The Average Web User
 

[Note: sorry about posting so many threads and posts recently, but I need the practice]

What do you think are the defining aspects of the "average" internet user?

Personally, I think most web users are either old people pretending to be "hip" and young, or young people pretending to be "mature" and old. There are a small portion of internet locals who are comfortable with themselves and do not hide behind false personnas, but they are often lost in the enourmous shadow of equivocating age-posers. Sorry about being so pessimistic.

agree/disagree-->

(of course, who am I to talk when I don't even give my real name?)

Well, i at least try to act like myself, being 14 and all. But yeah, i think that alot of people do pose as other people to make total strangers like them.

Meh, I'm a 17 year old who usually acts that way, but sometimes gets creative and acts like I'm 12 again. My friends hate it when I do that.

Personally, I think that most people are at least somewhat honest when they describe themselves. It really burns me when I hear about someone acting like someone they're not. It reflects the maturity of a ten-year old (so I can't get too mad at the 10-year-olds) and it's really just plain silly.

I agree, but I also think that the web has given a lot of hope to the socially unaccepted, who get to have a "blank slate" so to speak when they use the web. Many good ideas and oppinions that would never have been expressed by people in reality are boldy shared with the rest of net soceity, easily done under the mask of a user ID.

But by the same token, these people don't work on their actual social skills and they become internet junkies. I think that the internet actually damages those who start with the "blank slate" because they don't think they can cut it in the real world.

They need to learn to face their fears offline, or else they'll end uplike that one guy who was playing Everquest and ended up committing suicide because his character got killed and he lost all his stuff.

I have a certain "online persona." It's the same as my personality in RL with my friends, except without the constant threats of physical injury and references to the fact that they never read 8BT when I tell them to. Also omitted is the hysterical laughing.

BT? sorry, not sure what that stands for...
I think that sure a lot of people probably lie and alter who they are online so that other people will like them, but generally, I think most people act the way they normally would. I think most people who are so called internet junkies think that their normal character isn't good enough for the people they know, but that they'll meet more people like them online in chat rooms and forums.
And god I hope that more than jsut old people acting hip and mature acting young'uns use the web :-p

Yeah, sorry, I held shift when I hit the 8.

I'm myself, but you guys probably see more of the extremes of me. When I'm being silly, I'm being silly gosh darn it! When I'm being serious, dito. I feel more comfortable for some reason. In person, I very quiet, and shy. On here, not so much. You guys know me as I am when I'm alone. Probably closer to who I really am, than what people I meet in person see.

For anyone else, I dunno. Everyone is different I guess.

It think internet promotes two ends of the spectrum: It helps people communicate and share ideas easier, faster, and more efficiently, but I think that it can also dehumanize people if you aren't actually talking straight to their face. Also keep in mind that many users display their true personalities online, but are too embaressed/nervous to act like themselves in public, so you can also see a person's true charactor as well.