Poll: Anonymity, good or bad?

[nebtheslayer95]

Hey Escapist people. Recently in my english class we were asked to research and form an argument about any topic we felt was interesting. I chose anonymity on the internet, because it is a rather large part of my life. I argued that anonymity was a good thing, because it allowed honest reviews of work, and provided safe areas for people to talk and/or post about things that they never would irl. I didnt go into personal detail, as this paper was supposed to be unbiased, but this is actually a big thing for me. I was and still am a very depressed person, and the internet gave me an outlet to vent my frustration at life and myself. There are other positives too, but thats just what I used. Of course, as with anything, there is a flip side. Things like flamewars, haters, and all that stuff that makes the internet a not always fun place to be. I personally believe that the good of anonymity far outweighs the bad, but my question is: DO YOU? if so, why?

ps. no I am not using this for my paper, its just a subject that Im fairly interested in because I like to study psychology.

 

[Anarchemitis]

The main concern is Mob Mentality:
The vast majority of people when confronted with an opportunity to do something they may find morally objectionable, may commit a decision to violate those morals(to their own horror, occasionally) IF they believe there is a high chance that they'll be able to do it without consequences.
Anonymity is a way in which [the appearance of(?)] less or no consequences can appear, which gives opportunity (and in time, likelihood) that the Mob Mentality would arise.

Anonymity is good, but it is not without risk.

 

[penguindude42]

Anonymity is what makes the internet great.

Anything you see resembling a "name" is but a mask.

~TOM<3

 

[Craorach]

I think the benefits out way the risks for many internet users. I don't think I'd have met my wife, moved to the other side of the world and started on the road to a happy life if I hadn't initially been able to hide behind another name.

The problem we see now isn't with anonymity, rather it is with people taking deliberately deceptive or false names specificity in order to harass and bully people.

There is a big difference between "I'm going to use an internet persona in order to feel less nervous about interaction or what I am discussing" and "I'm going to make a fake name so nobody knows who I am while I bully someone."

 

[Jadak]

Good, how else am I going to be an offensive dick about things without having to worry about employers and such googling my name and seeing things. Bad enough as it is.

 

[Iron Lightning]

I am so tired of threads that say "Poll:" in the title and have no poll. STOP DOING THIS.

Anyways, I like anonymity, it's nice to have a place to come to where my ideas can stand on their own without being attached to the prejudices people have about me for my physical appearance.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Anonymity is awesome.

Not because I myself use it to hide behind (if anyone wanted to call me out on anything I've said online, then I'd stand for it or at the very least extrapolate if I think they might have gotten the wrong idea of what point I was trying to make), but because it seems to be pretty hard for most people to be completely upfront about their opinions otherwise.

Heck, I do know the smell of a few burnt bridges myself that have been set ablaze by my own stoic refusal of using "diplomatic lies" or otherwise hide my true opinions about anything. So I guess I can sympathize with those who just can't burn those bridges in such a flippant manner that I've done.

Especially not when we're talking about people living in oppressive and totalitarian regimes, who might even depend on their internet anonymity to be able to publicly express their honest opinions without running the risk of being murdered by their own government.

There really is NO negative outcome of internet anonymity that would ever outweigh the positive benefits coming from it. Trolls, flame-wars and the like can simply be ignored if it bothers someone...

 

[glodud]

anonymity is horrible, most of the raging douche-bag rants are made because the ranter knows that no one can track him down and blame him for intolerant comments. I prefer a world where if I type a grossly insensitive comment people will know who I am.

 

[staika]

It helps with interacting with people because we are not able to judge each other on how they look or how they sound. But it comes with the price that you can post anything you can possibly think of and they can't track you down. Also it's easy to just say "My account was Hacked!" and then whatever you said is now cleared, well if people believe you that is >.>

 

[nebtheslayer95]

I am so tired of threads that say "Poll:" in the title and have no poll. STOP DOING THIS...

I made a poll when I posted this, but tbh i dont know where it went (it appears to have been lost in cyberspace)>_<. however, you can also just look to the left of the topic for the bar graph symbol thing to see if a thread really does have a poll. again, I had a poll, dont know where it went, so sorry

 

[Torrasque]

Its good and bad.
Its good because you can express any opinion about something without worrying about how it effects you IRL.
But its bad because you can express any opinion about something without worrying about the negative consequences that come with expressing that opinion.

For example:
I like my little pony = good
I like watching child porn = bad

Anonymity is how you use it. It can be good, and I believe it is mostly good, but it can be bad.
Just because some governments are completely useless doesn't mean we stop using government.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Anonymity is just a mask for me, I'm still the same person underneath. I hope that my spontaneous nature and general optimism is at least a bit infectious as I think this world needs to smile more and stop taking itself so seriously all the time.

Anonymity has the potential to be both good and bad. With awesome stories and discussions that would not pop up otherwise happening it is good. However, the ganging up of negativity and the mob mentality is definitely not healthy. Stay on the good road and be yourself.