Online disinhibition effect

Online Disinhibition Effect is the lack of restraint one feels when communicating online in comparison to communicating in-person. People feel safer saying things online which they would not say in real life because they have the ability to remain completely anonymous and invisible behind the computer screen. Apart from anonymity, other factors such as asynchronous communication, empathy deficit, or individual personality and cultural factors also contribute to online disinhibition. The manifestations of such an effect could be in both positive and negative directions. Thus online disinhibition could be classified as either benign disinhibition or toxic disinhibition. Benign online disinhibition describes a situation in which people get some benefit from the absence of restraint in cyberspace. One example of benign online disinhibition can be seen as self-disclosure. With the help of Internet anonymity, people could share personal feelings or disclose themselves in the way they are reluctant to do in real life. For instance, young people feel relieved when revealing untold secrets or personally embarrassing details in online chats. Such self-disclosures enable people to establish an intimate interpersonal relationship sooner and stronger when compared with real life face to face communication. The online disinhibition effect also provides chances to express themselves for people who are unwilling to communicate in the real world, like people who are introverted, shy, socially phobic and individuals with a stutter or impaired hearing. Another type of online disinhibition is called toxic disinhibition, which represents an increased tendency towards online flaming and inappropriate behaviors. These often contain hostile language, swearing, and even threats. This norm describes the negative side effect of the loss of inhibition on the cyberspace. The antisocial behaviors caused by toxic disinhibition not only occur in multiple online platforms like blogs, hate sites, and comment sections, but also exist in diverse forms which include cyberbullying, social loafing and more.