also, yes, much of the comments are right that personality has nothing to do with how someone acts online.

However, my second point is that these comments think that since you don't provide any evidence that they are right. But they know just as much about the topic as you do,or, at least, i haven't read a single comment that was backed up by any evidence.

That being said, the points I assume you are trying to make aren't completely invalid; anyone with an elementary level understanding of basic psychology knows this.

Aggressiveness caused by a lack of identity can be described by deindividuation, or the concept that the loss of self-awareness and anonymity in a group setting creates intense feelings. This can also be strengthened in a setting where a group is encouraging or facilitating this behavior (group polarization). Perhaps it is the fact that identity in forums (or for example, in a sports game, on twitter, etc.) IS caused by lack of identity. This is true. However, your "proposal" or whatever completely dismisses the most important concept in psychology! --the fundamental attribution error ! You can't just connect two dots (correlation =/= causation) and say that someone's comments online are caused by their personality. When it is in fact their situation that has caused them to say the things they've said.

I only took an easy college course on this. It isn't a difficult concept to understand. Thus, i have concluded that you have no actual science nor "research" to back up your philosophical claims.

HalcyonDweller2/21/2018, 6:34:48 PM1 votes

We aren't just objects for you to manipulate in your "experiments."

Every person you claim to have abused is a person just like you. And while you might have been okay with the idea of suffering through it yourself for the sake of "science," they might not have been okay with it.

Grand claims of righteousness do not sweep away the wrongs you may have done. The end does not justify the means when your means negatively impact real people.

Think about that.

ISOzHell2/21/2018, 11:55:00 PM1 votes

UPDATE: This forum and testing ideas and theories in here, are for me and the two others working on this with me, for a program we are creating. We am not here to entertain anyone on our conclusions of this study, or even to discuss it to make you happy about what I posted above.

This post is to say thank you, and apologize for my toxic behaviour in order to find the information we needed, because that was extremely hard for me to do. So if you feel that, "we are blowing smoke up your ass", or "you are offended by this", or "maybe feel we did not give you any details/info to satisfy you to your liking"? Sorry, but that is your problem, not ours.

I will leave it at that,

All the best,

BlueThingamajig2/22/2018, 12:20:16 AM1 votes

I expect published results. Please reply to this comment once it is published.

Alternatively, I'll be happy to provide a peer review, if you want to send me your paper.

swordofsun2/22/2018, 3:36:32 PM1 votes

I'm so excited right now. This is the first "it was a social experiment" post I've seen on these boards!

These posts are always the best and you are a precious baby angel for giving me this gift.
[sg-kiko]