Elizabeth Sodimu
These days, anonymity is the name of the game for online platforms.
Log into Twitter and you’ll be greeted with usernames of all kinds, from “(insert celebrity name)’s leftpinkytoe™” to “saltbae”. Of course, many users still opt for using actual names on Twitter, but even names that appear legitimate may not actually belong to the user. Platforms like Reddit prize separation from personal identifying information, with the claim that it allows users to be “more true to themselves”.
While it is difficult to be truly anonymous on the internet, the online environment can often give the impression that an individual’s anonymity is being preserved. In such cases, user behavior often changes in ways that have the potential to be positive or negative. Research has shown that with anonymity comes a tendency to share more personal information than would be considered normal for a face to face conversation. Generally, the effects of anonymity on individual behavior vary depending on the context.
The Drawbacks of Online Anonymity
In many instances, online anonymity is not viewed favorably, as it appears to encourage displays of our worst behaviors, something that Douglas Rushkoff argues in Chapter 6 of his book, “Program or Be Programmed”. Rushkoff highlights the fact that being anonymous provides us with an illusion of freedom from the personal choices that we make. According to him, although we seem to treat people better online, this is not always done with conscious good intent. Rushkoff asserts that we don’t treat others well online because we are seeing through our prejudices, we just don’t see them and assume that they are the same as us. He claims that digital technology is biased towards depersonalization, and that anonymity only exacerbates this bias.
Studies concerning anonymity and general internet usage often focus on how human aggression appears in online interactions. In a study done by Arthur D. Santana, researchers compared anonymous comments from three newspaper forums, and non-anonymous comments from eleven newspaper forums that disallowed anonymity on their sites. The stories from each of the newspapers focused on immigration, and researchers found that 65% of the uncivil comments in response to the articles came from anonymous commenters, compared to 35% coming from the non-anonymous commenters. In this case, anonymity seemed to embolden users to post uncivil comments, more than they would if their comments were associated with their actual names.
A similar occurrence concerning anonymous comments was seen in Librex, an anonymous discussion app at Dartmouth College. The app is relatively new (it was launched on March 5th, 2020), and was launched with the intent to “democratize college discourse and create a space for honest open discussion”. To some extent, it has fulfilled this, as writer Chelsea Moore highlights the fact that many users on the app have made posts with helpful course recommendations, and advice for incoming freshmen. However, there are significant issues with hateful, racist content directed at groups and individuals on the Dartmouth College campus, which Moore attributes to an abandonment of social norms and accountability that has been made possible by anonymity. She makes a similar assertion to Rushkoff in stating that actions need to be taken by users themselves to recognize “the inherent dangers of anonymity”. However, while Rushkoff argues against anonymity, Moore claims that this tendency toward online aggression can be remedied with increased self-accountability. Whichever argument is correct, it is true that there is a correlation between anonymity and aggressive behaviors online.
"The opportunity to separate their actions online from their in-person lifestyle and identity"
Oversharing Online
Another interesting aspect of online anonymity is that it appears to encourage users to share more information than they would typically share in a face-to-face interaction. In studies examining anonymity and online behavior, this trend is attributed to what is called the ‘online disinhibition effect’. This describes the fact that in an online setting of perceived anonymity, individuals tend to lower the inhibitions that might guide a face-to-face interaction. This, in turn, may lead to increased self-disclosure, where individuals share more information about themselves. As researcher John Suler describes, anonymity reduces individual vulnerabilities about self - disclosure because it gives them “the opportunity to separate their actions online from their in-person lifestyle and identity”.
Take anonymous confession pages, for example - these types of pages are filled with posts of information that individuals may not want linked directly to their names, and that they may not be comfortable sharing in a face-to-face interaction. One such page is the UIC Complaints & Compliments Facebook page, formerly called UIC Crushes & Confessions. The initial page was dedicated to individuals in the UIC community hoping to “shoot their shot”, but has now expanded to be a page dedicated to anonymous conversations about virtually anything. For the most part, the posts are simple and humorous posts. However, there are a significant amount of posts with more sensitive information about users’ personal experiences.
Another online community with a similar theme is Reddit, a social platform for sharing news and discussion. It is set up so that users have the ability to vote up or down on content that appears on their feeds, based on whether it captures their interest or not. One of the most notable features of Reddit is that users are only asked to create a username when creating a profile, with no requests to provide additional personal information, providing a sense of anonymity to each individual account. They also have the ability to participate in user-made communities with different topics, ranging from conversations about music groups, to communities centered around political groups or events. With the sense of being anonymous, users can post as much or as little as they wish. While there are moderators in place, some subreddits with content that includes racism, sexism, and hate speech can fall through the cracks. As long as the language used in posts is not violent, they are allowed on the site. Similar to the Facebook page, it is not uncommon on Reddit, perhaps even moreso, to find posts discussing personal experiences, and sometimes asking for advice concerning these experiences.
Finding Online Support
This tendency to share more information under the guise of anonymity has the potential to be good or bad. The internet provides individuals with the opportunity to form relationships with others online, which becomes even more important now, with the limitations on social interaction that are in place due to the COVD-19 pandemic. Sharing personal information is a natural part of building relationships, in both the online setting and face-to-face interactions. In this sense, it may be good that anonymity fosters increased sharing with other individuals online - it can make interactions more organic.
Researchers have also found that typically, online disinhibition can lead to supportive communities. A study published in 2016 examined self-disclosures of sexual abuse on Reddit, and found that the relationships that formed between those who posted their experiences and their audiences were positive - there was usually a great deal of support from the side of those engaging with posts of their own experiences. Even in forums not dedicated specifically to topics like abuse, supportive interactions can be seen concerning experiences of mistreatment, such as in this Reddit post on r/medicalschool concerning an individual who experienced sexual assault at the hands of a superior while in medical school. In the responses, there are a number of supportive comments, as well as individuals giving advice and talking about similar unfortunate experiences.
"It's Free Real Estate!" - Is your "anonymous" profile really protected?
It is important to recognize that in some cases sharing more online can also prove to be a security risk, as this information can easily be tied to the user. Take the case of Whisper, an anonymous secret-sharing mobile app - released in 2012, this site holds thousands of anonymous confessions and opinions, and it has been active for years. However, it was recently found that records in a public, online database of users of Whisper were not password protected, and included a number of personal elements in addition to posts from users. This database has since been taken down, but is a reminder that information posted online can often be traced to the user, even when posted anonymously. This is especially true for platforms that connect personal information when users create their accounts.
"Access and connectivity are easy...and accountability and consequences for bad action are difficult to impose"
In spite of the varied effects that anonymity has on online behavior and interactions, it is not likely to disappear from online forums. In this day and age, people place great value on their privacy and believe that anonymity is a means to protect that privacy. With this in mind, it seems that the changes that will need to be made online will lie more in areas of regulation. As writer Baratunde Thurston stated, “We’ve built a system in which access and connectivity are easy, the cost of publishing is near zero, and accountability and consequences for bad action are difficult to impose or toothless when they do”.
There are few concrete guidelines regarding online conduct, as well as the consequences for negative behavior, and as such, antagonistic actions have become pervasive on the web - not just in anonymous sessions. However, there is hope to be found in the fact that not all anonymous interactions have been negative - in many situations, anonymous users have been able to build supportive communities that signal that civility is more than possible in an anonymous setting.