How will behaviours and power relations change in our “online next nature”​?

Charting the impact of the Online Disinhibition Effect on our professional and social dynamics.

Covid-19 is moving a big portion of our lives in a virtual sphere. We are now growing accustomed to managing routines from a distance, which is also becoming a new kind of comfort zone. After all, what are human interactions if not a space where our individual self has to confront with the “other”?

As online interactions are shaping our social and professional relationships in the Covid-19 new normal , I’ve been drawn to reflect on how they do unfold and on the psychological dynamics underpinning them.

Does our nature change on digital media?

ODE ( Online Disinhibition Effect) is a widely recognised behavioural phenomenon and a key trait of online interactions. It’s the idea that people tend to behave online in a more unrestrained way than they would do in person: they loosen up, feel more uninhibited, express themselves more openly.

Several intertwined factors co-occur in enabling ODE. These three may play a very influential role in the evolution of communication and power structures within the workplace and beyond, 1)escapability, 2) minimisation of authority and 3)solipsism.

ODE ( Online Disinhibition Effect) is a widely recognised behavioural phenomenon and a key trait of online interactions.

1) Escapability: thriving in the empathy gap

A macro-thing that’s definitely missing in online interaction is eye-to-eye contact: perhaps the most powerful driver of empathy! Even if we can count on a panoply of badass tools, like Zoom or Skype, conversations which involve the use of a camera can’t perfectly subrogate those ones happening in person. Connection can be lousy, faces distorted. Innocent frowns can be misunderstood. Also, you can always turn off your camera and make yourself invisible.

Besides generating all sorts of confusions, because of altered or missing facial and gestural cues, remote conversations can also be asynchronous: often, we do not interact in real time. Think about your Hang Out or Whatsapp threads.

Combined together, invisibility and asynchronism add up to a sense of inebriating “escapability”, the privilege to shut up or delay the confrontation in the dialectic flow.

2) Minimising the authority: the digital as a realm of “Equals”

This quality of escapability brings about another facet of the picture. Not having to deal with someone’s immediate reaction can be disinhibiting. So much so that, in hierarchical contexts, such as in working environments, people would feel less reluctant to say what they think, than they would normally do in person, in front of an authority figure.

It’s curious: fear of punishment lessens when you stand among persons higher in social status in a virtual room! Experts see in this psychological mechanism an embodiment of the original spirit of the Internet: the NET as a world of equals, a society of peers where power structures are distributed.

Online, we generally feel less reluctant to say what we think, than we would do in person, in front of an authority figure.

3) Solipsism: it’s all in my head

Solipsistic introjection is another gutting phenomenon. It occurs primarily when we text-communicate without face-to- face cues. It’s all about experiencing conversations as if they were happening within our mind: as if we were talking to ourselves.

This unconscious mental process has an impact on our sense of self. We might feel more disinhibited, because having to do with oneself feels safer than having to do with others. Solipsistic mechanisms thus can alter our perception of reality, the sense of what can be true or false, outside of our mind.

What can we expect?

While it is hard to make predictions, as individual personality traits adds to the picture, odds are that ODE will play a role in the behavioural outcomes of our collective mobilisation online.

Especially in working environments, more personal disinhibition could lead to employees questioning authority more often, but also speaking up and expressing their views to the benefit of everyone. On the other hand, physical isolation and lack of face to face cues can make us forgetful of others’ feelings, when we express an opinion or put our ideas forward. While solipsistic mechanisms could lead to generate “one own’s reality bubble”, where biases and single-viewed decision-making thrive.

we should remind ourselves that the binary “digital/physical” holds no meaning anymore in those hybrid communities, that Covid-19 is compelling more and more of us to inhabit.

To prevent possible negative impacts, we should remind ourselves that the binary “digital/physical” holds no meaning anymore in those hybrid communities that Covid-19 is compelling more and more of us to inhabit. There aren’t such things as “long-distance letter friendships” anymore. Relationships extend on a spectrum which encompasses and integrate different media, both offline and online. Centring our interactions around this notion can help us optimise our social skills and better prepare for the next new normal, by transforming dangerous dissociations into meaningful synergies.

#digitalcommunication #covid19 #coronavirus #digital #onlinepsychology #teamwork #remoteworking #behaviouralchange #onlinebehaviour

References:

J.Suler. Psychology of CyberSpace; E.Manzini, Community Voices, Talk, 2nd April 2020, SDD Milan;

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.