How do you judge people online?

[Entity]

Please, if you have a few seconds, read this and let me know what you think...

In the ?real? world (in simple terms, the world of daily interpersonal interactions), the way we judge people is complex; any number of attributes are often associated with how we understand others. Consider, for example, the number of characteristics involved in judging a new acquaintance: one might consider their level of attractiveness, apparent sense of humor, intelligence, the tone of their voice, or any other number of traits before determining what we ?think? about them.

Regardless of the nature of these traits, they are often based on personal interaction: the traits are, consequently, only apparent on a somewhat superficial basis. This can be seen clearly in their labels ? beauty, wit, conversation, humor ? as well as in the way we present ourselves; these traits govern, to a large extent, the nature of our interactions with other people. People who have successful social interactions are aware, in one way or another, of their relationship with these various traits.

With that in mind - obviously operating under the assumption that people do form judgments about one another - how do you judge people online?

For example: do you read into the vocabulary or grammar someone uses? Or do you simply look at what they say, not how they say it? To wit: how do you determine someone when you have no clue what is really behind their screen?

thanks,
Rob

 

[xBopx]

I think its a combination of the grammar, the way the statement is phrased, and the content of the statement. I'm not sure how those are balanced tho.

 

[Chaotic42]

Honestly? Spelling and grammar count. I'm not the best at either one, but someone who posts:

"I think that Linux is better because there is more user input."

is going to seem more intelligent than someone who posts:

"i like linUX. hehe you can have more contol over what you want for it to do."

I also look at the argument, of course, but I usually just won't read those crazy posts.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

We are not allowed to judge, only God can judge!
Or Allah!
Or the Supreme Court!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Spelling, capitalization, and grammar. Also, the name they use online, and whether or not it is capitalized.

No capitalization tends to symbolize a more laid back, often younger person. Proper capitalization, *especially* on irc (where it is less common) can often indicate a person who is full of themselves, especially when they capitalize both their name and their speech (text).

I myself have started to properly capitalize and use apostrophes in everything I type, except irc. It tends to demand a bit more respect, and give more of an impression of intelligence.

hey whats up

Hey, what's up?

Those two sentences only contain 4 differing charactars, yet they give off vastly different impressions.

Funny you post this thread, as I have been analyzing this stuff alot lately..

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Spelling, capitalization, and grammar. Also, the name they use online, and whether or not it is capitalized.

No capitalization tends to symbolize a more laid back, often younger person. Proper capitalization, *especially* on irc (where it is less common) can often indicate a person who is full of themselves, especially when they capitalize both their name and their speech (text).

I myself have started to properly capitalize and use apostrophes in everything I type, except irc. It tends to demand a bit more respect, and give more of an impression of intelligence.

hey whats up

Hey, what's up?

Those two sentences only contain 4 differing charactars, yet they give off vastly different impressions.

Funny you post this thread, as I have been analyzing this stuff alot lately..

I'm working on a bit of analysis for this for a class - doing an ethnography on compositional styles in ATGH, ATOT, ATSAPG. If you're interested, I could share it with you after I finish it...

Rob

 

[Dragnov]

I think of ATOT generally as a bunch of old, white, uber-conservative (although strongly anti-religious), NRA loving members who wan't to relieve the every so great burden of white man.

Unfortunately, my handle is all ghey although I never type like that. I don't know why, I think I was just tring to get a handle created and "Grimlock" was taken so I just took it to the next step where it would work. I don't care enough to change it.

 

[chowderhead]

1). Read what they are writing. In honesty, people will tend to appreciate someone if they are reaffirming their beliefs or supports their point of view.
2). See if they are trolling or being a nef ...
3). Are they witty in their comments or do they ramble on and on and on ... and on and on?
4). Ask for a pic!!!

 

[Orsorum]

I try not to judge people, period.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I think of ATOT generally as a bunch of old, white, uber-conservative (although strongly anti-religious), NRA loving members who wan't to relieve the every so great burden of white man.

wan't??!?

My cyber judgement finds you a moron!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Spelling, capitalization, and grammar. Also, the name they use online, and whether or not it is capitalized.

No capitalization tends to symbolize a more laid back, often younger person. Proper capitalization, *especially* on irc (where it is less common) can often indicate a person who is full of themselves, especially when they capitalize both their name and their speech (text).

I myself have started to properly capitalize and use apostrophes in everything I type, except irc. It tends to demand a bit more respect, and give more of an impression of intelligence.

hey whats up

Hey, what's up?

Those two sentences only contain 4 differing charactars, yet they give off vastly different impressions.

Funny you post this thread, as I have been analyzing this stuff alot lately..

I'm working on a bit of analysis for this for a class - doing an ethnography on compositional styles in ATGH, ATOT, ATSAPG. If you're interested, I could share it with you after I finish it...

Rob

Yeah, sounds cool, I would love to read it when it's finished

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

 

[Dragnov]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

I agree completely. I hate the "You shouldn't judge people" cr@p. This whole entire society is built upon judging people. And it's a damn good thing we do.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

Of course I do. We all make immediate, knee-jerk judgements about every situation we face. It's part of our psychology/biology/etc.

I try to refrain from forming a deeper opinion about someone (i.e. that person is really intelligent, that person is a fool, etc) until I've had a time to get to know them. Even then, new information or revelations can change my opinions.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

I agree completely. I hate the "You shouldn't judge people" cr@p. This whole entire society is built upon judging people. And it's a damn good thing we do.

he just said he *tries* not to... nothing more.

anyways, i just go with my gut feeling. it's generally either "idiot", "average", or "smart guy". the last one is reserved for people that agree with me

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: Zakath15

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

Of course I do. We all make immediate, knee-jerk judgements about every situation we face. It's part of our psychology/biology/etc.

I try to refrain from forming a deeper opinion about someone (i.e. that person is really intelligent, that person is a fool, etc) until I've had a time to get to know them. Even then, new information or revelations can change my opinions.

With that in mind, the question remains: I didn't say that those judgments are permanent, nor that they should be - but how are they formed? How do you initially form an opinion about anyone online, considering the restrictions placed on you by a text-only community?

Rob

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

I agree completely. I hate the "You shouldn't judge people" cr@p. This whole entire society is built upon judging people. And it's a damn good thing we do.

Yeah, I can remember having a stage in probably junior high where I thought that judging people was bad, that's just because I was way too immature to even realize that judging is not bad. And judging isn't just the foundation of this society, it's a foundation of human nature, and even animal instinct. When you see another animal, you must calculate things like: "Will this thing hurt me?" "Could I kill it and eat it?" "Could I form a relationship with this thing to somehow gain something?" "Is there anything I should worry about this thing doing?", there is a difference between prejudice and judgement.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

I agree completely. I hate the "You shouldn't judge people" cr@p. This whole entire society is built upon judging people. And it's a damn good thing we do.

Yeah, I can remember having a stage in probably junior high where I thought that judging people was bad, that's just because I was way too immature to even realize that judging is not bad. And judging isn't just the foundation of this society, it's a foundation of human nature, and even animal instinct. When you see another animal, you must calculate things like: "Will this thing hurt me?" "Could I kill it and eat it?" "Could I form a relationship with this thing to somehow gain something?" "Is there anything I should worry about this thing doing?", there is a difference between prejudice and judgement.

I phrased my response poorly, look about three posts up for a little more clarification. I'll post more indepth tomorrow.

 

[Jimbo]

I judge people by how well manicured their avatar is.
Shabby avatar: they must not care!

Actually, I'm pretty easy on people here.
I can handle a different, yet reasoned point of view. That part I actually like about this BBS, you just don't see it all of the time here.

I really dislike the ones that have made Elite status and then immediately turn into an idjit.
I can count about a half dozen people that happened to.

For the most part, I really don't care.

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: Jimbo
I judge people by how well manicured their avatar is.
Shabby avatar: they must not care!

Actually, I'm pretty easy on people here.
I can handle a different, yet reasoned point of view. That part I actually like about this BBS, you just don't see it all of the time here.

I really dislike the ones that have made Elite status and then immediately turn into an idjit.
I can count about a half dozen people that happened to.

For the most part, I really don't care.

I hope, despite my tendencies to disagree with you politically, I'm not amongst the idjit crowd.

I'm really interested in how this works out. I wish I could think of a way to make it into a poll, but I think that wouldn't lead to accurate results.

Rob

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: Zakath15

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

Of course I do. We all make immediate, knee-jerk judgements about every situation we face. It's part of our psychology/biology/etc.

I try to refrain from forming a deeper opinion about someone (i.e. that person is really intelligent, that person is a fool, etc) until I've had a time to get to know them. Even then, new information or revelations can change my opinions.

With that in mind, the question remains: I didn't say that those judgments are permanent, nor that they should be - but how are they formed? How do you initially form an opinion about anyone online, considering the restrictions placed on you by a text-only community?

Rob

One thing I can think of is people "signing" every post, I don't get it, it seems silly and wasteful to me. These people give me an impression of either taking themselves too seriously, or perhaps thinking too highly of themselves, or just being sort of old fashioned, or SOMETHING, I can't put my finger on the other impressions it gives me, it depends on the person doing it, and the content of the rest of the post, and my past knowledge of the person.

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: Zakath15

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

Of course I do. We all make immediate, knee-jerk judgements about every situation we face. It's part of our psychology/biology/etc.

I try to refrain from forming a deeper opinion about someone (i.e. that person is really intelligent, that person is a fool, etc) until I've had a time to get to know them. Even then, new information or revelations can change my opinions.

With that in mind, the question remains: I didn't say that those judgments are permanent, nor that they should be - but how are they formed? How do you initially form an opinion about anyone online, considering the restrictions placed on you by a text-only community?

Rob

One thing I can think of is people "signing" every post, I don't get it, it seems silly and wasteful to me. These people give me an impression of either taking themselves too seriously, or perhaps thinking too highly of themselves, or just being sort of old fashioned, or SOMETHING, I can't put my finger on the other impressions it gives me, it depends on the person doing it, and the content of the rest of the post, and my past knowledge of the person.

I was taught, when I first learned about emailing people (10 years ago now, and I'm 22), that you should follow the same conventions you do with normal letter writing: a salutation, proper punctuation and grammar, and that you should sign your letter at the end. I often drop the salutation now, but the rest haunts me to this day. Hope that doesn't influence people too much.

Rob

 

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: Jimbo
I judge people by how well manicured their avatar is.
Shabby avatar: they must not care!

Actually, I'm pretty easy on people here.
I can handle a different, yet reasoned point of view. That part I actually like about this BBS, you just don't see it all of the time here.

I really dislike the ones that have made Elite status and then immediately turn into an idjit.
I can count about a half dozen people that happened to.

For the most part, I really don't care.

I hope, despite my tendencies to disagree with you politically, I'm not amongst the idjit crowd.

I'm really interested in how this works out. I wish I could think of a way to make it into a poll, but I think that wouldn't lead to accurate results.

Rob

Sorry to disappoint DUDE!

We may disagree politically, but I don't view you in a negative light!
Sometimes I EVEN agree with what you say.
Not you at all my man!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: Zakath15

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

Of course I do. We all make immediate, knee-jerk judgements about every situation we face. It's part of our psychology/biology/etc.

I try to refrain from forming a deeper opinion about someone (i.e. that person is really intelligent, that person is a fool, etc) until I've had a time to get to know them. Even then, new information or revelations can change my opinions.

With that in mind, the question remains: I didn't say that those judgments are permanent, nor that they should be - but how are they formed? How do you initially form an opinion about anyone online, considering the restrictions placed on you by a text-only community?

Rob

One thing I can think of is people "signing" every post, I don't get it, it seems silly and wasteful to me. These people give me an impression of either taking themselves too seriously, or perhaps thinking too highly of themselves, or just being sort of old fashioned, or SOMETHING, I can't put my finger on the other impressions it gives me, it depends on the person doing it, and the content of the rest of the post, and my past knowledge of the person.

I was taught, when I first learned about emailing people (10 years ago now, and I'm 22), that you should follow the same conventions you do with normal letter writing: a salutation, proper punctuation and grammar, and that you should sign your letter at the end. I often drop the salutation now, but the rest haunts me to this day. Hope that doesn't influence people too much.

Rob

Well then, I got you on the "old fashioned"

I view email in a much less formal fashion. I view email as actual bytes of text, I understand the headers, and how mail is relayed, processed, and delivered, so I view it in a very raw sense. Hell, I could send email with telnet if I needed to, that just shows you how simple it is

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: Zakath15

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I try not to judge people, period.

Do you realize how integral to human nature judgement is? When you see a person, the FIRST THING you do is judge them, whether or not you realize it.

Of course I do. We all make immediate, knee-jerk judgements about every situation we face. It's part of our psychology/biology/etc.

I try to refrain from forming a deeper opinion about someone (i.e. that person is really intelligent, that person is a fool, etc) until I've had a time to get to know them. Even then, new information or revelations can change my opinions.

With that in mind, the question remains: I didn't say that those judgments are permanent, nor that they should be - but how are they formed? How do you initially form an opinion about anyone online, considering the restrictions placed on you by a text-only community?

Rob

One thing I can think of is people "signing" every post, I don't get it, it seems silly and wasteful to me. These people give me an impression of either taking themselves too seriously, or perhaps thinking too highly of themselves, or just being sort of old fashioned, or SOMETHING, I can't put my finger on the other impressions it gives me, it depends on the person doing it, and the content of the rest of the post, and my past knowledge of the person.

I was taught, when I first learned about emailing people (10 years ago now, and I'm 22), that you should follow the same conventions you do with normal letter writing: a salutation, proper punctuation and grammar, and that you should sign your letter at the end. I often drop the salutation now, but the rest haunts me to this day. Hope that doesn't influence people too much.

Rob

Well then, I got you on the "old fashioned"

I view email in a much less formal fashion. I view email as actual bytes of text, I understand the headers, and how mail is relayed, processed, and delivered, so I view it in a very raw sense. Hell, I could send email with telnet if I needed to, that just shows you how simple it is

I understand it in the technical sense as well, but for some reason, the formality sticks with me...

Let's try it your way.

Edit: Damn. Don't like it. Back I go.

Edit: Rob.