Reflections on "No Sense of Place"

After reading chapter 2 of this book by Joshua Meyrowitz, my beleif of the importance of situations and people involved in the situation on a person's behavior is solidified. In terms of the article's influence on my project, which examines the mainstream media's perceptions of the online phenomenon Anonymous, I beleive it will help me with understanding both sides of the situation. On one side, media talking heads are offended by the actions on /b/ and Encyclopedia Dramatica because they are foreign and unruly to them. They have probably not been in a situation like what is on these websites, and therefore can only use opinions based on previous, but separate, experiences. On the other side, for the people involved in Anonymous or Chanology, they have been emersed in that cultural situation and understand the rules, language and typical behavior on those sites. Whether it is a release from their day lives or just something fun to do, these people have adopted a certain behavior that is completely different from what many people claim to be "ethical" behavior - and maybe much different from their own selfs during more confrontational situations.

The reading clearly falls in line with what one of our classmates mentioned about being anonymous on the message boards or on a protest when he mentioned saying things that he would not have in a situation in which his identity was known. It first people are hesitant to go against the common behavior in a certain situation, but once they see other people adapting their behavior and grow to understand that behavior, they become more apt to behave differently. But that certainly does not change most socially accepted behaviors. This is probably why people who are involved in anonymous raids and say and do things anonymously that they would not dare do in a monitored situation. That is why those same people are usually described as a seemingly normal person by their neighbors and friends - they are expected to act normally around these people.