hope this is the right place

hey,
i am not sure if this is the right forum for me to ask this question, but it is the only one that i can see that is allocated specificaly for 'chat'.
well here it goes, i am a psychology and IT student, and i am doin my final year project. i decided that it would be on "cyber aggression and anonymity". what this means is that i am investigating the link between aggression or aggressive tendency like hacking or virus making and anonymyty. that is for example the idea of diffused responsability, like that of rioting were in the common and usual emotional conflicts that you may have about commiting a certain action are over-run by the notion and knowledge that your identity is difused among the other participating and also the responsiblity of your action is diffused too, therefore your inhibitions are lessend. in a cyber sense i think that it may be collaborative bombarding where a number of people hit a specific target, for example the launch on the company GRC.com, which i read in an article was from a 'flaming' incidint and so there where 3 guys who attacked another company because of the flaming.
even the idea that the internet is a virtual world and many people who use it have virtual names and virtual identities, and that there is a change in the manner of people on-line then in the real-world, and that we mite say or not say, do or not do things in this different environment.

anyway, i am spouting on here and i hope that someone is still reading this.

anyway, that is just an example of what i might write on, but i am stil unsure, but to get to the point at hand,i am looking for any help or comments or advice that anyone may have for me as i am finding it very difficult to find information about the 'criteria' that must be met before one can be given the title of a 'hacker' or 'cracker'.
the important thing about the information that i receive is that it is credible in some way, if anyone could tell me where would be a good place to go, any sites etc or any companies that may have this info.
anyway,any help would be appreciated
thanks,
coboy.

 

You wouldn't even have to go that far. Hacking / Cracking behavior is just one segment of the behaviors of anonymity. If you really want to research anonymity and agression, research racism.

The internet is one giant multiple personality disorder. If you want to get credibility, set up a double blind test where people are encouraged to participate on an uncensored bulletin board to discuss social aspects etc. You should not know who these people are and you should allow them to have more than one account. They should remain anonymous in personal identity but should be assigned some singular uniqe key so that you can verify who posts what type of post.

You will find that people will sometime have two or more "identities" so they can be kind, indifferent or hateful etc depending on who they feel like being at that moment.

The internet message board phenominon is a pscyhologists jack-pot.

 

Greetings and welcome to MG site,

I think we all take exposure to identity being known on the net, be it in a forum like this, aol IM yahoo chat etc etc,,,and then we come to have homepages , built by us that can simply be looked up in a domain registry WHO IS and basicly anyone can have your home address,, yes the internet is a exposing place to be,,,It offers us so much,,not to be involved !!! ,online friendships, emailing family. the more advanced tele-confrencing. And we will continue to have expodential groth , where a computer will be in a pair of glasses with a heads up display, LOL,,So do we turn back, never life is a progressive project, and the teck stuff that come out will inspire the youngest of minds,,We are at risk with everything we do in life, and yes in eveyday life we expose ourself to threats minor or catistrophic, do we go on the the next day ? YES again LOL,,,we all take risks be it road rage , or a hacker getting into our files and , Identity theft occurs. Like in every day life you try to take the procautions to be safe, implement on the net, have to be savy in life and on the net.

My 2 cents, hope you find it helpfull, Glenn

 

the project that i am conducting has to abide by certain rules
one of them is that it has to be linked to both social behaviours and technology, in particular for the area that i chose , the internet, i did do something i think in second year on racism tho not sure, it was long ago.
but do any of you guys know of where i could go to get information,soory, good information as credibility is the most iomportant thing, other wise it will be seen as flimsy and fallible by my markers.
and yes, chat rooms are a psychologists gold mine to a certain extent
the major flaw is that there is no actual verbal and physical communication, it is all done in letters, which can be easily misunderstood.

 

In addition after reading your post again, ,,,People have personalities, that is our being, our identity, we all have specific trates, I have been on this site going on 3 months, and you can tell peoples personalities through thier posts on here, its a small family and have made many a friend young and old its such a melting pot of wonderfull personalities, and a few not so wonderfull,,just as in real life LOL, Can people portray themselves in an alter way, a fake identity, sure, and many here mighnt, Through chat and the occasionl IM,,,or on this site PM private message, you get a sence about someone, just like a first impression when meeting a new face at a cafe, is the first impression the real person, maybe to a extent, but like in life it takes time to get to know people , and on the net I find it the same,, There are STALKERS everywhere, in real life and cyber life. Through tiime listening with a sharp ear in real life, or reading between the lines in type, Glenn

 

That flaw really is an integral part to the dynamic of it all. Misunderstanding in communcation can bring about agressive behavior.

Sorry, though, I do not have any leads to credible studies on this topic. All I can say is make your own hypothesis from visiting various boards.

 

i don't have a computer personality, but then again i don't practice anonymity. i use my real name, age and address. so i think its possible that your putting the cart before the horse. you may well find that it is the aggressive/ disturbed/ confused people that take advantage of the possible anonymity, not that anonymity encourages anti social behavior. much aloha and good luck in your studies. psychology is a fascinating subject on every level. however its a bit like studying the way a leaf falls.

 

taking advantage of anonymity would have been one of the major areas of the investigation and ye it is like studying the way a leaf falls. it gets frustrating that way

 

Not sure that I understand this, laurie. Do you mean it is complex and random? Following the lines of chaos theory. You know: butterfly flaps its wings in Hawaii causing hurricanes in Florida.

Difficult to dissociate psychology from the Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho starring the late Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates.

 

i think that he means that psychology in many ways is pointless to study, cus the way that a leaf falls can be affected by so many other factors: rain , wind, dirt on the leaf, insects... anything goes,just like in psych there are so many factors... in a way it is very wishywashy

 

Psychology isn't pointless, but individual responses vary so widely that any meaningful study requires a BROAD study group to identify group trends.

I think you'd have a hard time arguing that anonymity, internet or otherwise, actually encourages irresponsible behavior. "Encourage" is an active verb. What it does do is remove the active DIScouragement that normal societal interaction places on our behavior. No fear of peer pressure opinion, no fear of getting punched in the mouth, punished, you name it. Those that are obnoxious online are obnoxious people already, that may (or may not) hide their darker tendencies in the real world out of fear of opinion or consequences.

Not sure how you'd study it, or what credible studies may have been done already, but interesting topic.

 

ROFL. yes and this butterfly's wings are constantly flapping. beware. coboy am a girl by the way. i have studied psychology for many years. i am a R.M.N. and made a career dealing with the mentally unacceptable. i have ceased to find any explanation for human behavior. i think glen is right. people are what they are. there is no 'changing personality'. even in the mob behavior example you gave, i would say that anger and frustration lower inhibitions, not crowds. and that the resulting behavior is simply multiplied by the amount of individuals taking part, but that those individuals would behave similarly if they were on there own. aloha

 

"dealing with the mentally unacceptable"

I think Mentally challenged, or mentally ill or mentally handicapped would be better explanitives, People with mental Illness are exceptable LOL,,,unless a extream case of skitzo-effective disorder is much differant these people or person's perhaps be kept in a hospital for thier own good , protecting them from the word and themself and perhaps US . lf its Depressive illnesses IE Bipolor/ PTSD. depression manic-depression, dysthimea along with the rest of the depressive illnesses are in a sepertate catagory this person usualy can cope with a general work schedual and be productive in society. with proper treatment councling , or meds or both,

I know first hand , summery, in 1998 MY Mother commited Suicide,, mom shot herself, I suffer depression,I suffer from PTSD Post Tramatic Stress disorder , panic anxiety.

I have had much darkness, but out of the bad I made good, I launched a local support group for people with depressive disorters through DBSA Depression and Bipolor Support Alliance www.dbsalliance.com I facilitated the group for 4 years , and now I go occasinaly to see some friends from group ,,suprisingly HIGH funtioning folks just the misfortune of a mentall illness,Its a wonderfull place for people to start to get help if you suffer depression, FYI for all,,they have chapters through the US and now abroad , consumer run. this is my link to the support group I started and have redirected to a new local chapter of DBSA, instead of letting the group end, there is lots of information here as well for help.Glenn


www.bcdmda.com

 

i did not mean any disrespect. mental illness comes in many different forms. Alzheimer's,autism,anorexia,anxiety attacks, just being the ones that start with a!! i was lightheartedly poking fun at the labels and the system, not belittling peoples distress. aloha

 

Laurie , no harm taken


Just wanted to clarify the term unacceptable,


Mental illness is inside of us not seen by the world outside,depression may be seen in ones eyes sadness, or a person bipolor person on a manic high, may be hyper, but mostly kept inside,

My Moms pain must have been overwhelming, to take such a drastic measure,
She shot herself with a handgun bought by me and given to my Dad to join me at the fireing range,, Dad being a caring husband , taught her to use it to protect herself,being in the house alone through the day, never knowing it would be the method of her death, evedently she did not want a chance to survive, usually females will take a overdose, but mom wanted no chance of waking up.

She was quite beautifull, she shot herself in the heart in life she lived very vain,as most women are , about there looks ,,,she though this out well,,,she knew a open coffin was what she wanted, .

So we were left with a 20 word letter , for us (ME) to find, and alot of unanswed questions that will never be answered...

I have no survivors guilt, at first I did,, all the "what if" questions what if I called her that morning, what if I could see the pain she was in, I certantly would have helped her !!
She excersized one of the most important decisions one can make, the ending of ones life, what or how at this point can I not respect her wishes.

Its the survivors that truely do the suffering, she is in a better place now, no longer in mental and physical pain, she is like the wind upon my face , like a rainbow after a storm.
always in my thoughts and a every day something will remind me of her loving ways, I am very much like her , a big heart and caring of others ,,placing them before myself, These are the important things

Like raising our daughter, she is learing by OUR (wifes&my) values.

PS if we all were made from the same mold life would be very boring, its the diversity that makes life interesting and a challenge, we are all so differant, to converse with people we don't know too well yet, we bend and conform to an extent to be able to share anothers point of view.. but yet we are still ourselves, INDIVIDUALS,

Mental illness is in us,,,if you had a broken leg and on crutches, and stood at a door,,most people would open it for you, and assist you through it, if you stood there with mental illness, people would think you were in the way , and possibly be rude about being in the way,,,It doesent always show itself.



So I keep the fond memories of the living years, this way she lives on within me,,,and the many in life that she touched, I have a site up to remember her by, and also scanned every photo I could find of her, to keep,she is missed very much, but nothing will bring her back, so we cherish the memories. Please have a visit to these sites, and catch you later on the boards, Glenn


http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Foothills/4733/tribute.html

http://www.glennkrate.com/HEAVEN.html

Coboy, I hope you do well on your project !! I'm actually glad you posted here , this way you can see the internet side of people, that mostly won't varie much from real life,there is always a posibility that people would create a alter ego,,,but that not my piece of cake,,IM ME and nothing will change that fact and would not want to be anyone else, our individualality is what makes the world great , if we were all from the same mold, life would be quite boring, the mind is a strange and wonderfull place . and as you see, I will give up MY privacy to share on this site with you and anyone who shall read this post !!! and I am vividly who I claim to be, Glenn

PHOTO OF MOM,,,

 

Glenn, I'm truly sorry to hear about your mom. There are no words that can be said to tell anyone how much I truly feel pained to hear that someone they love has taken their own life.
-Jim

 

Thanks Jim, no there are no words,,, just the fact that you posted is enough, live life as if every day is your last, and life will be grand !!! Glenn