If internet chatroom users each logged in with their real names and identities there would be less ‘flaming’, more harmony and fewer people banned by moderators.
Not so, according to the first hard evidence that suggests removing anonymity from forums would not only fail to bring more harmony, it would actually increase tension.
Obtained by a national paper, the verdict stems from researchers at Staffordshire University, who found familiarity on chatrooms does breed contempt, rather than stem it.
Dr Ros Dyer, a psychology lecturer, reportedly told the paper moderators would also be busy for another reason: using real-world names sparks more flirting.
Explanation comes from a supporting study, authored by the University of Wolverhampton, which reportedly says people log on to chat rooms to escape their normal behaviour.
Although this was said to only apply to a ‘certain types of individual’, their practice is one most users of forums can relate to: acting out or saying things they couldn’t get away with offline.
Asked about the findings, Dr Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, told the Guardian: “Flaming is a symptom of a large malady – an epidemic failure of social restraint.
“The same syndrome seems at work in bloggers who take a perverse glee in attacks and threats. They see Web rage as cool.”
Jul 18, 2007
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