Anonymity and Social Media
Throughout this week, I've noticed a common theme that keeps popping up among twitter feeds I follow; anonymity. In this digital age it's easy to hide behind our screens and not have any accountability for the things we post under the guise of an anonymous poster or a screen name. Our class blog had a post by Dr. Dennen that really got me thinking about how we interact with people when we know we have the ability to be anonymous. Yik Yak was a popular app when I was in undergrad and was widely used on my campus during the height of its popularity. It was basically an app where people were able to gossip about each other or things on campus, since the app was location based. Often times I wondered if people were forced to say the things that they had written about people, would they still do it? Most likely not, but because they were protected by anonymity they probably felt safer doing so. I personally don't enjoy commenting on things online anonymous or not, but when I do I usually opt for an anonymous option. I think the reason that I (and probably others) do so is due to the fact that no one can predict how a comment will be taken by another. Online communication is already different from in person communication in the sense that one can't "read the room" such as the tone, facial expressions, or overall feeling of the conversation. Things like sarcasm and jokes could be taken out of context and misunderstood by a reader, including those who are just lurking and not apart of the conversation. While I do believe interactions online are important, it is equally as important to realize that on both ends of the screen, there is still a real life person receiving those messages.
This is such a timely post for me! One of my students on her LAST day of high school last week was in a massive group chat on Snapchat when someone sent a rude message directed at her. It was thinly veiled, but her friend group agreed it was meant to be for her. He was, of course, hiding behind not only the screen but the fact that it was in a giant group and maybe could have been directed to some else (in other words, he was a coward-- there I said it). She asked me if she should do anything, and I suggested she ask him about it in person. She's shy and non-confrontational, brilliant and not one to just let others be unkind. So, she stopped him in the hallway and flat out asked him. He turned beet red and denied it. She ran up to me and said, "oh my God that was exhilarating!!!" It made me think so much about these kids and how they've really had the luxury (is it a luxury in the end?) of hiding behind social media for their formative years, and how easy it is to say things (even without anonymity) online instead of f2f. Here's to this cool kid for speaking up! Thanks for sharing this thoughtful post! Lots to think about now that our lives are soooo online.
ReplyDeleteYik Yak. I remember following it locally and just being perplexed. To me, anonymity keeps us apart. Pseudonymity allows us to develop identities with a modicum of real life privacy. The latter is a positive force, the former not so much.
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