True self and Face Threatening Acts

I think it’s interesting that people are more open, more their “true selves” on the internet. I think this makes sense though, especially considering “face-threatening acts” that we learned about last year. I don’t remember who wrote about face-threatening acts, but here’s a quick summary to the best of my ability for those of you who weren’t in the Fundamentals course:

A face-threatening act is any interaction with another person where you are asking something of them. This can be tangible things or intangible things. Anything from asking someone for directions to saying hello is a face threatening act because you are, in a way, invading someone else’s space and privacy and seeking some sort of response which the other person may not want to give you.

In a way, looking for friendship is also a face-threatening act. You are asking someone to reciprocate your attentions and feelings toward them. By being on the internet, you greatly reduce the amount of “threatening” that you do – chat rooms, like the ones in the experiment, are much more impersonal than face-to-face conversations. The person does not need to look at the stranger on the other end of the chat room. Also, it is much easier to ignore a person on IM without hurting another person’s feeling. Signing off can be explained with a quick excuse or two. A person may never “see” the stranger again, thereby making each person bolder: if you will never see someone again you may be more likely to answer questions or reveal things about yourself that you normally wouldn’t. Questions and information that may be threatening in a face-to-face situation become less threatening online.

The article “Can You See the Real Me?” mentions that anonymity is an essential part to the way people portray themselves online. If no one has an identity, in a manner of speaking, then no one really has a face to threaten. Therefore, it is much easier to put one’s true self out there and ask for friendship. The act is much less threatening to all involved and the risks of rejection aren’t as high.