Internet schizophrenia…it’s out there

I am a member of several political message boards and I contribute regularly to one in particular. I find them very useful in keeping up with the views of different sections of the UK electorate and it’s also practical to bounce ideas off potential critics.

I often post my blog pieces to put them up for scrutiny before I submit to the weblog. This relationship suits me and I have found it very productive, but one thing has unsettled me over the past few weeks, a phenomena that is more psychological than political…

It appears one or two members of a very popular site have multiple personalities; by this I mean they have one or more ‘screen-names’ (or membership accounts). I have tried this out myself creating a Right-Wing American who breezes into the site occasionally and rants at the liberal arguments, I mostly targeted my own contributions. I suppose the idea was that a good debater can assume both sides of argument and it’s a nice to vary the standpoint and test ones skills. My ‘evil’ pseudonym still exists but I grew tired quickly of the charade and have retired him indefinitely. It seems however that some dual-identity members have become somewhat co-dependent on their alter ego, using him/her to post a radicalised version of their ‘official’ argument.

But why? And is this electronic schizophrenia at all worrying?

Of course it is natural that people will enjoy the privacy of the Internet, and we all like to think we have insider knowledge. Everyone can relate to someone playing a practical joke and taking pleasure in having a laugh at someone else’s expense, but could leading a dual existence – even only online – actually be endemic of a greater psychological problem?

Of course you may ask: “how do you know someone is using two screen-names, if they are veiled by the anonymity of the Internet?”

I have decided that if I could so easily ‘create’ someone with diametrically opposed views to myself with such ease it is probable – no, nigh on certain – that others have exploited this opportunity. I am also aware that these posters have used coloured fonts similar to their alter ego before quickly deleting (and then re-posting in the correct identity/colour). There are also telltale signs that someone is deliberately ‘pitching’ posts between screen-names to further the argument and shape debate. Ultimately man is fallible and will always screw up – you just have to catch them.

I would be interested to run this by a psychologist, but luckily for me – if somewhat unfortunate for my family – I do not know any. So why does someone get so attached to their primary identity that they create a new personality for spouting their more radicalised opinions? Maybe they do not have the courage of their convictions and hide behind a sanitised formal persona, so as not to be regarded as an outsider or extremist.

I would be especially concerned if a member was experimenting in gender bending, and creating a personality sexually at odds with their ‘official’ personality. Could this be endemic of some closeted sexual deviation or frustration? I have my suspicions on one such member on a UK site that appears to be both male and female…. I have little doubt that hermaphrodites are a rarity even on the Internet, so I must assume some deep routed sexual uncertainties. Maybe the person has received a stringent upbringing or their public persona is one of high moral values, hiding basic human urges and desires.

Maybe I should just accept that the Internet will always attract those who are socially dysfunctional, and that it will always give a voice to societies oddities. The Net is a hive of radicals and fundamentalists, and gives disproportionate power to armchair revolutionaries; you should always have your wits about you.

So I will go now and cast my suspicious eye over my internet community, safe in the knowledge that at least I know who I am……I think!