Octarine
The Eighth Colour
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2007
- Messages
- 1,351
- MBTI Type
- Aeon
- Enneagram
- 10w
- Instinctual Variant
- so
The topic of self censorship recently came up in a previous thread and I am interested in thoughts on self censorship on the internet and in particular on internet forums.
Now there are many reasons for and against self censorship in particular circumstances. I believe that most people understand that although free speech is a worthwhile right, it can often be inappropriate to actually do so in certain circumstances.
--------------
But there can be a variety of motivations for self censorship, for example:
Lack of willingness to have your thoughts challenged, not just due to insecurities in ones opinion, but because it may challenge your overall worldview.
Not willing to waste your time because you don't think the effort of sharing your views will be worthwhile to others.
Not willing to put your full view for fear of damaging your popularity, or offending others.
Fear of being singled out by other members, (or those in authority).
Shyness, or concerns about privacy for yourself or others.
--------------
These reasons can be valid, or invalid depending on the circumstance. On the other hand, there are often occasions when it may have been preferable to self-censor, for the above reasons.
Anyway, some of the questions I have in mind are:
Do your reasons for either expressing yourself, or censoring yourself differ between the internet and your day to day life?
Do you express yourself more in one of the domains?
Are there (important) values or topics that you are only wiling to express in just one of the domains? (You don't have to be specific about this.)
Do you discuss different topics because your peer groups are different in different domains?
Additionally, when we communicate in person, there are a different set of barriers than when we communicate on the internet, especially if we do not already know that person well. How does this lead to differences in your communication?
Now there are many reasons for and against self censorship in particular circumstances. I believe that most people understand that although free speech is a worthwhile right, it can often be inappropriate to actually do so in certain circumstances.
--------------
But there can be a variety of motivations for self censorship, for example:
Lack of willingness to have your thoughts challenged, not just due to insecurities in ones opinion, but because it may challenge your overall worldview.
Not willing to waste your time because you don't think the effort of sharing your views will be worthwhile to others.
Not willing to put your full view for fear of damaging your popularity, or offending others.
Fear of being singled out by other members, (or those in authority).
Shyness, or concerns about privacy for yourself or others.
--------------
These reasons can be valid, or invalid depending on the circumstance. On the other hand, there are often occasions when it may have been preferable to self-censor, for the above reasons.
Anyway, some of the questions I have in mind are:
Do your reasons for either expressing yourself, or censoring yourself differ between the internet and your day to day life?
Do you express yourself more in one of the domains?
Are there (important) values or topics that you are only wiling to express in just one of the domains? (You don't have to be specific about this.)
Do you discuss different topics because your peer groups are different in different domains?
Additionally, when we communicate in person, there are a different set of barriers than when we communicate on the internet, especially if we do not already know that person well. How does this lead to differences in your communication?