Online harassment isn't just "being rude on the internet", it can ruin peoples lives, says Massey University professor Dr Kevin Veale.
In his new book Gaming the Dynamics of Online Harassment, he argues that the psychology of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) could help us better understand - and combat - the phenomenon.
Photo: 123RF
Dr Kevin Veale Photo: Massey University - Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa
Dr Veale knows several people who've lost their jobs because of faked information online.
"I have a friend whose image was circulated through Europe as being one of the people responsible for the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. That was published in newspapers as someone armed and dangerous to be on the lookout for, just because of this information that people faked and put up online."
Over the last two decades, he's watched online harassment become a lot more organised - and increasingly fuelled by the human desire for community problem-solving.
Alternate reality games (ARGs) - in which players must unite in order to solve a mystery - utilise this same human drive, Dr Veale says.
"[Online harassment campaigns] and [ARG worlds] work the same, [both] are motivated the same way … with people being energised and enthusiastic about it."
Research into the psychology of ARGs could help us design digital technology that feeds the human need for collective problem-solving in more constructive ways, he says.
"People are really good at solving problems, we are very very clever. We like forming communities, we're good at it. It's just that when we get the online harassment, people apply the same kind of ability [they would] to collectively solve problems to trying to destroy somebody's life."
