The modern online environment serves as a platform where conventional social masks fall away, allowing true emotions and unique personality traits to come to light.

Digital Duality: Unmasking Hidden Selves

The modern online environment serves as a platform where conventional social masks fall away, allowing true emotions and unique personality traits to come to light. In conditions of anonymity and without direct oversight, individuals are given the opportunity to reveal those aspects of themselves that are often suppressed by the pressures of societal norms in the real world. It is here that the stark contrast between tenderness and aggression, between hidden complexes and genuine personality, is most palpable. The virtual space dissolves the boundaries between the imaginary and the real, creating a dual dimension where everyone can simultaneously remain true to themselves while also displaying a different, less controlled persona. This phenomenon not only exposes the depths of the human psyche but also prompts a reflection on how social conventions shape our real-world behaviors. This dynamic and striking process emphasizes the inextricable link between the virtual and the actual, providing clear evidence that personality is multifaceted and unpredictable.

How can one characterize the phenomenon in which a person with cruel inclinations displays tenderness in online communication, yet in real life expresses contempt?

This phenomenon can be seen as a manifestation of a dual personality or split consciousness, where an individual, enjoying the anonymity of the virtual space, “throws off their social mask” and reveals hidden, sometimes contradictory, emotions and tendencies. In the online environment, where there is no immediate verification of identity or oversight by others, a person may openly express those characteristics that are suppressed in real life due to social norms and personal biases.

One source emphasizes:
"Over time, the boundary between the imaginary and the real worlds is erased, and people 'live' as if on two planes at once. Hence, a spiritual split of consciousness into the real and the seemingly virtual." (source: link txt)

Additionally, another source notes that the very ability to escape social conventions leads to the fact that:
"Psychologists believe that a person on the Internet throws off their social mask and remains ‘just as they were born’ – with all their phobias, complexes, and secret attractions." (source: link txt)

Thus, the description of this phenomenon can be summed up by the fact that, under virtual communication conditions, a person can express the suppressed or hidden aspects of their personality that do not manifest in their real-life behavior, leading to a sharp contrast between online tenderness and aggressive, contemptuous behavior in real life.

Supporting citation(s):
"Over time, the boundary between the imaginary and the real worlds is erased, and people 'live' as if on two planes at once. Hence, a spiritual split of consciousness into the real and the seemingly virtual." (source: link txt)

"Psychologists believe that a person on the Internet throws off their social mask and remains ‘just as they were born’ – with all their phobias, complexes, and secret attractions." (source: link txt)