Conformity. Leviathan. These seem so weak and vague on the Internet. With the degree of anonymity, it seems hard that anyone can punish us substantively online. Yet we often continue to follow the set of social norms that we pick up from observing others' behavior in online spaces, even though there are basically little or no consequences if we don't. Like Wallace says, this conformity is the glue that holds a community together. We are willing to give up a lot of freedoms to preserve the sense of community, even if it is only virtual.
Here I have some examples of the consequence-free conformity. The following two reproach episodes occurred in my MMORPG forum. The actual game and the forum are separate; the forum is for members of this particular alliance. We use the forum to coordinate our attack and defense effort. There are threads for more specific role-playing (RP), but RP is prevalent in all aspects of the forum. Since our characters usually hail from different parts of the metaworld, we explain away some threads as radio frequencies with which we communicate, while other more RP-focused threads are "pubs" that we go to for a more relaxed atmosphere. (This designation alone shows strong conformity; it would never have worked if not everyone agreed to RP this way. Now this is the norm everyone follows despite the lack of serious consequences).
The first episode started with the extensive RP of one player in a "frequency" thread mainly used for situation reports that relay combat information. His post was long and colourful and conveyed pregnant, awkward pauses (he did it masterfully) that possibly hinted at his secret admiration for another player. I'm not a moderator, but I'm sort of in charge of the "frequency" so I jokingly told him to take his "crush" to one of the "pubs." He didn't really break any written norms and annoy any players, but it is sort of accepted that the frequencies are more business-like and people tune in to catch the latest combat development. People don't really anticipate the degree of RP he exhibited in this thread.
Telling him off was actually my way of RP, since my character is rather cynical and sarcastic when it comes to romance. But I forgot to show this non-verbal cue by using emoticons. Another player (let's dub him Player #2) thought I was actually accusing Player #1 of clogging up the frequency with RP. Player #2 proceeded to write a long post with lots of descriptive body language to show his irritation (i.e. flicking his cigarette butt after a last drag) that I had stopped someone from RP when the whole game is about RP. He felt that we need to "kick up our skirts once in a while," even on the frequencies, and RP should not be limited to the pubs.
Horrified, I realized that I had broken a more important norm in the forum: be nice to people and refrain from criticisms. The game is about an apocalypse and most of the time the threads already sound depressing enough, so in an unanimous (though unsaid) agreement, we all try our best to lighten up the mood. Also, the apocalyptic setting gives us the sense that we are in this mess together, so we need to stick together, and that includes being nice to each other. We have saved each other's necks numerous times, so we all trust each other and are good friends. Anyone entering this forum usually picks this up quickly, and we all influence each other to go more toward this extreme (like Wallace says). Therefore I have never heard of one incident on this forum where a moderator has to step in and settle a flame war or exercise punishment. Even raised eyebrows are really rare, and I think I just got one from Player #2.
I immediately wrote a response to explain ((Out of Character, of course)) that I was only joking, that I believed in the limitless RP too. I also apologized for this misunderstanding. In real life I'm not usually this... prompt with an apology, but I know that in CMC, anything you don't type out is not there to be perceived (a bit in line with CFO). I also felt that the group connection was all I had in the game, so being ostracized due to ill manners was a much bigger deal online than in real life. I already invested so much time into this (a sign of a group: heavy time demand), so it's really foolish to let people think I'm a jerk just because of one unintentional comment.
Because of these two incidents, our frequency is now much more susceptible to RP. The incidents actually shifted the group norm: we always thought it was okay to RP, but now we all verbally expressed that it was okay, so people know they wouldn't be ostracized for RP. This makes the frequency much more interesting and the overall game much more engaging. Well, I'm glad we've got that off our chests so we can move on now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I like the connections you made to Wallace's points. The question I have that you might have forgotten to mention, was how do people learn of these norms and conventions because obviously, you and the initial perpetrator violated the norms for the first time. If you were the first person to violate it, then it hasn't been tested before, so why is it a universal norm in that particular environment. Also, how is it affected by the apocalyptic atmosphere you participate in?
Post a Comment