I have been asked to answer the question as to whether anonymity on the Internet is a blessing or a curse. In answering this question I must consider how the Internet might change if there were no anonymity. Another consideration would be how anonymity affects participation and outlook on the Internet as a whole.
Anonymity on Internet forums enables us to be open, honest, and say what we really think and feel. It allows us the freedom to express our opinions, thoughts, and discuss personal issues that are interesting that we might have kept to ourselves. An example might be the freedom to discuss a medical or mental disease that we have personally experienced that we wouldn't feel comfortable discussing without anonymity.
If everyone new who you were in a forum discussions might become a little bland. Personal topics and issues would only be discussed in general terms. Several posts that people find interesting and honest would probably be gone. A non-anonymous forum could lead to stalking, pornography, or other antisocial behavior as dishonest people would know and could track down who they were talking to.
I feel that forums should remain anonymous. While there will always be dishonest people who's intent is to be hurtful and rude, most of the comments made by these people are easy to ignore. I feel that the valuable interaction we receive through others thoughts and comments would be lost without anonymity. Reading others comments on a subject can be very informative and helpful allowing us to broaden our own insights on a particular subject. The freedom of being nameless allows us to be honest and forthcoming.
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Grandma Val, I find that I really like knowing your name. I read your response with interest as I feel that we are probably the same age. I am new to blog sites and social networking and I believe that for me, knowing who I am interacting with is part of the enjoyment. I also agree with what you said about honesty being able to flow when anonymous individuals are sharing pertinent and perhaps difficult information. The negatives to anonymity were presented as well and I found that you touched on the exact ones that everyone is concerned about. One of our classmates wrote beautifully about the areas of Internet business impacted by anonymous users (they had five responses already so I moved on) but the information they shared was incredibly informative. As you stated, sharing in this way does open our minds to additional options and points-of-view. Well done! Caron
ReplyDeleteReally nice post, you described the importance (and some of the downsides) of the issues of anonymity really well. And I agree for certain forums allowing for anonymity is part of the process of making them work to begin with and should remain so. Nice job...
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a really good job on this post! You covered the pros and cons with internet anonymity very nicely. I found your insight, on the fact that forums would be very boring if there was anonymity, very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI liked your insight and you brought up some points I had not considered. Good job!
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