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4/30/2013 3:36:52 AM
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Internet Anonymity: A Tool or a Bonus?

Facebook. Let that word either intrigue you or turn you away from this thread right at the start. Still here? Super. Let's move on. I have 'liked' quite a few pages on Facebook that post things I find interesting. And any page that has a large number of... 'likers' I guess... has people attacking others. This is something that has greatly interested me. In person, we would never go up to somebody and say, "You're a piece of !@#$." On a website like Bungie.net, 4chan, Reddit, whatever- you can because you are hidden behind a username and avatar and are awarded with the benefit of hiding who you are. You face no real life repercussions over your words or actions, so many cowards and children feel safe spouting horrible things to other people. Yet on Facebook, you [typically] use your real identity. Real name, picture of yourself... the typical user. And still, despite having the full name, state, city, and picture of people at my fingertips they still post horrible things about others. Do any of you find it strange that these people continue to act as though they were anonymous? It's almost as if the concept of anonymity isn't what matters in the end, only the physical proximity to the other person. People act in ways that would get them punched in the face or embarrass them horribly, yet they are OK with it because it is something online. I personally feel like this is a disturbing trend. Just a few minutes ago I saw a post on a page about somebody getting a death threat. Then the replies were comments where many. if not most, people were saying what a good thing it was and how the poster deserved it. This absolutely disgusts me. Does anybody else have stories about such a thing, or perhaps has an opinion on the relevance of anonymity in online interactions? Discuss.

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  • Facebook you willingly give up personal information.

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  • I only say things I wouldn't normally say in person on actual secure and anonymous places. You know, DeepWeb sites while using Tor and a VPN on a laptop that has an altered MAC address in a public network. But I reserve those instances for much more than insults.

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  • I pretty much act the same way in real life that I do on this site.

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  • Edited by Makeshyft: 5/7/2013 11:39:58 PM
    I've checked. If you google my real name, you get my address, my phone number, my high school report card, my Soccer team CIF championship stats, and my employment history. I've never officially listed any of these on any social website. God. Damn. It. So yah, I always watch what I say.

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  • There is no such thing as internet anonymity, only internet obscurity. If a hacker/individual/organization really wanted to find out who you are, they probably could. You rely on being one of many millions of users, by sheer probability your identity remains unknown.

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  • The things I say online, I would gladly say in real life.

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  • [quote]Do any of you find it strange that these people continue to act as though they were anonymous?[/quote] Considering you'll almost certainly never meet them in real life, 'John Smith from Colorado' is the same as 'anon #3267868' [quote]People act in ways that would get them punched in the face or embarrass them horribly, yet they are OK with it because it is something online. [/quote] I think that's the best thing about the internet, we can have discussions about any topic in the world, (with almost anyone in the world) and not have to worry about the social restraints and repercussions that we have to deal with in real life; It's just pure, unrestricted thoughts here(more or less), and i wouldn't have the internet any other way.

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  • Welcome to the internet.

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  • Being anonymous or not doesn't matter to people if they don't see any real consequences to their, ahem, scumbag heroics.

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  • I act the same way in real life and on the internet.

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  • I don't see reason to be brutally offensive even with anonymity, anyway. Don't say anything you aren't willing to stick by, simple as that.

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  • Only for cowards like you. I am willing to say anything in real life I say on here and have frequently.

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    6 Replies
    • That is actually a really good point and I do have an experience with that which I see every day basically. This one girl who is a sophomore in High School constantly posts about her begging for drugs, wanting to smoke drugs, fighting someone, and calling out someone on her Facebook herself by hyper linking and publicly humiliating them. Ironically I am sure the person she is humiliating is actually much smarter than her and probably will graduate High School. I find it really disgusting (well in the case I put above especially) and I really don't understand why people think they can just do it as if it is anonymous.

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    • You can't sense emotion through an internet connection, and someone's raging fist can't come out of your monitor and smash your face in. Simply, antagonizing in real life is more dangerous and less desensitized.

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