Storming and Forming a Normative Response to a Deception Revealed Online

Abstract

Reactions to an admitted charade of bogus self-presentation within an online community were examined over time for themes of support, condemnation, and interactivity. Evidence for the subjective group dynamics account of intragroup reactions to perceived deviance was observed in that support was modeled by a cubic function over time, whereas condemnation remained prominent. The community eventually expelled the deceptive member, supporting the black sheep effect. Natural groups, including those situated in cyberspace, may rely on inductive categorization when faced with ambiguous threats to group uniformity. The expected role of referent informational influence in determining normatively negative group reactions was challenged by evidence that support for the deception was initially more likely to be expressed by high-status members. In addition, low-status members expressed their condemnation with greater conviction, overall. Members may have been referring to different group prototypes in seeking validation for their feelings aboutambiguously deviant members.