I’ve been thinking lately about people’s perception of others online. Specifically, does your negative perception about someone affect your social network?

I started thinking about this after sitting around with a group of Internet-active people. Everyone at the table had someone they refused to interact with. Most felt so strongly about their arch enemy, they advised against anyone else interacting with them as well.

What interested me most about this is that there was no common enemy. Often, one person’s nemesis was another’s best friend. How does this happen? Has the Internet made us too sensitive? Is there too much room for misunderstanding in online communications?

I have a feeling this post is mostly about questions. I really don’t know the answers. I worry about them. I think about the people that make my life miserable and I want to tell my friends not to talk to them. The reasons range from shady business practices to hurt feelings, but is it up to me to decide that for others? Good people can make bad decisions just as bad people can do good deeds. I have a theory that the serendipitous nature of the Internet means the latter scenario is more prevalent. Here are the main groups of questions I’d like to explore:

1. As your social circle expands, how do you determine who to let in?

2. We are all influenced by the people we know. If an influencer tells you that someone else is bad, do you believe them? Do you find out for yourself? How much would doing business with this person affect your relationship with the influencer?

3. Do you ever tell people not to work with, or befriend someone else? Why? What led you to that decision? Is it always black and white? If it’s grey, where is that line?

4. On the Internet, is someone’s worth determined by the sum of their actions, one bad deed or their potential to do something great?