The Ethics of Anonymous Comments

Noah Berlatsky

September 7, 2012

https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/ethics-anonymous-comments

"Anonymous Crisis"

First Impression:

Anonymity should be remained anonymous, and not showing-off; I mean really, is it considered anonymous to behave like an undisciplined child and misbehave and telling the world about yourself but in a different way? Answer: No. You are just making yourself more open than ever.

Quote: 

"People have always behaved like asses, of course, but there's something special about the Web that turns otherwise reasonable folks into mindlessly gibbering obscenity delivery systems."

Reflection Proper:

Whether online or not, people regardless of age, in my opinion, act like misbehaved children. In this case, anonymity has always been some sort of "security blanket" in the Web that gives everyone the opportunity, regardless of what behavior, reasonable or not, polite or not, to turn into someone else that is completely different to their real selves like in real life, one's a mild-mannered goody-two-shoes, but online, the same person;s actually a rude gibbering gossiping nonsensical buffoon with no care in the world. In other words, people act uncivilized when given the opportunity to not use their real names, as in these sort of thing gives them a sense of protection, meaning that no one will ever know that this rude guy who from the looks of comment feels like a 30-year old is actually a 19-year old honor student or something. That's one side of anonymity: the bad side, as in the side that is promoting incivility and avoiding social ethics and norms, that is, but as I read further down the essay, anonymity does have some benefits such as the fact that the sense that anonymity gives is sort of like invisibility, as in it sort of builds confidence to express thoughts and feelings. So, personally though, these sort of problems are impossible to answer, but I do believe that people should sort of exercise some basic civility when it comes to being anonymous, or given a mask---case in point, just as long as they know what they are doing, while under the mask of anonymity, they wouldn't have to get involved in serious consequences.

5 Things Learned From Article: 

1. I learned that anonymity gives the sense for people to act less civilized when given the chance to not use their real names or something similar to that manner.

2. I learned in the worst-case scenarios, anonymity can deal a lot of damage to communities.

3. I learned that in the LGBTQIA community, they use anonymity to hide their sexuality due to the fact there are still the reasonable amount of fears involving their well-being, reputation, and careers at risk.

4. I learned that anonymity does have a positive side, like being a confidence-booster. 

5. I learned that real names are not a solution or a cure for behavior of the abusive sort.

5 Integrative Questions:

1. What's your opinion on anonymity on the internet?

2. How do you feel about the fact that anonymity can be a force to be reckoned with?

3. What's your reason for using an alias or pseudonym?

4. Why do people tend to abuse anonymity in such a manner?

5. How do you tend to deal with anonymity these days?