Internet ego. A term I coined to described a character trait that I have noticed a lot of wrestling role-players develop. It’s the self-worth and importance level e-fedders possess while playing their online games. It’s not their actual Ego, thou. You know, the one they live with while pursuing their day-to-day normal, offline lives. It’s the persona that they have created to represent themselves while surfing the net in search of entertainment, and social networking.

You see, the entire world is connected, no doubt about it socially. Only the truly disenfranchised are not connected socially in some way. About half are connected in real life, with a group of friends and family that they interact with on a daily and weekly basis. The other half, rely on computer networks such as Facebook™ or Myspace™, to stay in touch with others. Some, go out into the world for their entertainment, be it the bar scene, movies, walks, going to the cabin, sports, travelling…etc. Some others are more stay at home and watch TV and movies a lot, or read books, draw or write. But a small fraction do neither. They look for their entertainment online, via the computer. Just like all you e-fed wrestlers out there. Yeah, I’m talking about you. This tiny fraction, that seem to stick to a more solitary form of interacting do so, on average, mainly because the other forms of entertainment are either not pleasing or most likely, not available to them. In other words, if it wasn’t for the computer, there would be no entertainment or social interaction at all. Wow, that means a great deal of importance has been placed (or misplaced depending on your viewpoint) on the health of the their Internet Ego.

With so much riding on this, it’s no wonder that many e-fedders spend so much time and effort on honing and carving out the perfect image for display. The character names, the places you hang and even the language and tone you use are all basics that take on a life of their own, creating an Internet Ego that others see and expect from you. The perfect signature, the amusing avatar, and the interesting links listed below posts are all based upon the traits of the Internet Ego.

Personally, I think it’s this Internet Ego that is the reason flame wars erupt in the first place as well as the reason they take a while to die down. You see, this “ego” is not like a real-life ego because it can not stand up to the same bruising and repair. Much more is riding on maintaining it’s inflated posture. A person’s complete gaming experience (which sadly, is 99% of some people’s joy in life) is greatly attached to and effected by the Internet Ego. To allow the Internet Ego to be attacked is to admit defeat on the very last personal level that some e-fedders have left. So any bruising, miscommunication, attacks upon, misunderstandings or changes to said Ego, simple can not… and will not be tolerated. So arguments will be overblown, discussions will get very personal, debates will break down into counter-attacks… anything and everything will be done to make all others back down. Their Internet Ego will not accept defeat, on any level.

For example; a person with a fragile Internet Ego steps out of line and… say… does something out of order and offensive, like posting a racially slanted post or verbally abusing others. Most times these people are more apt to stand firm, seeming to be valiantly arguing their point and defending themselves, even in the face of common sense. They will go off topic a lot in an attempt to attack those that oppose them. But this is really just an attempt (be it purposely or unconsciously ) to do to others what the bruised egotist perceives is going on to them, and that is, an attack of their deep personal beliefs. And make no mistake, those with fragile Internet Egos that fail to defend themselves seem to vanish from the face of e-fedding.

Which leads us to a flip side of the Internet ego coin here… those that defend their ego even before any attacks on it occur. Their sense of self-worth is so out of kilter so that they have a greater opinion of themselves and thus, firmly believe that their opinion and ways of behaving, posting, humour and methods of role-playing, are “THE” way of doing things. They will retort, argue and even lambaste those that think otherwise. They do this not to elevate themselves above you, but to keep others down in order to keep their ego’s up. They rarely argue the points of their posts, rather, they will simply attack and dissect what others have posted, totally dismissing any arguement when even a single flaw appears. All because of this Internet ego.

The funny thing is, the Internet ego is merely an alter ego when compared to real-life. It shuts down the minute the power is turned off the computer, and only reawakens when the computer screen comes back on. In between, these people go back to their real lives, where I seriously doubt they go around bragging about how many titles they’ve won, or whether they tell the cashiers at Wal-Mart how well they can blend character development with trash talk.

Your Internet self is not you… it’s pretend. Let’s put it into another prospective here. Let’s suppose some guy dressed up as one of those Klingon™ Warrior types and went to a bunch of Star trek Conventions? Sure, while he was there, he can stay in-character and get a lot of praise, respect and admiration but once he went home, those positive aspects of his life mean absolutely nothing. How weird and mentally healthy would it seem if he started to spend more time as a Klingon™ just for a better ego experience?

You know when you are having troubles, when the same ego that you display in your “away-from-the-computer real-life” is a sorry shadow of the Internet version.

Escapism is fine… in moderation. It’s a relief valve of sorts. Some people need a drink after a tough day at the office, as a relief valve. Some need to escape by plopping down and watching TV. However, if you’re getting fall-down drunk each night, escaping the realities of your life… well that’s something else entirely! I don’t care if you save kittens from drowning, or feed the homeless when you’re drunk. The point is, you are escaping from your life and its real Ego for another Ego… a more sheltered, and constructed one. For if you feel the need to escape your real life so that you can once again proudly interact with others by ways of your Internet ego… then your time has come. Time to turn off the computer… and check your Ego at the door.

The lure of any game is being able to be and do things that we can not get in our real lives. This could be challenges, experiences and other senses of accomplishments that out jobs and home life just do not have. Nothing wrong with adding to an already healthy and rewarding lifestyle with some game time and the temporary ego trip we get from experiencing it. but do remember a couple of things… a) It’s temporary, and b) it’s just a game… it’s not real. So quit getting all egomaniac over it.

Toodles!!