The world we physically live in everyday, consisting of images, voices, and the physicals, is the world that created this cyberspace that is so free. The people and faces you talk directly to can be seen, heard, and touched in the “real” world. The “cyber” world lacks the physical aspects of the “real” world, but exemplifies the deeper features taken for granted in the “real” world. The everyday world we live in is one that should be recognized before cyberspace. A fine line is drawn between the two worlds and everyday is also crossed.
The line that divides the physical and the computerized is a line that is easily crossed and easily taken advantage of. The freedom in cyberspace can be seen through “The Rape in Cyberspace” episode. The power of one person to affect so many people merely through offensive and vulgar words proves that the line is often crossed. Anyone that perceives the cyber world as safer forgets the fact that anyone can be in that world writing whatever may grow in their mind and they can get away with. The consequences in the cyber world are circumstantially less harsh then those in the real world, and that may be one reason it is so easy for people like Mr. Bungle to offend and “rape” others in the small community.
An online community, called the MOO, was created in efforts to escape the harshness of the “real” world. This society consists of regular people doing everyday-things together, but they each did everything through the power of words alone. No pictures, faces, voices, or anything that is physical is used in this online community. The words typed on the screen from each person were exactly how they would be performing any action in their “real” life. There are different rooms you can travel through for different things. One can get their hair done in a salon, climb a tree, or just sit down and eat, all with just the touch of a few buttons and the result of a few words on the screen. Knowing certain commands helps you move around the community to different places; if you don’t know the commands, you have to ask. Each action is the result of typing words on a screen, the “depth” of the “real” world is left behind. The MOO is a direct reflection of the “real” world, but it a reflection through words alone. The power of words in this community is compared to the power of a gun outside of cyberspace. The seriousness of this community is seen in the effects of the “rapes” in cyberspace.
One person may have more power than another in the MOO community, but everyone was balanced out; this was a direct reflection of a “real-world” society. Mr. Bungle took advantage of his power online just as he could in the real world, but the difference is that he never physically harmed anyone. The idea of being “raped” in a world that is merely words is an extreme use of that word. An online rape may be a personal violation, but it is not a physical violation. Any person that has been physically raped can easily explain that being violated by words on a computer screen is not comparable to the emotional and physical harm that they must live with each and every day.
To see the word “rape” thrown into a cyberspace world shows the great cross from the “real” world to the cyber community. A rape is not something that can just be used as a violation of words, that is merely verbal abuse. The extremity that this community has taken in their “cyber” world has proven that there is a connection between the “real” world and the “cyber” world, and that connection is the corruption that can be seen in both worlds.
To think that a community online could be utopian is impossible because those that are in the community can be the same people that corrupt the “real” society we live in. Freedom easily found in cyberspace is a direct reason for the mishaps that occur, including the Mr. Bungle rape. Having a life online and a life offline reveals two different people within the complex mask of the human guise. To feel safe behind words and a screen is a naïve thought and is easily demolished everyday. The people that were trying to develop a utopian community online did not step back and look at the similarities of the “real” world that could easily spill over. A utopia has yet to be created in the “real” world, so the idea that a world of words would make this thought any easier to conceive is unimaginable.
Keeping yourself separated from movies and television is the same aspect that the cyberspace world should be perceived. The technological aspect of cyberspace is very much part of the “real” world, but the emotional and mind-controlling aspect is merely an illusion that people use to escape their “real” world problems. A problem in the “real” world may not be seen in cyberspace, or quite possibly, elevated in this world of words, but the amount of problems in cyberspace are just as numerous. Being naïve and gullible is an easy way to be “sucked into” the idea of a more perfect world in cyberspace.
Stepping out of cyberspace and seeing the big picture will enable you to see the line that must be drawn to separate oneself from the two different realms of this society. Living in a “cyber” world often brings individuals too close to a fantasy world, and without separation the incidences, such as “The Rape in Cyberspace” will occur and will be blown out of proportion. The key to living successfully in both worlds is to keep the line between the two and to always come back to the “real” world.
