Cyberspace: Bad Boys

Thanks to Terocious for finding this info.



"The Bad Boys of Cyberspace

Deviant Behavior in Online Multimedia Communities
and Strategies for Managing it."


"Every chat community is built upon a unique software infrastructure that offers unique technical features for how people experience the environment and interact with each other. Misbehaving users will find a unique way to abuse almost any unique feature you offer them. If you build it, some will exploit it.

Every culture and subculture has its own standards about what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. According to the theory of "cultural relativity," what is considered normal behavior in one culture may not be considered normal in another, and vice versa. A particular type of "deviance" that is despised in one chat community may be a central organizing theme in another.

It's also important to remember that the large majority of chat communities are a leisure activity for most people - i.e., the community and all that is happening there is entertainment in the form of a recapitulation of the "real world." Deviant behavior may be a disruptive turnoff to some people, but for others it is part of the show.