Penny Arcade (webcomic) - John Gabriel's "Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory"

John Gabriel's "Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory"

John Gabriel's "Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory" was posted in the Penny Arcade strip published March 19, 2004. It regards the online disinhibition effect, in which Internet users exhibit unsociable tendencies while interacting with other Internet users. Mike Krahulik suggests that, given both anonymity and an audience, an otherwise regular person can become a "total fuckwad," i.e., a very disagreeable person. Clay Shirky, an adjunct professor at New York University who studies social and economic effects of Internet technologies, explains: "There’s a large crowd and you can act out in front of it without paying any personal price to your reputation,” which "creates conditions most likely to draw out the typical Internet user’s worst impulses." In an Advocate article about online homophobia, this theory was used to account for behavior on online forums where one can remain anonymous in front of an audience: for instance, posting comments on popular YouTube videos.