Ok, that was a lie. People lie. Or as Hamelink (2006) concludes, people lie more so over the Internet. He continues describing, “virtual reality in which trust and lies, real and unreal, can no longer be distinguished. For safety and privacy reasons, I for one, believe it is necessary to lie. But where does the line stop?
Last week, my tutor mentioned the the story of Mandy Wilson. This absurd lady generated a pitiful but fake identity that invoked sympathy from countless readers around the globe. She played on people’s emotions! While white lies, general lies or deceit may be essential tools to assist us in certain situations, to create immoralities that mirror physical life hazards (such as stalking, treason, fraud etc) online is absolutely despicable. To think people like Mandy is only one of the growing numbers of “sock puppets” out there, ready to scam us of our time, money and attention is frightening. If we all familiarize ourselves about the ethics of netiquettes, we could prevent ourselves falling victim to these online predators.
Be sure to check out Sam’s post as he delves deeper into the idea of netiquettes as well as other ideologies.
References:
Hamelink, C. J. 2006 “The Ethics of the Internet: Can We Cope With Lies and Deceit on The Net?” In Ideologies of the Internet. New Jersey: Hampton Press Inc. Accessed March 26, 2012. https://cmd.library.qut.edu.au/KCB206/KCB206_BK_313947.pdf
Kleeman, Jenny. 2011. “Sick note: Faking illness online.” The Guardian, February 26. Accessed March 26, 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/26/faking-illness-online-munchausen
I have a friend as a I mentioned in class this week that defies netiquette in all its forms… He uses the internet to lie constantly, creating fake girlfriends and even a fake email saying he won tickets to the UK!
That’s sad how people lie about themselves online. What happens in real life then when you meet them? How are you meant to keep up with all these lies and deceit you’ve generated to portray a particular kind of image of yourself?
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