From: htoaster@yabbs
To: htoaster@yabbs
Subject: my reaction
Date: Fri Apr  1 23:43:39 1994

Anyway, the first thing that I thought of when reading that was yabbs.  One of
my biggest concerns in running this system is that it becomes easy for people
to see this as so much of an alternate reality that they forget about real life
and stuff.  Sometimes I wonder if I am being socially responsible running a 
system like this, where I know that some people spend so much time that it
hurts their grades in school, and probably doesn't help in other aspects of 
their life either.  On the other hand I know that a lot of people have met
very close friends on here (I've met some really great people as well), and
that this wouldn't happen if the system didn't exist.  

I guess that I become worried that someone may become so addicted to the type
of computer interaction with people found here and on other systems that they
will loose touch with what is really out there.  Computer interaction is so
weird because while it is still a form of communication, like the phone or
parties or whatever, it creates a layer of abstraction that very few other
mediums do.  You can present yourself however you want, because it is pretty
likely that no one on the other side knows you.  Its easy to change anything,
sex, religion, culture, or even just small things, like presenting yourself
in a little more flirtous way than you normally would (I know that a lot of
people are more open when talking on a computer, myself included, because
it can seem so abstract to think that other people may be on the other side).

But what if people go into it too deep?  What causes that to happen (and it
happens a lot.  MUDs and IRC and systems like this are becoming banned in a
lot of places because schools are worried about the amount of time spent
behind them).  Who's fault is it when it happens?  I am being socially 
unresonsable running a system like this?  If I see that someone is spending
so much time on something like this should I try and see if anything is wrong?

A lot of times I jokingly say "hey, no failing classes because of yabbs," but
it is something that truely bothers me.  I guess I wonder what other people
think of these problems.

Originally I was going to post this to the IRC/MUD/bbs base, but people here
seem to be talking in the vein to some degree, so this seemed like a better
place.

alex