A day in the life II random header image

Trolling and real life versus virtual life

June 1st, 2008 by Malcolm

Let me get to the second part first.

Real Live versus “Virtual Life”:
I have been on the Internet since very near the beginning.

I have at least been here since before DNS - when you had to know IP addresses of servers you used by yourself and keep track of them yourself.

I have also been here since before Bitnet. Bitnet was the e-mail addressing/protocol wave of the future that we still use today (i.e. malcolm.gin@gmail.com). When I started, we used UUCP, where you had to know the path your e-mail would take and you had to specify each e-mail host in turn along the path from you to your intended recipient in the address field (i.e. zeppo!harpo!cbosg!!ucbvax!malcolm).

I have also been here since when teleprinter (or TTY) terminals were the kinds that typed out your “screen” on a continuous feed of paper.

I remember when there was gopher, which was before HTTP and was more like endlessly interlinking dmoz directories. I remember Trumpet and other SOCK stacks. I remember the first Mozilla, I remember AOL’s browser, I remember older software and things that made the Internet go than many of you do.

Why do I say all this? I am (almost) 40 years old, and granted I did start early (my preteens), when I came into the Internet, it was already Real Life for me and for most of the other people already there. They used it for business and research and it was a small community of folks who found that posting on the USENET or sending an e-mail was easier to do than phone or write postal mail to someone they needed to talk to.

When I took the Internet and telnetted to MOOs, those were also already Real Life for me. The Internet has always been, for me, Real Life.

Now to trolling.

Trolling:
If you are going to troll me here or in Real Life, keep in mind that here, the Internet, is already Real Life for me.

If I call your boss or your HR department or if I forward your crap you were stupid enough to put in writing and send to me over the Internet (thus violating interstate telecommunications laws), to the FBI or to your ISP, I will have done so because you used a Real Life communications device to send me a threatening or harassing message.

In my experience of the Internet, the Internet is not a playground. It is not a get out of jail free place where you can be a fucking idiot and expect to get off scot-free. There are no grace periods. There are no free shots. My Internet, which I grew up with, is a telecommunications device, just like a phone, just like a written letter, just like a telegram. It’s a communications medium whereby you and I talk to each other.

This blog is a personal diary I share with the public or with selected interested people. The web site that hosts it is like my business card.

My other blog is a place where I put technical stuff I (or my coworkers) need to refer to about the technical stuff we do at work.

The LiveJournal I have is a place where it’s important to be a good representation of who I really am in Real Life (because it is a telecomm extension of Real Life).

My avatar on Second Life is similarly a (more abstract) depiction of me (though it’s easier to wear costumes).

Who am I on the Internet? The same person as who I am in Real Life. That’s because the Internet, to me, is Real Life.

And I will treat it as such even if you may disagree. So consider this your fair warning.

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