Do you forget you're talking to humans on the internet?

[Marco Polo]

I sometimes forget I'm talking to humans on the internet. Behind every avatar there's actually a person. Can you believe it? It's not just an avatar, an internet persona and a post count.

Not so much on this forum, but definitely on other forums I forget this constantly. All this time I've been thinking I'm communicating with random text generators.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

That's funny. I'm quite the opposite. I begin to picutre what the person might look like and what their life is like based on their posts. I've made some really great friends on this forum who I've never even seen a picture of...

[Trezker]

Originally Posted by {aspiring_to_clarity}

That's funny. I'm quite the opposite. I begin to picutre what the person might look like and what their life is like based on their posts.

I'm not quite that into analyzing who's behind the text. But I do imagine a personality from time to time. It never struck me that there'd be bots behind the forum posts, except for the obvious scam spam, which is shining with its absence around here.

[pokilty]

Originally Posted by Marco Polo

I sometimes forget I'm talking to humans on the internet. Behind every avatar there's actually a person. Can you believe it? It's not just an avatar, an internet persona and a post count.

Not so much on this forum, but definitely on other forums I forget this constantly. All this time I've been thinking I'm communicating with random text generators.

Yeah I get that feeling when I read forum posts as well. Or when I'm playing online games. I don't think humans were ever meant to communicate in any way other than face-to-face, so it's hard for our minds to grasp that input comes from another person. After all, I'm the only person in my room right now

[evevera]

hahaha, topic made me laugh. But now that I think about it some more, it is like just talking to random text or some computer AI. It definitely strikes you more when you hear or see that person in person when you only knew them online.

[ydnab40]

I'm totally the opposite. I always imagine a person behind all the posts in forums and on usenet. In fact whenever i'm on the Internet I feel I am in a huge room filled with real people.

Mind you, I've always found it easier to communicate via the written word. in pre-internet days that meant writing letters and, since the mid 80's I have used bulletin boards on services such as Prestel and then the Internet to make friends. I find it much easier than face to face interaction which I am hopeless at and feel is completely unnatural.

[Brutha]

The funny thing, is that there no avatars on this forum

[jawillie]

When I first started on the 'net years and years ago I forgot, or didn't realize. But after becoming really involved in one forum, to where we actually meet once a year, I now keep that in the forefront of my mind.

I try to do that when driving, too. I remember I once accidentally cut someone off (it was truly an accident and I felt terrible), and the look he gave me gave me chills... like he could kill me. From that moment on I always remember that people are driving the cars... and we all have bad days sometimes and make bad choices sometimes. No need to get all angry over it. I swore I would never give someone that same death stare. Sorry, that was a bit O/T.

[Marco Polo]

Originally Posted by Brutha

The funny thing, is that there no avatars on this forum

Well played, Brutha. Well played.

[funchy]

I don't seem to have that problem.

I do get frustrated that sometimes I feel that I'm not able to get to know the full real person, only their syntax, grammar, and vocabulary.