Anonymity: Where Civility Goes to Die

              Sherry Turkle worries about how the technological world we live in is redefining how we experience life and she discusses these issues in her book, Alone Together. One of the most concerning aspects of being tethered to the internet, as she says, is that we experience less face to face communication with other people. Texting, for example, has replaced phone calls for many people – especially teenagers. For the uncomfortable, awkward teenage years, texting is ideal because it can be used as “a place to hide” from social humiliation, a place to think about and revise a thought before it is sent (187). Facebook also creates a place to hide, in a sense, because as Turkle mentions it is all about creating an identity. It is an environment where people can express other versions of themselves that they don’t feel like they can be in the real world. Turkle describes the effects of the network on today’s young people as paradoxical. While it is easier to play with identity, it is harder to leave the past behind. While the network facilitates separation, it also inhibits it because anyone can be reached at any time (169). Children and adults are falling victim to technology’s grasp on sociability. Parents claim not being able to escape work; younger people spend more time texting than talking. Turkle warns that in order to grow, we need to learn how to be disconnected or “untethered”, how to socialize in a way that demands face to face communication.

      A short blog on Word Press by Matt Hames delves into the problem of anonymity vs. identity on the internet. In simple terms, he argues that people are more likely to be socially unacceptable or uncivil when they are posting on sites such as 4chan or YouTube, where anonymity is an option. He claims that “when there is no cost to someone’s profile, there is no requirement to be civil.” On the other hand, places that require an identity, such as Facebook, forces users to be more socially responsible. Hames states that “sharing with people [he knows] creates social currency.” There is a direct purpose or goal: being liked, increasing sociability.

                Turkle mentions that “the internet is forever” (169). Hames also reminds his readers that any lack of civility that is next to a person’s name is just a Google search away. This being true, having a true identity on the internet will inhibit people from displaying or saying anything that will make them less popular or socially acceptable. Being anonymous on the internet gives people a sense of power. It makes them feel like they have no rules or limits to what they can say or do because there will be no social repercussions. If anonymity were an option on every site, civility would be dead. It only brings us further and further away from the face to face connections we need in order to untether ourselves from technology.