One afternoon while in a frequently visited public chat room, I was chatting and discussing celebrity gossip and such foolish stuff with a few others. All of sudden a new person entered the room with the screen name CraziMoFo87. While my “virtual friends” and I continued to discuss Hollywood madness, CraziMoFo87 interjected numerous times by typing, “HEY GUYS,” “WATS UP PPL,” “HELLOOOOO!” and other message in all uppercase text. Though this did not pester or annoy me, it seemed to really aggravate another chat room attendant. Somebody soon took actions into his (or her!) own hands and typed, “hey CraziMoFo87, DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS!! it’s like you’re yelling… so please STOP… or you will die a painful death!” Though this threat may have been a bit over the top, CraziMoFo87 apologized and immediately began typing in all lower case. CraziMoFo87 soon became an active participant of the juicy gossip.
Why was TYPING IN ALL CAPS such a major issue? Upon entering the chat there are no posted rules or required norms of the chat room; there is no “sign on the door,” as Wallace refers to it. Regardless, it seems to be a generally accepted rule and standard to not type entirely in uppercase text. Exactly why and how did this become a social norm? How do others know all uppercase text is not acceptable, since there is no explicit rule banning such typing? One technique for learning such acceptable behavior is to simply observe the norm of the environment. While in a chat room, an individual can choose to initially not participate and simply survey the types of linguistics used and how they are textually expressed. By observing what the majority of the room is doing, an individual will learn and conform to the norms. In addition, Wallace suggests one possible way for teaching others to not type in such a manner is by way of “the arched brow.” Wallace writes, “if a group participant fails to read the sign or ignores the rules, group members will escalate their pressure to ensure conformity by simply raising a virtual eyebrow… reminding the offender that certain behavior is not acceptable.” If an individual continues to behave in a way that is acceptable, another individual will eventually “raise their brow” (as seen in the situation involving CraziMoFo87).
While there is no official moderator to enforce informal norms (i.e., typing in all uppercase text), the Leviathan still exists in internet environments, including chat rooms. As suggested by Wallace, the Leviathan emerges out of eagerness of people to conform and preserve a welcome and productive group environment. It is a common trend for people to want to fit in and become part of the conversation occurring. They do not want to perform any unacceptable acts that will bring themselves any negative attention. By conforming to the norms of the space, users heighten their chances of being accepted by the majority and welcomed to participate in the conversation.
Social norms and informal rules are practically everywhere in society—including online spaces such as chat rooms. Conformity is essential in most cases to be liked and accepted. So, remember: when in a chat room, do not type in all caps!
-Joshua Navarro
My Comments:
http://comm245purple.blogspot.com/2007/10/6-1-revealing-private-information.html
http://comm245purple.blogspot.com/2007/10/6-leviathan-and-black-plague.html
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10 comments:
This is a very interesting phenomenon that you bring up. In a face-to-face setting there is the spiral of silence theory, where if something isn't talked about, people will as a group ignore it, but your interaction showed what I think is a very important piece of online interactions. The mediated communication allows people who would normally be smothered in the Spiral of Silence, can speak out and say, the all caps is pissing me off, or the one it made me think about, politics. Political forums have become thinking boards and rallying places for those at the extremes because they can just spout out what they want, the pressure to conform isn't the exact same.
I would agree. Typing in all caps or mixed caps is just a general taboo when it comes to talking online (so common I barely think about it anymore).
It is interesting how the minute someone typed in all caps that other users in the chat room began to moderate "CraziMoFo87". This is apparently a huge example of members wishing to work efficiently.
It seems CraziMoFo87 was unable to recognize the social norms of the chat room. But his desire to keep the peace was a much greater factor in his reversion to lower caps than his desire to improve efficiency.
It seems you state the Leviathan emerges out of a desire to conform and not perform unacceptable acts, but in this instance it seems as if the Leviathan occurred out of force and the conformity occurred out of social pressure.
I was scrolling down through people's blogs and the title of yours caught my attention right away! This was a really interesting topic to use and I liked that it was different than everyone elses. Explaining how one of the people told CraziMoFo to stop typing in all caps is a perfect example of 'a virtual eyebrow raise' and althought you commented that they may have said it a bit harshly, I think that is why it is such a good example. Had the other person politely told CraziMoFo to please type in lower case, it would not have been that big of a deal. The fact that he/she was so irate and threatened the person, shows that typing in all caps really was an unacceptable behavior.
"Virtual eyebrow" raising by a Leviathan (or a whole chatroom of Leviathans) is more important in situations like this where there was no "sign at the door" or any obvious rules. Unless others tell you how to change your behavior, you won't know how to conform or what behavior is acceptable. (Although it is pretty obvious that typing in all caps make you look like your yelling and will get annoying to other people...).
Josh, I never realized how typing in caps was such an offensive thing to do online, enough to garner a threat for a "painful death". It’s almost equivalent of someone shouting at the top of their lungs in a quieter social setting like a cafeteria. What was extremely interesting to me in your analysis was how the participants in the chat room initially ignored CraziMoF87 when he or she used caps. Only after CraziMoF87 was admonished and conformed to the norm, was he or she allowed to interact with the group. The contrast between the ostracism and subsequent acceptance after conformity was a great point to pick up on.
I think you provided a great example of social norms that exist on the internet. As you were explaining your personal experience in a chat room, I felt that I could really relate to such an interaction. As you described the progression of your conversation, and how another person entered the chat room and completely interrupted the conversation, I myself, even felt a little annoyed. It is one thing to enter a conversation and say hello, but to do it using caps makes the person seem irritating and rude. Although I do not think I would have responded in the threatening way that your friend did, I definitely would have found some way to “raise a brow” to convey that that type of communication is not acceptable. Observation is another tool that can be used to understand norms in different online environments, and I think that, had this person not been directly informed, he/she would have eventually figured it out by observing other conversations.
The typing in all caps is an interesting example. I remember when I first got a screen name and was talking to people online in fifth grade, I had no idea that using caps gave people the idea that you were screaming at them. It wasn’t until I was talking online to a friend who finally asked if I was mad at her since I was using caps. At the time, I was so confused and did not put together that caps made people think you were shouting “online.” However, since then I have not used caps and I get annoyed when people send me emails that are in all caps. In Wallace terms, I learned this social convention through “arched brow” and the desire to fit in with my friends “IM language.”
Hey,
Great job. I found your blog very interesting and original. I had a similar experience when talking to one of my friends when I first used AIM, as I had a font with all CAPS. Needless to say, it did not go over well and I quickly changed it. In your blog, I liked how you came to the conclusion that there need not be a professional moderator, but intead, the active users of the chat room take it upon themselves to maintain conformity to the norm. Further, it was interesting how quickly others informed him/her that his behavior was not acceptable, and then how rapidly everyone allowed him/her into the conversation after conforming.
First of all, I really enjoyed your blog. I think that you did an excellent job!
It's funny how great of an impact typing in all caps can have in an online space. I was initially attracted to your blog because of the caps in your title. It drew me in, not necessarily because it's different from the other titles, but because caps are something that usually corresponds to something of some significance.
Despite the fact that there are no formal rules against typing in caps, it's generally accepted that caps are unacceptable in online settings. This is one situation in which conformity is very strongly encouraged by users.
Hey, I'm Brendan Suhrland. I think what you posted is probably one of the best examples of the Leviathan in action in the online realm. I think it is also serves to illustrate how the Leviathan is almost something and nothing at the same time. By that, I just mean that while you can obviously see its effects, there's no real Leviathan that goes around enforcing the rules. I, for example, strictly avoid the taboo of the caps lock key, and yet while I adhere to this rule, there's no actual entity forcing me to do it. I guess it's just one of the quirks of the human experience.
I don’t spend any time in chat rooms, and the fact that typing in all caps bothers so many people is really interesting to me. While I feel pretty confident that I would not ever a chat room and use all caps to communicate, I don’t think it would bother me because I would not read too much into it unless the post communicated emphasis. I would just assume that using all caps is that person’s way of differentiating his/her self.
Overall, you did an excellent job of covering all the aspects of SIDE theory. Which is also the only thing that I would have to add here, this is a perfect example of the Deindividuation Effects found in SIDE theory. CraziMoFo87 demonstrated a lack of self-awareness, resulting in his nonconformity to social norms because he was visually anonymous. His behavior changed because he was anonymous which increased social influence through the use of the “arched eyebrow.” Members of the chat room sought efficiency in their conversation.
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