Poll: Anonymity and Evil

[ZephrC]

I think generally no. Most people fool themselves into thinking they're nicer than they really are to begin with, but the internet, and most especially forums, really do make it much harder to tell when you're coming across to others as a complete asshole.

Certainly there are genuinely horrible people that have just learned to hide it in reality but don't bother on the internet, but I think most of the time it's simply people not realizing how serious they seem or especially that everyone else probably has the same problem and they're really not actually horrible assholes, they just seem that way because forums are an inherently flawed method of communication.

That's the real problem I think. We all assume everyone online is an ass, and thus undeserving of being treated nicely, and so we all act like assholes to everyone else. We simply don't give the same benefit of the doubt online as we do in person.

 

[Actual]

Absolutely yes. It means they are secretly arseholes, and also cowards as they're too afraid to act that way in real life.

Of course if they're an arsehole in real life and when anonymous at least they're honest and unafraid.

 

[Shymer]

Human moral behaviour is massively influence by whether you are observed, whether you will be caught and what the consequences are, observing consequences of other's actions. People behaving in an obnoxious manner and being seen to get away with it often promotes others to do the same. This is the kind of thinking that drives riots and looting and probably goes to show that the line between human behaviour and animal behaviour is not as wide as we would like to believe as individuals.

Anonimity plays a part in those dynamics. People feel safer when obscured, and may be more prone to obnoxious behaviour that they may not otherwise condone. Road rage is an example. If it does anything, anonimity obscures the human on the other end of our bad behaviour. We don't see the consequences of our actions and so they take on less of an import.

I don't think how people behave when anonymous says anything useful about individuals - because it is, more or less, human nature. However, we are at our best when we try and behave as if out interactions with strangers can make a positive difference - rather than ignoring the fact that upsetting people online is not a good thing.

 

[cWg | Konka]

When you have anonimity you can be yourself without fear of what people will think. Oscar wilde said it best tho "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth"

 

[tzimize]

Absolutely yes because everyone at their core is an unbelievable douche

More or less this.

When you have anonimity you can be yourself without fear of what people will think. Oscar wilde said it best tho "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth"

And this.

This is one of the reasons I love anonymity. Because its one of the ways to find out what people REALLY mean. Is it always positive? No. Can it be? Definitely.

It does say something about who you are, but its not possible to judge a person on what they say anonymously.

 

[JLML]

Voted "I have no opinion. But I am interested enough to vote and read this thread" because none of the options really fit what I think. Sure, most of the time, people acting like arseholes when anonymous are, at least to a certain extent, arseholes. Still, sometimes the circumstances "force" you to act like one even if you're not one/don't want to act like one [like friends pressuring you to or stuff like that] and then I do not think it reflects who you truly are.

 

[averydeeadaccount]

anonymity is irrelevant on the internet because even if you know their username you still cant really punish, so many people act like a douche regardless, such as me.


i lost the game.

No offense, but did it ever occur to you to just not act like a douche?

...actually, maybe a little offense was meant. This is a question about ethics. Shouldn't you be more responsible for your actions?

to be honest the main point of that was to show that you can`t actually do anything, please forgive me if you found this infuriating, i'm actually nice on the internet normally, just making a point.

sorry