When you talk to people online there is a wonderful lack of
background information. Generally, I'm in favour of the
'all-the-information-you-can-get-your hands-on' theory, but in
this case less is better. Talk to someone face-to-face and you
can't help making judgements about them, based on their height,
race, clothes, gender etc. Sandra Bullock said on the 'Oprah
Winfrey Show' that she'd met a redneck with tattoos, a baseball
cap, and work boots, and had assumed that he was both racist and
stupid. She was surprised when this 'redneck' spoke like a
normal person, and they had an intelligent conversation
together.
Talking to people over the Internet you don't see their height
or their race. You only know about their tattoos if they tell
you about them. You don't know if they look gay, or if they are
gay. Don't know if they are deaf, or in a wheelchair. You don't
even know what country they're in unless you ask. All you get is
a screen name which gives you some hint as to the kind of person
they are. Being self-chosen, this 'name' 'tells' you more about
the person than their family, country, or religion. It often
tells you what THEY think is important about them. Someone who
picks the screen name 'Padme_Skywalker' is a Star Wars fan and
that is a significant fact about them. It is more specific than
if their screen name is 'MusicWeaver' or 'CakeLover'.
All our relationships with anonymous people have an equal and
egalitarian starting point. In many cases it is an optimistic
beginning that assumes people are interesting, intelligent, and
moderately good until they show otherwise. A few people seem to
assume everyone is a fool or a criminal, but that is their
choice and everyone still gets the same start with them. Thanks
to this anonymity, people who hate Muslims or Christians, blacks
or whites, Germans or gays, might unknowingly talk to someone
they would otherwise hate. They might get to know their enemy as
a person before they find out that their new friend is 'one of
them'.
Or someone might start talking to 'Padme_Skywalker' and just
assume that all Star Wars fans are Americans. Then minutes or
weeks later ask her want she thinks of the racial violence in
Germany and find that she has lived in Germany all of her life,
and belongs to the group the violence is targeted against. Plus,
she is happy to give her first-hand impressions of these events.
Naturally, you don't need to rely on luck for these personal
insights. If there is a controversy in California about gay
marriage, or about Muslims headscarves in France, you can go
online looking for people who live on the spot and ask them
about it. I love this aspect of the Internet: being able to
connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Summary - Face-to-face we can't avoid judging people by the way
they look. Online we only know what people choose to share, so
judgmental separatists might talk to their 'enemies' without
knowing it, even until they've become friends with their
'opposites'. We can also talk to people about the state of
international events at the actual scene to get personal
insights into the situation.
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