Self Confidence (1999)

Youth Quotes

M. how do you separate those two lives [online and onground]? are they very separate?
K. Not really...one is the typing person, the one who can think what their going to say beofre saying it...something I really don't do in real life...I also feel more confient when talking through to compter then in person...
M. Could you discover who you are in real life as well?
K. O, yeah. It's just one of those things that kinda help ya...but in a different more independent way!
M. :) , what i mean is: When you're online, do you feel any different then when you're at home or in school?
K. not really, more free to do whatever I want, really, without much limitations!
M.That's really interesting. How come?
K. I am a lot more open, and I think before I say something, so things ed up going a lot smoother than in person. I dont really know the reason, but its just me!
M. Do you think that being a youth online is the same or different from being a youth in your community?
K. Yes! I feel so privelged and that maybe my life is actually half-interesting!! :-) It also kinda gives you a self-esteem boost, knowing that your personality alone got a lot of attention...  
M. Do you think that you have changed since you started being online more often?
K. Nah, same old me. (1999)

M. The increase of your self-confidence and self-awareness seems to be the most important part and i am glad that this medium allowed for this process!
F. Yep Yep - I have had some really bad experiences but the experiences I gained and the self esteem I got made up for that! I do believe that youth can experience more, with fewer boundaries, when online, since you are judged by your brain online and not your looks. Therefore what a 15 year old girl could not get away with doing in real life (IE being the boss of 50 adults), can happen online. And I think that's fair, because if a teenager is discriminated against just because of their age, it can be as unright as people discriminated against because of skin color or gender, for example. (1999)

<C> Normal multiplayer is nice, but online you play against many more people and you don't even know them. just think,you get the opportunity to blow up people you don't even know.
<M> true, is that differnt from blowing up people that you do know?
<C> Yes, I know their styles. When you play online, you get to practice against so many different styles, so you get better overall.
<M> does that understanding, or those changes, affect your ways of how you connect to your surroundings, people around you?
<C> Yes it does. I have grown much more mental and alert. I also have a better knowledge of the standards in todays world.
<M> How so?
<C> Well, for instance, there are these "demos" which different groups release for competitions in which they show what they can do with a computer. It shows me how my standards are compared to theirs.
<M> standards?
<M> uh huh - it's hard to react - trying out a new word :), nodding my head, .. what does that mean to you, knowing the 'standards"?
<C> Em... I thought they were so much more advanced than me, but when I started working with the stuff I got from the 'net, I soon became as good.