I chatted with a fellow on a random IRC channel titled #star. I initiated a one-on-one chat with a user who goes by the alias gh0stryd3r. He appeared to be very open, though with a slightly poor sense of grammar(even for an online persona). It appears I was lucky to find someone willing to talk though. Apparently, the majority of users accessing IRC through whatever client rarely talk. It seems that they all just like to idle in channels but not actually participate in much chatting. In fact, the majority of the channels on the server that I connected to where for purposes other than chatting. Luckily, there are still those who enjoy a chat every once in a while.
As the discussion started, carried on, and eventually came to an end, I found I was very quickly coming up with quite resolute opinions on gh0stryd3r’s character. The Hyperpersonal model is easily the best fit to how I felt about gh0stryd3r. He appeared to be childish, and prone to start conflicts. Without more than a few lines exchanged between the both of us, I already assumed that he must be at least under the age of 15. Further discourse led me to the understanding that gh0stryd3r is an adamant computer gamer. To him, the only worth of an online persona, is how good he/she is at games. The skilless are immediately shot down as “n00bs” and treated with the upmost disrespect by this individual. Upon hearing that I don’t play counter-strike(a commonly played computer game), gh0stryd3r decided that I’ve been leading a deprived life. He then continued to affirm that if we were to play each other in a computer game, I would be “sopwnt.”
After a brief, 40 minute exchange between me and gh0stryd3r, I realized more and more how the hyperpersonal model fit my opinion of him. I found him to be conceited, quick to argue, and poorly versed in rhetoric. Although I conversed with him for a good period of time, these opinions grew rather quickly, and by halfway through the conversation I was already beyond adamant in my views of gh0stryd3r. It is true that the persona I was viewing was most likely selective self-presentation, and that I was participating in the same. Gh0stryd3r feels the need to present himself as an “über l33t gamer,” with little to no respect for those who are unable to stand up to him on the field of battle(in computer games that is). Perhaps my views were made due to the lack of cues available in an irc chat setting, but regardless it does not make me more inclined to seek out such encounters in the future.
4 comments:
Hey Jeffrey, great post! I really enjoyed your analysis of gh0stryd3r. Maybe next time you could add a few more details about your particular online experience. For instance, what were some of the things that gh0stryd3r said that seemed childish?
I definitely agree with your choice to apply the hyperpersonal model. It's interesting that in a short conversation, a few annoying comments from someone can make you form a strong, negative opinion about their personality. When having conversations on the Internet, it seems it's imperative to remember that there are no nonverbal cues. Who knows if gh0stryd3r was really just a comm student at another school goofing around?
Hey, Jeffrey! I really like how you included pieces of your conversation with gh0stryd3r in your post, it showed some of the computer slang (or whatever you want to call it) that gamers would use. I also agree with you applying the hyperpersonal model to this conversation. I had a similar experience with the person I chatted with online. After only a few exchanges, I had formed an impression of him which only grew stronger as the conversation went on. You actually lasted forty minutes with this guy, which is pretty impressive compared to most of the blog posts I’ve read. It is highly unlikely that you will change your impression of gh0stryd3r anytime soon.
This sounds like a really typical encounter of the kinds of people that I met in the few times that I went on IRC. A lot of the people in this medium seem to share a common (though, not uniform) trait of being really focused on online games and things like that. I was particularly interested in the fact that you said that he thought you led a "deprived life" having never played Counter Strike. I'm not sure if this person that you met would be as arrogant as you make him seem in person (though it's quite possible).
From my gut, it would seem that this person would be more likely to stick to himself in a group of people so his prejudices wouldn't be quite that apparent when you met him in person (even I'm exhibiting extreme hyperpersonality judgement), but in an environment where your conversation with this other person is forced, it seems likely that his responses are more forced out than they could be otherwise. This is one area that we don't really talk about in class, and that's whether or not your partner is forced on the spot to respond to you whether it be frank or tactful.
Hey Jeff, I completely understand why you chose to apply the hyperpersonal model. It's funny how good an impression you can get in just a short conversation, especially when you have someone explaining to you what a deprived life you've had. Though in gh0stryd3r's defense, Counter Strike is a sick game. I'm also sure there was plenty of selective self representation since he was really only trying to portray the fact that he was an awesome gamer. I'm there was plenty more to him that he chose to leave out, since it was probably not relevant to the gaming world and would probably hurt his image. To be honest, I'm impressed you lasted 40 minutes. More power to you.
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