The Diffrence

This is a short list of the difference between In Real Life (IRL) and The Internet

IRL:

• you can tell through body language, tone and voice what emotion the speaker is trying to convey to the listener
• people are responsible for their actions (theft, taunting, ect.)
• You can be unintelligent to a certain degree and get away with ignorance.
• The difference between male and females are obvious
• You have morals and you are bound to them
• You have your own set of ideas (although they may be altered because of social demands and pressure)

The Internet:

• Cold and emotionless letters are the main means of communication
• As long as one is smart about it, one can get away with anything
• If one is even grammatically incorrect, the internet will consider that persons argument as invalid no matter how intelligent it is otherwise
• Just males until proven otherwise
• You don't have to be bound by morals or even the social hierarchy that once ruled your life, on the internet, one is free to express themselves however they want and there is nothing stopping you from doing so unless the mods/ admins find out one is doing something against their rules.

User Types: get to know your co-workers

So, even after all of my warnings you are willing to log on to forums with these maniacs?

Awesome!

but there are a few things you should know, you see, I don't know how much experience you have with people (both IRL and on the internet) but I'm sure if you have any semblance of a social life, you know what labels are, but I'll cover them just to be through:

Labels help us get a understanding of that person, this does not mean that the person wearing the label acts like this always, it could always be a front, but it is a short and quick run-down of that type of persons personality and behavior

for example, if I said goth, you could probably come up with at least three descriptive words for goth:
Dark
Antisocial
Gloomy
ect.
This is the same idea. Labels make it easier to gain a understanding of people , once again, this does not describe those persons perfectly, you should still try to understand people thoroughly before boxing them away, but lets face it, there is no way you can learn people that fast, this is a useful tool so you can navigate through the internet socialites.

Now lets move on. The internet is much like a high school, everyones got a label. there are popular kids, there are kids who get into trouble constantly, and there are the social outcasts that just linger on the sides. This is a short list of very common internet labels and three word descriptions of them.

Populars/ Prommies -- Attention craven, Witty, talented in some way.--These people have managed to get on top of the social mountian, they have many friends and enemies, but they're known one way or another on that forum.

Trolls--Trouble making, annoying, harassing--These users have one goal, and that is to get a reaction out of you and everyone else on that forum. The reaction they crave is usually rage. How they do it is an work of art, it could be posting pornography on a christian website, or posting pictures of dead dogs on the PeTA website. it coud be as simple as typwing vert p00rly 2 anoy Gr4MM3r N4zis. And once they get a reaction out of you, they may follow you as a target, then you will become their "lulzcow" or the provider of lulz (provider of corrupted lols). There are a few ways to deal with Trolls, generally they're breaking ToS or other rules, so you could always contact the Mods/Admins, or Don't Feed the troll (ignore the troll, don't even post in the thread that they are in)

Cam-whores-- Attention Craven, Slutty, Willing-- There users will take literally THOUSANDS of pictures of themselves and post them on the internet for the veiwing pleasure of other internet users. cam-whores become popular this way because they appeal to a massive audience: desperately lonely males. not saying that there aren't any male cam-whores, but they are far less common and far FAR less successful. Cam-whores will take pictures of themselves in the sluttiest ways possible (showing cleavage, reveling bras, ect.) but the longer that they do not give out "n00dz" (pictures of themselves naked) the longer they are popular.

Emo-Kid-- Suicidal, Not really, Just annoying-- These people act like they're going to commit suicide, but honestly, they aren't, BEFORE YOU THINK I AM A HEARTLESS JERK, LET ME EXPLAIN SOMETHING! A real suicidal person wouldn't go to the internet, to complete strangers, to try to convince them into not jumping off a bridge. If they were honestly suicidal, they would go to a friend or family member, or call a hotline. No, these people want the attention that claiming that they are going to commit suicide can get, they're liars and they toy with peoples emotions. How do you deal with these people? tell them "Do it faggot, and post it on youtube"
The irony of telling them to do it and post it on youtube is that they can't post themselves killing themselves after they're dead, unless they didn't do it, in which case I know they won't so they will post it and say that their brother or sister posted it because it was some request (but it was the emo-kid all along). You could go the safe road and ignore them too.

H4C|<3rZ- DATA DELETED,DATA DELETED, DATA DELETED - believe it or not, there are people out there with the ability, programs and the know how of how to get pst your passwords (no matter how random and long it is). don't fool yourself into thinking you're safe, because you're not. If someone really wanted into your account for whatever reason, they can if they have certain programs (of which I will not post). Fortunately this group of individuals are few and far between and are more likely to harass the above labels (Populars, camwhores, trolls and emo-kids), if you sty under the radar and you don't have anything they want, you're in the clear. Hacker behavior- first off, you probably can't ever know who a hacker is because you probably don't know who you're talking to. Secondly, hackers want to keep a low profile, because it is illegal to have and operate such programs (I think?) never mind that, it's getting into peoples personal,...stuff(?). Thirdly, if someone claims to be a hacker, they probably aren't, (see point 2).
Q- If there are programs that can get past your passwords, why bother changing them?
A- Because,...it's just good practice mostly, you never know when someone is attempting to break through it and you change it on them in the last instance.

Elitists- Stuck up, elite, and have a "I'm better than you are " attitude. These users tend to believe everything they do is inherantly the most awesome thing ever, any attempts to prove them otherwise or change their minds will instantly get shut down or ignored with regarding your suggestion as lame or uneducated even if its over matters of opinion (such as music or movies). These people are just plain close minded and are hardl worth talking to because there's no conversation to be had unless you're telling them how awesome they are (in which case they aren't)

Nazis- Baligerant, annoying, and kind of an elitist- Nazis come in many forms: from the Grammar nazis who will harass you for one mispelt word, Music Nais who will critically judge you for your choice in music, and the religious Nazis who will judge you immoral if you believe in anything that they don't, and many more! They're hard headed and stubborn, they could have the entire forum against them and they will believe that they are correct. Ignore them at all costs, they have nothing useful to say.

MOAr LATERz!!1!

The "Change"

People who log onto the internet for prolonged periods of time often go through a change in behavior (most of which are social changes).

More or less, here are the stages of the changes these people go through:
1- "Normal"- The person is a "normal" member of society, this person uses the internet strictly for informational purposes only.
2-Logger- This person has a facebook, myspace, or another website account that they visit often, however they only keep in touch with friends and family for the most part
3- Chatter- This person socializes mostly through the internet via web chat with friends, sometimes with people across the world that they didn't know in person. This person however, does not socialized directly as much as they used to.
4- Dweller- This person stays close to their computer, this person is living a second life at this point over the internet. They still keep in contact with their friends in person but they often insert weird or off topic jargon, memes or phrases that most "normal" people wouldn't know otherwise.
5- Husk- This person stays STUCK to their computer, they dislike being outside with people because everything they like/need is a arms reach away:
a computer with internet access (of course)
video games/ entertainment
snacks
e-friends (if applicable)
and all the visual stimulants you could possibly need (AKA porn)
This person may exhibit extremely witty banter and may know alot about nothing (and by nothing, I mean they know a lot of information on pointless things, such as how to live your life on only 2 hours of sleep a day or how to pick padlocks with soda cans [YES! you can do those!]) once you get past their probable awkwardness and lack of social mannerisms. This person may also be extremely blunt and will say things to the point. (instead of allowing someone of lesser intelligence speak of something they know nothing about, the husk will cut this person off altogether and let that person know exactly how dumb they are and correct every mistake they have witnessed so far.) The husk may also know alot of useful information (this depends on what websites they frequent) such as how computers work, how to work on cars, ect. but they're definatly not the best teachers because they lack the patients to do so.

General Rules for the Internet

Before we go on, I want to share some rules I use when I browse the internet. Yes, this will be covered in the video (that I will post later) above, but this is to clarify what has already been said.

Rule 1- NEVER give out personal information.
Not on your social networking sites, Not on forums you go on, not even when you sign up for an e-mail account. It just makes it easier to track you. You may think people have better things to do that hunt people down over the internet, and that is where you are WRONG! I've PERSONALLY watched websites hunt people down, through a combination for Facebook, Google, Google Maps and various other websites and it wasn't just one guy, it was at least 100 non-admin, regular users who decided to get revenge on someone who decided to harm a cat and post it on the internet thinking that they were cool for doing it. If you poke the internet beehive, you're not just going to get stung, you're going to get SWARMED.

Rule 2- LIE about everything. No one on the internet has to know anything about you.
Yes, you can tell someone that you like cats or specific hobbies, but they don't need to know your real name or even your cats name. If someone asks for your name, tell them your name is David or Jane.

Rule 3- Change your password like you change your underwear. Seriously, just do it. Never give out your password, not even to loved ones.
You never know when he or she will log on as you and screw up your social network, but it will probably be while he/ she is drunk, when he/shes mad at you or after the break up.

Rule 4- Stay under the radar.
If you attract too much attention to yourself, you will be putting a big bulls eye on your back. The internet populous is just like high school, they'll hover around the popular kids just to watch them fall, the big difference is, someone on the internet will make every attempt to bring you down (either through hacking, harassment, ect). No matter how great a user you are, someone will absolutely HATE you.

Rule 5- Always assume you are communicating with a 40 year old man from Wisconsin, It's just easier that way.
Even if they provide pictures, it's probably a trap or a lie. Seeing this person IRL or video chatting* with someone is the only logical way of bypassing this rule.

*= Video chatting can also be a lie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-goXKtd6cPo
This is a viral video. This entire video blog was a lie right from the start, but it tricked millions of people into viewing it.

Rule 6- Pics or it didn't happen.
No one will believe you otherwise and you have no reason to believe anyone's claim otherwise. Even then there is Photoshop,... you know what; don't trust anything.

Rule 7- Do NOT feed the troll.
It's all fun and games till he turns on you. He will. Always

Rule 8- When in doubt, Google it first.
Don't be lazy, you're already wasting time on the internet, you might as well make your time useful ....Well? GET GOING!

Rule 8.5- If it's not on Google, it doesn't exist.
This is the truth, if you can't find yourself on Google, YOU don't exist. Try to prove me otherwise.

Rule 9- You are not special, you never will be, at least on the internet.
It doesn't matter if you're a rocket scientist from NASA, someone will be (or at least act) better than you, and there's nothing you can do to disprove them or discredit them, you can give them mounds of information that they honestly did not know and they'll just say "I already knew that" and if you asked that same person a question, they have google to answer it in greater detail.

Rule 9.5- Because you are not special, you (nor anyone else on the internet) should try to get into internet arguments.
It's pointless because the opponent will always make themselves out to be the winner where as the other internet contender will also be making themselves out to be the winner where as, in the grand scale of things, both are LOSERS.

Rule 10- There will always be more F$*%ed up things than the last thing you saw.
It doesn't matter how desensitized you've become, there will be something worse on the horizon, it's only a matter of time. [I could give you references, but that would be incredibly NSFW and I don't want to be responsible for you throwing up all over your screen, but if you're even remotely interested e-mail me (see rule 1)]

The Guide to the Internet Subculture

The Internet Can be a Scary Place, there are many things normal users simply don't understand about the internet and it's inhabitants. Most users like to think that the internet is just a simple way to entertain oneself through communication with other users, and this is true to an extent, but it belies a greater truth. The people who expose themselves to the internet for prolonged periods of time change, this guide attempts to help us understand what they have changed into and why. What has our media saturated lives brought us into, and what lies in the future.

In this guide we will learn the following:

• The Difference Between IRL and the Internet
• The Change
  
• The Various types of Users
• Memes (in general)
• Forums- How do They Work?
• Mods and Admins
  
• How to Filter User Given Information
• and Much More

What we WON'T Cover

• How to Troll
• How to get Attention
• Lots of useless Stuff

(There are guides on youtube and various other websites, you don't need me for that. )

WARNING!

--Even if you follow my guide to the letter, you are not guaranteed, in any way, a safe and enjoyable experience on the internet. There are simply things beyond your (or my) control that I can't explain. The Internet Subculture is a constantly evolving, changing, intelligent monster and unless we adapt to these changes we cannot use it to suit our needs.

--Some of the links I suggest are NSFW (Not Safe For Work) (I will not link my blog to pornographic material, the content will most likely be cursing and violence [not the gory kind])

if you are going to visit the links, view them in a private environment, NOT in a professional atmosphere such as work. The IT guy will hunt you down and beat you with a wrench (don't ask me why an IT guy has a wrench) followed by your boss.

--Content in this guide describes the Internet Subculture, as in it's users (the good and bad). This guide will NOT tell you how to exploit them or how to become a part of the culture. This is strictly for learning (and entertainment) purposes only.
--Disregard my word stumbling and misspelled words, I'm a very busty student*. I'll try to correct them as I go along.
--If you decide to disregard any of my advice, warnings or other cautions, please take this age old advice with you: If it's too good to be true, it isn't.

Learning is what keeps us ahead of others, it gives us an edge.