Hey hey.
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2001 11:22 pm
Hey everybody.
The reason I'm making this post, is because I've been receiving e-mails for the past week, most without much underlying context to them, but all with the same theme. "Omni, we hate you, quit getting new IP addresses so you can keep bugging us!!!" And so on. A few have actually been rather funny. Someone with a random hotmail account sent me a virus (haha, nice one.) three nights ago.
Also, I've noticed the atmosphere around here has been rather... edgy at times, with people pointing fingers and accusing innocent people of being my character, when in fact they weren't. I just feel that this sort of behavior is slowly degrading the SG community to a lower moral, and little by little, long and short term members seem to be leaving left and right, to other boards, etc.
Well, after seeing this fallout of sorts, I feel the need to do some explaining about who I am, and why I was here.
Yes, my name is Matt Swift, and I do run an eMarketing/design business right now. I do live in Phoenix, Arizona, in my own rented condo (what could I call it? A condartment? Hmmm). I'm 19 years old, I'm attending UaCT, getting my degree in 3D Animation, and I run a mile every night.
Now, let's get to know Omnipressive. I'm Omnipressive. I'm a self proclaimed genius, with strong views, a tendency to push buttons, and a strong tendency to point out others failures when it comes to communication, and English.
Okay, so why both characters? Well, last year, during my Psychology course in college, I was given the choice of three final projects for the semester. One, was a test, which was over everything we had learned that semester. The second, was a report, which had to be based on our interpretation of "Modern Society, or Not?" And the third was a video, or audio interview with random people in public, asking personal, or striking questions, and analyzing their behavior and words, after each statement.
Well, I chose the second topic. "Modern Society, or Not?" And based my research paper on the internet.
Basically, my quest was to see exactly what the internet is doing to the very idea of socializing. Sounds complicated? Well, I focused on chat/newsgroups/forums.
I wanted to see what is different with the way people communicate online, and how they communicate in the real world.
Well... Three people that are in the same animation class as I, told me about SpeedGuide, because we were all having problem with our @home connection. So I thought, wow, this should rock. I go here, and got all tweaked up, and my PC was basically turned into a net rocket. That helps a lot, especially with some of the annoying tasks I have to do every day.
About a week or two later, after reading a lot of what was being said here, I decided this would be the best place to perform my evil tests. Since, A) This is one of the most mature forums on the net, with a good blend of different types of people, and B) Three nameless people that I knew well visited here and lurked for a good time, so I could compare their online words, to their real life demeanor.
So the test commenced. I would find arguments, and take the opposite side every time, and argue it to death. And when people would call me stupid, or annoying, I'd simply correct their spelling. I figured that if I was truly mean back to them, it could possibly effect me as an individual in the long run, so I merely did the grammar deal instead. It turns out that it made a lot of people pretty mad, and a few would, and still have large chips on their shoulders because of the little buttons the character would push.
This is exactly what I wanted. To get big reactions. Especially out of the people that I knew, so I could compare them to their real life counterparts.
The results were pretty conclusive. One friend, we'll call him "Inimeuqa", did a complete 180 of his real personality. In e-mail arguments with him, he stood up for himself, and bashed me back, and so on, for weeks. Where, in real life, he is mild mannered, and rarely speaks his mind.
I'm not pointing any fingers, but there are others here that do the same exact thing. Isn't it time to be more outspoken in real life? If the internet is allowing you to free your mind; In a way, isn't reality lacking the 'you' that 'you' are? What you say in these forums is you, and the false character belongs to the real world.
Could this be the death of society? Or the beginning? Is society changing for the best, or for the worst? Time will tell us all. My personal opinion, is that it is merely a speedbump of sorts. Soon enough, computers will be merely a tool to us, and not a place to vent our emotions, and become another character. Hopefully.
Anyway, sorry if that was confusing. It was the best way I could word it in ten minutes.
You don't have to believe me, if you don't want. I don't blame you. It was my intent to seem like an ass the whole time, and if you still think I am lying, or whatever, then I must have done my job well.
A few months back, after receiving my marking on the paper (a freaking B+ because it was short!) I went over some of the stuff that I said, and some of the things I wrote in replies, and I started to laugh, and think... Wow, what an ass. A true heel.
Flame me if you wish, but the Matt Swift you now know, is a different me than you knew before.
Peace,
The reason I'm making this post, is because I've been receiving e-mails for the past week, most without much underlying context to them, but all with the same theme. "Omni, we hate you, quit getting new IP addresses so you can keep bugging us!!!" And so on. A few have actually been rather funny. Someone with a random hotmail account sent me a virus (haha, nice one.) three nights ago.
Also, I've noticed the atmosphere around here has been rather... edgy at times, with people pointing fingers and accusing innocent people of being my character, when in fact they weren't. I just feel that this sort of behavior is slowly degrading the SG community to a lower moral, and little by little, long and short term members seem to be leaving left and right, to other boards, etc.
Well, after seeing this fallout of sorts, I feel the need to do some explaining about who I am, and why I was here.
Yes, my name is Matt Swift, and I do run an eMarketing/design business right now. I do live in Phoenix, Arizona, in my own rented condo (what could I call it? A condartment? Hmmm). I'm 19 years old, I'm attending UaCT, getting my degree in 3D Animation, and I run a mile every night.
Now, let's get to know Omnipressive. I'm Omnipressive. I'm a self proclaimed genius, with strong views, a tendency to push buttons, and a strong tendency to point out others failures when it comes to communication, and English.
Okay, so why both characters? Well, last year, during my Psychology course in college, I was given the choice of three final projects for the semester. One, was a test, which was over everything we had learned that semester. The second, was a report, which had to be based on our interpretation of "Modern Society, or Not?" And the third was a video, or audio interview with random people in public, asking personal, or striking questions, and analyzing their behavior and words, after each statement.
Well, I chose the second topic. "Modern Society, or Not?" And based my research paper on the internet.
Basically, my quest was to see exactly what the internet is doing to the very idea of socializing. Sounds complicated? Well, I focused on chat/newsgroups/forums.
I wanted to see what is different with the way people communicate online, and how they communicate in the real world.
Well... Three people that are in the same animation class as I, told me about SpeedGuide, because we were all having problem with our @home connection. So I thought, wow, this should rock. I go here, and got all tweaked up, and my PC was basically turned into a net rocket. That helps a lot, especially with some of the annoying tasks I have to do every day.
About a week or two later, after reading a lot of what was being said here, I decided this would be the best place to perform my evil tests. Since, A) This is one of the most mature forums on the net, with a good blend of different types of people, and B) Three nameless people that I knew well visited here and lurked for a good time, so I could compare their online words, to their real life demeanor.
So the test commenced. I would find arguments, and take the opposite side every time, and argue it to death. And when people would call me stupid, or annoying, I'd simply correct their spelling. I figured that if I was truly mean back to them, it could possibly effect me as an individual in the long run, so I merely did the grammar deal instead. It turns out that it made a lot of people pretty mad, and a few would, and still have large chips on their shoulders because of the little buttons the character would push.
This is exactly what I wanted. To get big reactions. Especially out of the people that I knew, so I could compare them to their real life counterparts.
The results were pretty conclusive. One friend, we'll call him "Inimeuqa", did a complete 180 of his real personality. In e-mail arguments with him, he stood up for himself, and bashed me back, and so on, for weeks. Where, in real life, he is mild mannered, and rarely speaks his mind.
I'm not pointing any fingers, but there are others here that do the same exact thing. Isn't it time to be more outspoken in real life? If the internet is allowing you to free your mind; In a way, isn't reality lacking the 'you' that 'you' are? What you say in these forums is you, and the false character belongs to the real world.
Could this be the death of society? Or the beginning? Is society changing for the best, or for the worst? Time will tell us all. My personal opinion, is that it is merely a speedbump of sorts. Soon enough, computers will be merely a tool to us, and not a place to vent our emotions, and become another character. Hopefully.
Anyway, sorry if that was confusing. It was the best way I could word it in ten minutes.
You don't have to believe me, if you don't want. I don't blame you. It was my intent to seem like an ass the whole time, and if you still think I am lying, or whatever, then I must have done my job well.
A few months back, after receiving my marking on the paper (a freaking B+ because it was short!) I went over some of the stuff that I said, and some of the things I wrote in replies, and I started to laugh, and think... Wow, what an ass. A true heel.
Flame me if you wish, but the Matt Swift you now know, is a different me than you knew before.
Peace,
