As I’ve previously mentioned I’ve been in e-communities in one form or another for a very long time (way before it was social media, before the Internet was a household word and in everyone’s household and pocket).
Sadly, there’s been one recurrent theme — a noticeable percentage of the male of the species who play in online communities are socially inept or at least project that image online (some intentionally, some not). And rather than take advantage of this new medium to deal with what might simply be awkwardness when put on the spot IRL, frequently these new platforms seem to make the problem worse. Why does it make the problem worse? Not quite sure, I have some theories, but putting them out here right now won’t really advance the discussion.
Instead, some tips on how not to be a stalker/creepy online (these are mostly Twitter based as it’s really one of the speediest interactive systems and prone to such odd behaviour since the friend/follow system can run unilaterally (i.e., no acceptance is necessary))…. Continue reading How It’s _Not_ Done: Avoid Creepiness