GIFT: Difference between revisions

[[File:greaterdickwad_6440greaterdickwad 6440.jpg|frame|Close, but no Fuckwad. <ref>It works better if you put the stress on the last syllable, try it.</ref>]]

This phenomenon has been studied in an academic setting, and by all accounts the satirical analysis is spot-on; normal people become more aggressive when they think that their behavior carries no real-world social consequences. When people do not have to worry about getting in trouble with their loved ones, school, or employer, getting into a [[Talk to Thethe Fist|direct]] [[Armor-Piercing Slap|physical]] [[No -Holds -Barred Beatdown|altercation]] with anyone, or getting their [[Never Live It Down|reputation ruined forever]], they feel that they have nothing to lose being [[Jerkass|shameless, insufferable jerks]] behind the veil of anonymity that is [[The Internet|the Intertubes]].

Hence the depressingly large number of people who think that being a [[Troll]] is funny, and that [[The Internet|the Internet]] is the perfect place to spew all the bigoted, provocative, or otherwise hateful bile they would never say in real life. The GIFT also contributes to the pervasiveness of cyber-bullying [[Kids Are Cruel|among kids]] [[Teens Are Monsters|and teenagers]], which has led to [[Driven to Suicide|actual suicides]]. The academic name of the phenomenon is the [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect:Online disinhibition effect|Online Disinhibition Effect]], but even leading researchers use GIFT outside the journals.

The idea of anonymity's irresistible corruption due to lack of consequences and escape from [[Big Brother Is Watching|restraints caused by being watched]] is extremely pervasive. Think of the people who leave unholy messes in public restrooms. Nobody sees them do it, and they almost certainly wouldn't make a mess in their own home where they'd have to clean it up ([[Trash of the Titans|hopefully]]), or their friend's/relative's, when it'd be obvious who did it. The basic idea [[Older Than Feudalism|was first proposed by]] [[Plato]] in ''The Republic'', where he recounts the myth of the [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Gyges:Ring of Gyges|Ring of Gyges]], one of the original [[Invisible Jerkass]] stories.

The only reason why it's not a law like [[Godwin's Law]] is because of the [[Fun Withwith Acronyms]].

A [[Sub -Trope]] to [[Serious Business]] and [[Internet Backdraft]]. [[Vocal Minority]] is where most of this comes from. See also [[Internet Tough Guy]], [[Troll]], [[White Knighting]], [[Garbage Post Kid]], [[Resident Freak]] and [[Griefer]] for specific forms of this. Compare [[What You Are in Thethe Dark]].

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