Neopaths: what are they and what are their characteristic behaviors?

Neopaths use Internet platforms in search of attention; let's see how they act.

Although the Internet is nothing new nowadays, its power never ceases to amaze us. Many people make proper use of this tool, which after all is just that, a tool.

But there are also cases of people who have used social networks to broadcast their messages of hate and threats, incurring in criminal practices taking advantage of the great impact of new technologies.

This type of people have been called "neopaths".individuals who express their tensions, delusions, aggression and various problems through social networks.

Neopaths: who are they?

The term "neopath" has a lot to do with cyberspace, social networks and the Internet in general. The virtual world is an environment in which many different people can come into contact, so it is normal to find people with all kinds of personalities and behaviors. As would be expected in the real world, in its online surrogate we can find people whose behavior is pathological and socially inappropriate.

Among this type of people we would find neopaths, individuals, especially young people, who try to gain recognition on the Internet by any means necessary, even if this means harming others.even if this means harming other people. We can say that neuropathy encompasses all those individuals who show their tensions, delusions, aggression or psychotic problems through the Internet, taking advantage of its great extension and the ability to send threats protected by anonymity, also spreading their crimes.

Although this term does not refer to a specific disorder or a pathological style of behavior, we can understand that it refers to a specific disorder or a pathological style of behavior.but we can understand that it is a type of Internet profile that is quite harmful. In fact, breaking down the term we can see the Greek words "neo", which means "new", and "pathos", which translates as "suffering", and we can interpret this word to mean that a neopath is a person who has created a new way of causing suffering, and may well be considered as something similar to a psychopath.

All neopathic crimes are implicitly linked to the Internet. Among them, we could talk about insulting and threatening to kill people they hate, selecting rape victims through social networks, posting a video in which they beat up a homeless person, humiliating a schoolmate and spreading it through the class chat group, or committing computer crimes believing they are real hackers. Neopaths are also considered to be those who announce massacres on the networks and then commit them, as has happened several times in the last few years.as has happened several times in the last two decades.

Traits of neopaths

The idea behind neopaths is somewhat diffuse. It is important to understand that this is not an official diagnostic labelRather than referring to a mental disorder or a pathological behavioral style, it refers to the phenomenon of finding aggressive people who use social networks to spread their unsocial behavior. However, it is possible to talk about some characteristics of this type of person.

The first is that neopaths are usually young people under 30, although often teenagers who, it is suspected, do not have a great social life and may even be victims of bullying both at school and in the social networks they frequent. This would result in a desire to "give back" to the world the Pain they have suffered so much, taking advantage of anonymity or using an alias that makes them feel as if they were someone else, much more important than what they manage to be in real life.

It has also been mentioned that the profile of the neopaths entails qualities such as narcissism, due to their great need for attention or admiration they seek.. Many neopaths want to achieve a certain fame in the virtual world, to be recognized for having committed something that will not be indifferent to the majority of society, even if it means doing serious harm to other people. In harming others, the neopath shows traits shared with narcissists, who tend to devalue others.

A striking feature of neopaths is that they differ from psychopaths. they differ from psychopaths because they leave traces in the networks of the harm they are doing.. While they do have an interest in knowing what they have done, their lack of care is often due to their immaturity, instability and weakness in controlling their impulses, causing them to forget the clues that can get them arrested, such as the fact that on the Internet practically nothing is done anonymously.

Types of neopaths

While each neopath is different, we can comment on some general traits of the way they behave. The desire of neopaths to find fame and notoriety is so great that in some cases they commit real barbarities without measuring the consequences that may imply. The only thing that matters to them is to be known for what they have done, their 15 minutes of fame for what they have done, their 15 minutes of fame for what they have done.their 15 minutes of fame for having done something really harmful.

As the networks make it very easy for their acts to have a wide reach, they do not hesitate to spread them around. In addition to this, if they know about the acts of other neopaths, they try to surpass them, as if it were a competition of barbarity. Naturally, some neopathic acts are milder than others, which indicates that we can differentiate between types of neopaths.

1. Impostors

As their name suggests, impostor neopaths are those who impersonate someone else's identity. impersonate another person in order to contact their victims.. These victims can be real friends of the person whose identity has been stolen or, also, unknown people who trust the fake photo or description of that profile.

2. Predators

This profile of neopath corresponds to the one who attacks with planning, hiding his identity, looking for potential victims, discovering their weaknesses and taking advantage of their identity.discovering their weaknesses and taking advantage of them.

3. Informers

These are neopaths who report their crimes. Within this category we can differentiate between two main types, those who report the crime they have already committed and those who warn of those they are planning to commit.

Those who have already committed a crime report it by posting it on the networks.. They are people who may well have harmed an animal or even a person, have recorded the vile act and post it on the networks so that it spreads and people know them, albeit under a pseudonym.

Those who plan to commit them take advantage of the Internet to promote the crimes they intend to do in the near future, such as a school shooting, exploding a bomb, murdering someone...

4. Retransmitters

Related to the previous category we have the neopaths who retransmit in real time the crime they are committing. This type of aggressor is the most striking, since we could well say that he behaves like a star eager to get fans. behaves like a star anxious to get fans, in this case witnesses to the criminal acts he is committing.The neopathic broadcaster feeds on the uncertainty of those who are watching live what he is doing.

The neopathic retransmitter feeds on the uncertainty of those who are watching live what is happening, since not being a pre-recorded video it is not clear how it will end, with how many victims or injured may end the fateful broadcast.

Control of social networks

The fact that there are different types of neopaths indicates that, despite the fact that the Internet and social networks have been around for years, there is little control over the content posted on them and, unfortunately, there is also little control when it comes to managing threats. control when it comes to managing threats posted in cyberspace, and unfortunately there is also little control when it comes to managing threats posted in cyberspace..

While there are some mechanisms that prevent this type of content from thriving on the networks, the one that gets away can become truly dangerous.

Since the Columbine massacre there have been more than a few neopaths who have tried to top that event. To mention a few cases of killers who have warned of what they were going to do and have done it, we have the cases of Cho Seung-Hui, perpetuator of the Virginia Tech massacre (2007), the Finnish Pekka-Eric Auvinen, perpetrator of the massacre at Jokela High School (2007) and another compatriot, Matti Juhani Saari, perpetrator of the massacre at Kauhajoki High School (2008).

The problem lies not only in the fact that they were warned of what they were going to do and that no one was able to stop it, but also in the fact that the content posted on the networks is very difficult to remove, despite the intention to stop its circulation. This applies not only to videos of student massacres, but also to recordings of rape, snuff videos and other types of videos showing a crime that, once posted on the Internet, its dissemination is almost unlimited.

For this reason it is necessary to make a responsible use of the networks, not only being careful with what is posted on them knowing that others can misuse our information, but also by denouncing properly any content that implies a serious danger to society or that shows how a person commits or that shows how a crime is committed. Although it will be very difficult for such content to be removed, the person responsible for it will have to give explanations to the relevant authorities and may even be prevented from committing a truly heinous act.