When "speaking" to a jelly here on Fluther, do you forget that there is a person behind the avatar?

This jsut crossed my mind, but I’ll speak of it as if it were the norm.

When I am online, on this site, or other blogs or forums, etc, I do not view the comments or existence of any of the users as a person. I think of them simply of a presence that has been generated, with no actual life, but simply responses from presences which have manifested themselves, and taken form in these online areas, without any other purpose, or any aspirations because they have not known anything else, and for all I know are not capable of aspiring to anything else or discovering it.

One of the wierd things that crossed my mind, not sure if it qualifies as an answer, but there you go,

No. I may not always agree with people but I try to behave as I would if the person were here with me. Remember the human behind the computer.

I don’t care what people look like. Would I treat people differently if I saw a picture? I don’t know. I hope not. I don’t think so.

I hope not. I don’t think it makes a difference whether I’ve seen them or not… but of course I can’t be sure.

Honestly the greatest influence on how I engage other users is how familiar I am with them from previous interactions or passive observations. I certainly can’t pinpoint every user here (even the regulars), but I have decent sense of where an awful lot of them fall of the spectrum and I know which topics and issues interest (or inflame) various users. As such I may be less likely to engage someone on an issue when I already know their politics, how they argue their politics and that neither of us will impress the other if we throw down.

Actually, I’m probably more likely to debate newer users since I haven’t formed expectations of them yet.

Never.

I’m not very sure if it matters to me who posted an answer, merely what is written in the answer. If @fundevogel ‘s reponse was written by someone else, I don’t really know how my answer would change other than replacing his name with somebody else’s.

In some ways I agree with @fundevogel about it depending on how often I’ve seen a person. If it is a jelly with whom I haven’t talked much, I don’t really pay attention to who they are. If I have talked with the person a lot (she answers many of my questions, etc), then I do think of her as a person separate from her replies.

In the absence of a photograph, the avatars become the embodiment of a personality of a real person to me. I find it easier to “talk” to the avatar than I would an actual photograph. A photograph could interfere with my communication.

No. I “see” the person behind the avatar, and I also agree with @fundevogel
I determine here, as well IRL how I feel about someone by the longterm exposure to them.
There are a handful here that have SHOWN me, through their words and actions over a several year period that they are genuinely nice and decent people. Likewise there is also a handful that have shown me they issues and are best to be avoided.

No.

I never forget that when speaking to a user, that they’re a person. Whether I’ve seen a picture of them or not seems to make very little difference to me in how I engage with them. As far as being on an online community goes, behavior seems more important, and this is what will dictate how I ago about it sometimes. I may avoid or bring up certain subjects depending on who it is, if I think I know them well enough, as much as one can know someone on the net. But all this happens precisely because I remember they’re a person.

@zensky: I always hear your posts being read in Patrick Stewart’s voice.

While I do remember that there is a person behind the avatar, I do associate the avatar with a user and my knowledge of and experience with them; so when someone changes avatars or has multiple user accounts, I get confused sometimes.

If I am interacting with someone that I know nothing about (such as age, gender, or geographic location), it can be a bit more challenging knowing how to word my replay or making it more specific rather than generic, in cases where some demographical information might be relevant.

No, I don’t forget.
I don’t know that I feel differently about people that I’ve seen, maybe. I don’t think that I treat them differently, though.

It’s never occurred to me to think of the other person as anything other than a person. It doesn’t matter if I’ve seen their picture or not.

Nope

No, I never forget that I’m talking to a person. Like @fundevogel said, I feel like I get to know people through my own interactions with them on their various questions. With newer users, I may have to ask a lot of questions in the beginning, to get to know them better. Just like in real life.

For the folks, like me, who don’t have their picture as their avatar, I usually have an image of what they might look like in real life. I suspect that I’m often wrong about that.

No, never.

What, never?

No, never.

What, never?

Well, hardly ever.

I never forget that I am speaking not only to the person behind the avatar, but to every other person who will ever read this in the future.

@Jeruba: So give three cheers and one cheer more for the lovely lady in the pinafore.

Nice. I knew you would get it, @gailcalled.

I find it amusing that people believe there are “persons” behind avatars. It means my evil plan is working. Edward Turing—your test has been passed!

But seriously, what is the alternative to there being a person behind the avatar?

@wundayatta They might be Skeletor! That’s no laffing matter, bro. Skeletor!

skeletor

Seems to me that any number of superheros are available to deal with skeletor. But frankly, I’d rather get his advice then have a fight with him. Yah. Imagine that question.

One of the jellies is really Skeletor. Which one?

Or If Skeletor were a jelly, what would he say to such and such a question?

He would say “Fuck He-Man”. :)

Heard recently that Twitter use has led to more users failing the Turing Test. But then there are probably a lot of robots on that site so I don’t know how well it reflects actual human users’ ability to pass the test.

Alan Turing.

Thanks @Jeruba. But I was referring to Edward Turning. I see I spelled his last name wrong, above. He made an entirely different kind of test. ;-P

@Jeruba And another line may be equally on point to the discussion at hand:
Things are seldom what they seem; skim milk masquerades as cream.

@zensky L’Shana Tova!

No. I’m always aware that there are real people at the other end. Often people with experiences and opinions very different from my own. That’s why I love the internet :)

@Kayak8 Thanks!

No. I never forget there is a real person.

And, Happy New Year Zensky. :)

Back atcha.

Very apt, @Kayak8. We may remember that there’s a real person and yet not recognize that the real person is masquerading.

Yes I always see the avatar as a person I can even visualize them, how accurate I am, I have no idea.

I don’t know what you can get from an avatar. It must depend on what kind of thought a person has put into selecting their avatar. But I have found that even when I have a picture of a person, that that is not always very helpful. They might have changed their look when I get to see them live, or the picture might just be very misleading. That is very strange to me—when a person looks nothing like their picture.

Anyway, if a picture is misleading, what can an avatar be? What might @Jeruba look like, who always chooses an actress to represent her. What on earth would a cartoon of a ship indicate about what @Shippy might look like? Which is more misleading—the actress or the ship?

@wundayatta As far as avatars go, I’m of the mind that it might not get much deeper than people wearing a shirt they like. But then there are people who post avatars of their own selves, which isn’t really like wearing a shirt you like.

PS; nice ass.

Never. I’m often reminded there is an asshole behind the avatar.

Sometimes I wish I could.

I am tempted, from time to time, to suggest that some flutherers change their avatars so I don’t arrive with a preconceived opinion about what I am going to read (always well-founded).

The visual cue allows me to skip the Q or As, since I know I will be wading through wet tissue paper sprinkled with molasses.

@wundayatta I look just like this ship.. silly!

@Shippy Well, I believe that about as much as you should believe that I look like this fundament!