*shakes head*

You know, there's a lot of problems with the internet. I mean, well, yeah, duh. There's lots of problems with the world in general. But for the purposes of this brief psychological complaint, I figured I'd start with a blanket statement of some kind or another. So there's a lot of problems with the internet.

One of those problems is that, much like prejudice, it dehumanizes those with whom you interact. True, with voicechat, webcams, and various other tools, some of that humanity is regained. But such tools are easily used for deceptive purposes, and can often lead to further dehumanization.

Case in Point. For apparantly the past year, Kirbopher (creator of TTA, whom I respect greatly, but don't go telling him that, 'cause I've got an arrogant image to keepe. ¬¬ I'm just glad he don't read my LJ. I thinke) has been deceived by some unknown punke into believing that a few-to-several famous Newsgrounderians have watched and adore TTA. From what I gather from Kirbo's summary of the situation, this person employed voice filtering, multiple screen names, and perhaps a few other techniques, to make Kirbo believe that these people he was talking to were famous. Also from what I gather, it was a cheap ruse to get voice acting parts. I've also a hunch, however, that there was a cheap thrill involved: Creating an elaborate deception and getting away with it.

What distresses me, though, is the reactions that several other people have been having... Essentially everyone has been making threats towards this unknown person (or persons, as I'm not entirely convinced it was a 1-man/woman job). Empty internet-related threats, certainly (except maybe Kirbo's girlfriend, who I thinke I might be afraid of o.o), but threats nonetheless. And this concerns me, because....it won't solve anything. I mean, it kicks ass, so many people rushing to support Stay-Puff Jr. I'd be honored if that many people tried to cheer me up after something that immense was revealed to me. But, well...Kirbo and OMA, in my opinion, both had the right idea when they said they wanted to finde out whye this person did it. Not to get revenge. Just to learn, and move on.

The person responsible for all of this lying is still a person, you know. There's a possibility that the deceiver didn't have any malicious intentions. Maybe they just wanted to get a voice acting part, or they even just wanted to be friends with Kirbo, something. And they just got caught up in their fabrication, and were too afraid of the consequences to fess up. I've seen it happen dozens of times, so I can't deny it's a possibility. It would be easier, certainly, to just say they're an immature douchebag and toss them out of my minde, but...I never seem to worke that way anymore. I've judged people at face value too much in the past, and it's caused nothing but trouble for me. So now, it seems I can't looke at anyone without analyzing, without diving deeper. Without sympathizing, really. Because everyone's a person, you know? Everyone has feelings. No matter how much they try to deny it or hide it or suppress it. Heh, even me.

I just...wish that everyone else would realize it, you know? That those are actual people across that monitor, computer and cable. And by the same token, that those aren't boxes on that timesheet, they're people. And those aren't foreigners trying to steal American jobs and money, they're people. And those aren't simply troop numbers available to send to a battlefield to die, they're people (though that is the sole viewpoint I sympathize with, for reasons I'm sure I'll write about someday). And that those aren't capitalist mongrels who deserve to have 110-story buildings collapsed on top of them, they're people. And that those aren't overzealous religious nutjobs who deserve to have tens of thousands of bombs dropped upon their homes, they're people. And that those who have different colored skin, different facial features, different religious, social, and scientific beliefs, aren't stupid because they don't agree with you; they're people.



But I wish for a lot of unfeasible things.