About this Research Topic
The anonymity and physical distance that come with Internet communication provide a lot of freedom and convenience, but at the same time allow for the occurrence of events that deviate from established ethical and moral norms, or simply from standard face-to-face communication etiquette. Perceptions of such deviance on the Internet may be related to human (e.g., stalking, ghosting, catfishing, trolling, cyberbullying, etc.) or to AI (e.g., algorithm-based advertising, virtual assistants, chatbots, etc.) behaviors. Instances of Internet deviance frequently induce feelings of unease on the side of the recipient, leaving them with the impression of suboptimal exchange and potentially altering their behavior in turn.
What motivates deviant Internet behaviors? And what behaviors are actually perceived as deviant online? Is Internet deviance different from offline deviance, and if so, in what aspects? Has perception of online deviance evolved over time—perhaps with the changes in netiquette, privacy policies, and education certain phenomena that were seen as deviant a few years back appear less so today, and vice versa? What are the feelings associated with being on both ends of deviant behaviors? Where does the deviance boundary lie—are the same behaviors viewed as deviant when initiated by humans versus AI? Are there different standards associated with human and AI deviance?
Internet Deviance is a multi-faceted, subjective, and elusive phenomenon, surrounded by a good amount of stigma and embarrassment. To develop better recognition and coping mechanisms related to it, we would first need to understand it better. With this Research Topic we aim to collect and synthesize current knowledge in the field of Internet Deviance with the goal of improving subjective everyday experiences with it.
We welcome empirical articles studying any of the mentioned or other aspects of Internet Deviance. We will also consider theoretical articles that review advances or present interesting and novel perspectives on the topic. Given the difficulties surrounding the study of the phenomenon, we would also be interested in collecting ideas about possible methodologies that could be applied to its investigation. The submitted articles should fall within the following article types:
Original Research
Systematic Review
Review
Mini Review
Hypothesis and Theory
Perspective
Empirical Study
Brief Research Report
Opinion
What motivates deviant Internet behaviors? And what behaviors are actually perceived as deviant online? Is Internet deviance different from offline deviance, and if so, in what aspects? Has perception of online deviance evolved over time—perhaps with the changes in netiquette, privacy policies, and education certain phenomena that were seen as deviant a few years back appear less so today, and vice versa? What are the feelings associated with being on both ends of deviant behaviors? Where does the deviance boundary lie—are the same behaviors viewed as deviant when initiated by humans versus AI? Are there different standards associated with human and AI deviance?
Internet Deviance is a multi-faceted, subjective, and elusive phenomenon, surrounded by a good amount of stigma and embarrassment. To develop better recognition and coping mechanisms related to it, we would first need to understand it better. With this Research Topic we aim to collect and synthesize current knowledge in the field of Internet Deviance with the goal of improving subjective everyday experiences with it.
We welcome empirical articles studying any of the mentioned or other aspects of Internet Deviance. We will also consider theoretical articles that review advances or present interesting and novel perspectives on the topic. Given the difficulties surrounding the study of the phenomenon, we would also be interested in collecting ideas about possible methodologies that could be applied to its investigation. The submitted articles should fall within the following article types:
Original Research
Systematic Review
Review
Mini Review
Hypothesis and Theory
Perspective
Empirical Study
Brief Research Report
Opinion
Keywords: Internet, deviance, creepiness, eeriness, uncanniness perception, behavior, computer-mediated communication, human-computer interaction, technology, AI, online, anonymity, stalking, trolling, catfishing, ghosting, cyberbullying, netiquette
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
