Perception Of Others Online

How much does one's forum gingerbread (avatar, signature, title, even location) and typing skills/style affect how you feel about them or the points made in their debates?

• Does putting up a post full of grammatical and spelling errors make you more likely to disregard their post, even if it makes a good point despite that?
• Does having an anime avatar make you respect someone less or more likely to assume they're a fanboy of something than if they have something they themself drew, or a photograph?
  • What about if they have the default one, or jumped on a bandwagon and have something from the same source as everyone else?
• Does putting up an actual location rather than "That One Place" or "Your Own Mind" make you think differently of a person?
• What about how they tend to type? If their posts seem pointlessly aggressive or bitchy or riddled with profanity, do you think less of them than someone who apologizes and puts a lot of "I may be wrong, but..."s in their messages? Or if they have a sort of verbal tic, like, say, Beholderess*
  ^{I'll remove this if this looks like a personal attack, but I'm really just using her as an example}
  saying "this one" rather than "I"?
• What else shapes your opinion of a stranger on the world wide web?

EDIT: I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS, BUT DO NOT MAKE THIS PERSONAL. KEEP OTHER TROPERS' NAMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IF YOU'RE GOING TO TALK BADLY ABOUT THEM AND DO NOT MAKE VEILED REFERENCES TO SPECIFIC TROPERS.

edited 24th Mar '11 3:58:17 PM by Wulf

They lost me. Forgot me. Made you from parts of me. If you're the One, my father's son, what am I supposed to be?

I don't know who it was, but in a discussion I was reading, there was one person who refused to capitalize any of his/her sentences. Bugged me to no end and so I didn't' pay attention to any of their posts.

Glad to be of semi-service

edited 24th Mar '11 3:54:28 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

Thanks for reminding me, Viral. Put up a big time warning about personal attacks and this getting ugly.

They lost me. Forgot me. Made you from parts of me. If you're the One, my father's son, what am I supposed to be?

Yes. No. No. Depends on the habit.

Tone is a biggy. I'm a paranoid buggerhead, so I tend to latch onto passive aggressiveness pretty quickly. Which means that if I think you're getting mad (even if you're not) for unjustified reasons, I think less of you. And if you're directing that passive agressiveness towards me, I think of even less of you, because that's how social interactions tend to work.

Read my stories!

Yes lots spelling errors and grammar issues tend to make me more likely to disregard posts regardless of whether or not it is in a debate. It is not a surefire "I will ignore you" thing though.

Avatars affect my mood and perception of an individual slightly though I am not entirely clear on how exactly. Outside of the generic default that is. Defaults blend together and I can't tell them apart. Avatars tend to be the main way I identify people here so that can cause interesting issues...I've gone weeks thinking someone was new. I treat people I do not know differently than those that I do.

I don't read location lines so no.

Tone tends to greatly affect how I react. Or perceived tone that is. This is in turn gets affected by what I actually know of the person.

edited 24th Mar '11 4:01:36 PM by Aondeug

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Damn, you've basically expressed my thoughts better then I did.

If I see to many errors in their spelling and stuff, I just skip over their current post most of the time.

I have a problem with lumping everyone with the same default avatar into the same identity. I associate people with their avatars as opposed to their name. Bad habit of mine, especially when they change avatars frequently. Otherwise, their avatar doesn't influence my opinion of them that much or at all really.

edited 24th Mar '11 4:03:31 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

Hmmm:
Spelling: No, only if the person completely disregards capitalisation or tekstformating, or adding breath pauses.
Avatars: A pinpoint, but a fairly useless pinpoint. Only good for "do we watch the same series bro?"
Signature? A lot worse than avatar.

A guy called dvorak is tired. Tired of humanity not wanting to change to improve itself. Quite the sad tale.

I don't really like the bland avatar use-age by some people.

That's my current thoughts. Helpful!

Trying to determine tone and stuff like that by text is a big source of potential miss-communications though.

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

Oh, wait, avatars do affect my perception, but not in a typical way. Instead it's very pavlovian. For example, for a long time A Xavier B had an avatar of the main character from FMA, and when I read the first chapter for the first time I wasn't reading about Elric or Ed or whatever his name is, I was reading about the adventures of A Xavier B. It felt...really weird.

Another time I automatically hated a character from a show I never saw because someone I disliked had used them as an avatar.

And ANOTHER time, someone used an avatar that was thematically appropriate for someone else, so I kept assuming he was someone else, and started to automatically dismiss everything he typed until I realized it was not the person I thought it was.

Read my stories!

• Spelling errors and such annoy me, but I won't shun you for it. After a while, I'll drop some really obvious hints.
• Avatars, so long as they aren't something like Hitler, won't make an impression on me. However, until I see your photo, I have a virtual image of you as your avatar. This tends to mean that there's a lot of look alike from popular shows walking around.
• I never really look at your location. If I do, I just glance at it and snicker if it's clever.
• I've been on the internet long enough to realize that if I'm hearing something like anger, chances are, I need to reread the post and make sure it's actually anger and not me just getting the wrong impression. The only type of verbal tick that gets to me is an amount of cursing that goes beyond parody and into trying way too hard.
• What mainly shapes my look on people is how quickly they jump to conclusions/action and what conclusions/action they make. I try not to judge before then.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

Yes. If you don't put in the effort to present yourself properly, I won't put in the effort to listen.

I ignore avatars. Typically keep them turned off, actually. This is a learned preference (first forum I was ever on, 'way back when, only mods had avatars — thus I sort of trained myself to recognise people by username/posting style).

I ignore locations. They're either a real place, or a supposedly humorous line that caused you to smile when you first typed it but now just blurs with the rest of the forum layout.

This is mainly how I judge people. Problem is, it's really hard for me to explain exactly how. I can point to people and say "you're insecure, you're a dickhead, I'd hang out with you, for some reason I always picture you as looking like my friend Ted", but I can't explain precisely why I think of them that way unless you give me a specific example.

Honestly, not all that much. Online as in real life, strangers are sort of background noise. I don't tend to form opinions about them unless they stand out in some way from the norm.

Typically it's thus something like "strength of personality" or "unusual presentation". Whether good or bad (I'm looking at you, people who never use capital letters or punctuation. With RAGE. >.<)

I have devised a most marvelous signature, which this signature line is too narrow to contain.

• Does putting up a post full of grammatical and spelling errors make you more likely to disregard their post, even if it makes a good point despite that?
  • Yes. I hate to say it, but yes. If it's a big, sloppily-written paragraph, I'm as likely to skip over it as I am to skip over a heavily-blemished fruit in a market.
  • Does having an anime avatar make you respect someone less or more likely to assume they're a fanboy of something than if they have something they themself drew, or a photograph?
    • No. I do not care what your avatar is as long as you have one. To me, your avatar is your face—I imagine the voice of that avatar speaking when I read your post, and it is to that avatar that I talk to.

• What about if they have the default one, or jumped on a bandwagon and have something from the same source as everyone else?
  • I don't really like default avatars or no avatars since to me, those aren't faces. I don't like not having a face, and when too many default avatars gather in one place, they all blend into the same person. Bandwagons, however, I have no problem with.
• Does putting up an actual location rather than "That One Place" or "Your Own Mind" make you think differently of a person?
  • No, the location to me is just a bit of fun.
• What about how they tend to type? If their posts seem pointlessly aggressive or bitchy or riddled with profanity, do you think less of them than someone who apologizes and puts a lot of "I may be wrong, but..."s in their messages? Or if they have a sort of verbal tic, like, say, Beholderess* saying "this one" rather than "I"?
  • More like, what they have to say. If someone does seem pointlessly aggressive or bitchy, I may think a little negatively about them, but usually not so much as to treat them differently. Verbal tics I have no problem with, since I understand a lot of people like to behave differently on the internet than they do in real life.
• What else shapes your opinion of a stranger on the world wide web?
  • Not much, really. Strangers on the internet are just strangers on the internet, really, and I am bound to like them by default.

edited 24th Mar '11 5:49:17 PM by annebeeche

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.

Grammatical errors, no; English isn't spoken everywhere, and when I see a post done by someone with perfect spelling and poor grammar, I don't assume they are dumb, just not a native speaker of English. Especially when there's a "consistency" to their mistakes, which to me indicates a lack of familiarity with the language.

Spelling errors, on the other hand...come on, browsers have spell check. The correct spelling is just a right-click away. That tells me the person can't be bothered to properly craft a post...which means I can't be bothered to take it seriously.

I don't much care for anime, but I've resigned myself to the fact that such is the most common avatar type for technical reasons. That said, I'm more likely to remember a poster with an avatar that stands out from the pack. I don't assume someone's a hard-core weeaboo just because they've got a big-eyed cutie girl as their pic.

If its a real place, I take that into account when figuring a person out (see the aforementioned example about grammar and spelling). Otherwise, I couldn't care less.

I don't take aggression as a sign of anger; I take it as the person wants to get right to the point and doesn't want to mince words. Passion and anger are two similar, but still different, human emotions. I'll respond the same way; if they wig out or make it personal, then they're just looking for a flame war.

I like verbal tics, they make people easier to remember. "This one" is particularly memorable.

I despise passive-aggressive behavior, especially online. If you want to call someone out, have the stones to do it straight or be polite. Walking right up to the "this is acceptable" line is a sport for assholes.

Otherwise, do as you feel just as far as I'm concerned.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

The avatar is nice in that it gives one a vague impression of what the other person might like; spelling gives one the impression of age and experience; sig lines can often say very strongly characterizing things, such as a Christian quote or link to a website with a certain agenda.

I never disregard posts, not even troll posts. It's important to know what is going on, and if someone is bad at typing or verbalizing, that doesn't mean they have an illogical argument.

Not at all, I just assume they like some piece of media.

That bugs the heck out of me; just because an avatar is "mainstream" doesn't mean that the user is jumping on a bandwagon; and what's more, I can't understand why "jumping on a bandwagon" is somehow shameful. Joining up with a group of people is fun, what's wrong with liking that? Plus, it can be a good way to find interesting media.

If the make a joke, then I'll think of them as more lighthearted, as that is obviously what joking around implies. If it is a real location, then I think "Hm, that's interesting"; though depending on the location, I might be surprised. If it is a trope, it might characterize a bit, but is mostly just interesting, with little real characterization. If it's blank, then I just think "meh, that's boring", and move on.

This one greatly enjoys reading Beholderess' posts.

As it is, I *try* to ignore profanity, but ultimately, unnecessary swearing is just stupid. You can justify swearing by saying that it is sometimes appropriate, but ultimately, using profanity like it isn't profanity is just o much. It seems childish to me. If you are really upset, then OK, swear, but just because there is a space in your sentence? No.

If a person tries to avoid being inflammatory, is careful with there words, and tries to be respectful, then they definitely have more respect in their eyes. In the end, I believe that there is no room for anger or needless harshness in good discussion. Even if someone says something bad, responding with "NO U!" doesn't make things better.

Language definitely affects my perception.

Also, Beholderess is awesome (yes, I've already said that). I love both what she has to say, and the way she says it. Her words are very pleasant to read. ^_^

Two things:

1. Defining traits.
2. Ideals.

Certain things stand out in my mind, such as Beholderess being very intelligent and unbiased (yet still honest), or Norn's serious and advanced approach to handling things. Small traits are also memorable, specifically the ways that one says things, or what a person enjoys (like Ooze being the resident Little Shop of Horrors fan).

The beliefs and ideals, of course, are also very memorable. I remember Aon as being Buddhist, for example, and Beholderess for being very careful about what she chooses to believe in.

---

Ultimately, though, unless someone has made a very strong impression on me, I will read everyone's posts quite equally, often not paying attention to who wrote them.

As for people who give me a distasteful impression, even in their case, I try to think of everyone as a good longtime friend.

I believe it is absolutely necessary to avoid an us vs them mentality in debates. The moment that forms, IQ levels drop drastically.

edited 24th Mar '11 6:09:45 PM by TheMightyAnonym

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! ~ GOD

Perception is an ever-shifting thing. I don't think I could define it if I tried to.

Avatar I know does have some impact. I won't approach you if you've got an ugly one, not something I do on purpose, just a habit.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

Typographical things that will get me to start glazing over a post:

• Continuous horrible grammar/spelling. By horrible I don't mean the occasional typo, or strange syntax or word choice that might give away a second language speaker (hell, in my experience people who learn English as a second language tend to be better typists than native speakers). I mean spastic nigh-indecipherable facerolling.
• FREQUENT CAPS!!!!
• Wall of text.

Pretty much everything else that might make me ignore someone is when someone is a frequent brain-breaking font of stupidity, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a sufficient depth of that on this site

I'm quite unfairly prejudiced against those who make spelling and grammar mistakes.

Also, I avoid people who tend to swear. I think I've alienated some people that way.

Otherwise, I'm usually not aware enough of individual personalities online to have opinions one way or the other. Usually, I just read what they say without noticing who said it.

edited 24th Mar '11 6:49:40 PM by AlirozTheConfused

Never be without a Hat! Hot means heat. I don't care if your usage dates to 1300, it's my word, not yours. My Pm box is open.

I don't pay attention to the verbal varieties of gingerbread. Avatars can be distracting, but there are so many anime avatars around here that they're useless in differentiating between interesting and worthless posters.

Not if it's just one post.

Though excessive disclaimers are somewhat tedious, they're ultimately just extra words. I can just ignore them. They don't pollute the post's central message. I definitely think less of the aggressive/bitchy/profane types. The same goes for those who habitually use sarcasm or hyperbole. In general, I think less of those who come off as having neglected or failed to think before posting. This includes those who demonstrate consistently poor reasoning, those who tend to treat on-topic discussions like informal chat exchanges, those who habitually neglect to edit their posts before hitting send, and others, especially those who are exceedingly emotional.

In a forum such as this, where one can compose an entire post and revise it before submitting it, I don't like to refer to such things as tics. Typing them in the first place may have been reflexive, but allowing them to remain in the post's final draft indicates either a habitual failure to edit before hitting send or an intentional decision to leave them in place. I would call such a thing an affectation, not a tic, and whether it bothers me would depend on its specific nature.

I know that if someone's posts are consistently riddled with small spelling/grammar mistakes - and I don't mean syntax issues, I mean stuff like never capitalising the start of a sentence and having a whole paragraph with not a single comma or period - it does affect my perception of them. I don't disregard their posts, but it does tend to make me assume that they're either quite young, not all that familiar with writing, or very careless.

Avatars... confuse me at times. They tend to affect how I picture that person, or rather the general 'texture' of them in my mind. When they change it confuses me.

edited 24th Mar '11 9:08:22 PM by LoniJay

Be not afraid...

No. I went from not caring about that, to being influenced by others to care about it, to going again back to not caring about that. I have enough experience texting with other people not to take texting or using shorthand as 'immaturity' or whatever bullshit I remember some people who BAWW Wed about textspeak said a while ago

no I go on enough forums full of anime fans not to have that affect me badly. Ill laugh or pm the dude if his av is sufficiently awesome (like some of Deboss or Commando Dude's old avatars)

it might, and its also helpful depending on the subject being discussed - if someone is from the city/country/etc that s being discussed

When I was younger, I was put off by excessive cursing even if not directed at anyone. Then I stopped caring. Then I remembered that cursing can appear as hostiel so I tried to limit that. Now I think I let that alip.

If someone points out that they might be wrong ill accept that. I am okay with referring to the self in the third person, Ive wanted to do that but old habits die hard.

how they treat other people on forums and what they say about their IRL stuff?

WHASSUP....... ....with lolis!

I tend to be harder on people who write longer forum posts...

• My mileage varies with spelling mistakes - obvious typos are typos, but if I have to squint to read every other word, I'm going to wondering if there's something seriously wrong like a health issue or a damaged keyboard.
• I don't mind grammar mistakes in a short post so much as long as it's possible to figure out the meaning. The result of having a lot of foreign professors, I suppose. For longer posts, if someone writes a post that takes up the entire screen and they can't get a single sentence right, I find that annoying.

The style is not as important as the character traits (cute, scary, silly, etc.). I have a heard time not imagining the icon saying the words in the post which can get a little wierd when someone changes avatars mid - thread or their tone / personality does not match the avatar. Ugly or disturbing avatars are distracting.

I usually don't pay much attention to locatioon or signature unless it's particularly memorable, because I want to read the main text of the post. If they're from somewhere I've been or if it's a place that's had bad luck in the news lately, like Japan or Egypt, that will also catch my attention.

I have some pet peeves:

• Wall of text. I'm sorry to say I rarely bother reading them.
• Using excessive (for example, five in the same paragraph) profanity or deliberately mispelling more than a few words (Li3k tH1s) is also a big turnoff for me.
• My biggest turnoff is people saying hurtful things to me. Guess I'm a bit sensitive.
• I like Beholdress fine.

Not a big deal but I guess I might think you're a bit too formal for your own good.

I do try to pay attention to what a person has said in the past in the body of their post and try to figure them out from that.

• If they seem to be on the opposite side on every issue, it makes them harder to like, because I feel like anything I say is going to offend them or make them think I'm insane or an idiot.
• If someone reveals something about themselves that is a little embarassing or woobie - ish, that makes it easier to like them.

edited 24th Mar '11 9:22:33 PM by FrodoGoofballCoTV

Avatar, location or name affects this one's perception of others, of course, but not of whether their posts should be considered. Nor do mistakes in grammar.

However, deliberately using netspeak (as a general mode of conversation, not for a joke or two) would speak to me of immaturity and refusal to show basic respect for audience. And yes, tone of post matters a great deal for this one. It is difficult for me to consider the points made in a rude or overly aggressive tone, as well as in posts ridden with profanity. Of course, profanity is quite appropriate sometimes, so a couple of such words per post does not bother this one the slightest, but if it is a general mode of the post...Well, it tends to say "I'm so tough, I don't care if anyone is offended", and what's the point of having a conversation with someone who considers it beneath them to show basic respect for other participants.

And yes, this one is aware that it makes her biased, and that points made should be given consideration on their own, regardless of speaker's disposition. But it is hard for this one to do.

PS To the OP: no offence taken, this one understands what you meant. So don't worry

@The Mighty Anonym

This one is honoured (bows). Know that she thinks highly of you

edited 24th Mar '11 9:09:38 PM by Beholderess

If we disagree, that much, at least, we have in common

I treat everyone equally. I simply assume that everyone on the other end of the keyboard is overweight, living in their parent's basement, and is a white male. Makes things much easier that way.

Let's see...

im fine if someone wants to speak in all lowercase, and use little punctuation. as long as periods are involved to separate sentences, im okay with it.

Despit this, if somone constantly makes speling mistaeks, I see them as uninteligent and crass. or if they never use any punctuaion at all then you can't tell when the sentences start and stop it really hurts to type like this

In Addition, If Someone Capitalizes Every Goddamn Word, It Really Annoys Me.

However, this one is quite found of Beholderess' way of speaking. This one thinks it imparts an elegant air.

That's about all I can say. Other than these few things, I mostly think of everyone as pretty similar on the net.

Oh, wait, I thought of one more thing.

I always match avatars, and usually ignore names. Meaning I'm really thrown for a loop when someone changes their avatar.

edited 24th Mar '11 9:45:45 PM by Deathonabun

One of my few regrets about being born female is the inability to grow a handlebar mustache. -Landstander