Science and Flaming
Flaming, as you may or may not know, is the expression used when one sends an email that is rude, offensive, or embarrassing. According to an article in today's New York Times, the new field of social neuroscience, the study of dyadic human interaction and the corresponding brain activity, is studying this phenomenon properly termed "online disinhibition effect."
Studies indicate that the problem lies on "a design flaw inherent in the interface between the brain's social circuitry and the online world." When we are talking with a person face-to-face our brains receive a great deal of continuous information from the person with whom we're talking that helps guide the conversation as to what is said as well as how it is said. As the article says, "the cortex needs social information--a change in tone of voice, say--to know how to select and channel our impulses. And in e-mail there are no channels for voice, facial expression or other cues from the person who will receive what we say.
The author of one experiment in 2002 in which college students who were not acquainted were assigned separate e-mail booths with the instruction to get to know one another better was astounded at some of the messages that the study participants sent: 20% of the messages sent were either lewd or rude. The author associates flaming with road rage.
Any thoughts about flaming and the implications for us and our children?
Studies indicate that the problem lies on "a design flaw inherent in the interface between the brain's social circuitry and the online world." When we are talking with a person face-to-face our brains receive a great deal of continuous information from the person with whom we're talking that helps guide the conversation as to what is said as well as how it is said. As the article says, "the cortex needs social information--a change in tone of voice, say--to know how to select and channel our impulses. And in e-mail there are no channels for voice, facial expression or other cues from the person who will receive what we say.
The author of one experiment in 2002 in which college students who were not acquainted were assigned separate e-mail booths with the instruction to get to know one another better was astounded at some of the messages that the study participants sent: 20% of the messages sent were either lewd or rude. The author associates flaming with road rage.
Any thoughts about flaming and the implications for us and our children?
posted by UCC Medfield at 7:48 AM
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