Why Do This?

Why would anyone anonymously publish their thoughts where just anybody can see them? I've been asking myself that for the past couple of weeks. Maybe that's the reason I haven't posted anything here in about that long. Or maybe it's just that I've been busy.

But, seriously, what's in it for me - or for any online journalist? (in the original sense of that word)

I've read some online journals that read like the babblings of a six-year-old. One wonders if the writers are somehow being satirical. I've read others that read like an extended singles ad - for someone who's not single. I've begun to think that this blogging stuff is kind of like fishing, except you're mind (or lack of same) is the bait. The question then becomes, who are you trying to catch?

I've thought about that, and I've wished that I would get replies to some of these things (no luck so far.) As long as they were intelligent, I wouldn't much care if the replies agreed with me. I suppose one just wishes for a conversation with someone other than oneself. In fact, a good fight would be quite a bit more interesting than a lovefest.

Have you noticed how the anonymity of the Internet has bred a certain kind of boor? The anonymous kind? The kind who, protected by their anonymity, will "say" things they would never have the courage to say in person? I'm not talking about expressing opinions. That might be cowardly, but it's not necessarily boorish. I mean the kind who will call perfectly polite fellow humans insulting names, or act as though they wish to fight when fighting (other than with words) is an impossibility.

Case in point: I've played a few computer games online with anonymous others. In one game, Close Combat, the community of people who play it have a rigorous standard of etiquette. Persons who violate that standard pretty quickly become pariahs, and can no longer get a game. Oddly enough, sometimes a real jerk - because he/she enjoys the game so much - will rejoin the community under a different handle and behave perfectly well after that. If I had to generalize, I would say that strategists tend to be more polite than real-time (read: fighting) gamers, but I've seen all varieties of behavior in both communities. The interesting thing is that the community really does have some power, if a person has no other outlet to enjoy the competition the community provides.

I suppose the pseudonym I've chosen here says quite a bit about why I bother to post these things that hardly anyone else will read. If I locate just one honest person - preferably with a bit of character to accompany the honesty - who knows what might happen after that?

In vino veritas, gentle reader.