In My Honest Opinion... A Non-Anonymous Internet
It is so easy to hide behind the anonymity that the Internet can provide. The Internet can be one of the most dangerous places to visit, and it is a place where mob mentality completely overrides all common sense time and time again. Not only do children and teens experience cyberbullying, but adults are reporting it, too. Adult cyberbullying is deemed to be much less important than the bullying that children and teens face, so there are fewer statistics about it but a 2014 Pew Internet report said that up to 40% of adults say that they are cyberbullied. That number has only grown since then. The issues on the Internet have only become more and more egregious as people dare to have opposing views. It's almost impossible to post any kind of opinion today without getting at least one person push back; often in a negative fashion. Why is this?
Often, the issue can be boiled down to anonymity. Anonymity is a very powerful tool. We can do and say things that we normally wouldn't with relatively few consequences. That is an amazing feat. Even on social media platforms like Facebook that are supposed to be all about connecting and making friends, people lie about their names, genders, ages. Online, it is near impossible to know who we are talking to. KittyKat_7 could be a complete stranger, an acquaintance, or even our own mother. This anonymity serves as a way to embolden everyone.
Lately, social media platforms have become a minefield. People receive death threats over the smallest infractions, everything has been accused of being 'fake news', no one can post an opinion without getting crucified, and stupid posts from the past are getting dragged forward to serve as evidence in the court of public opinion. These issues have reached absolutely ludicrous levels with very little to actually do about it.
That's where a nonanonymous Internet comes in. On an Internet where you actually have to verify every single piece of information you input about yourself, it becomes impossible to hide behind a stupid username or fake persona. This obviously won't solve every single issue- there are still bad people who have no problem doing bad things- but lends itself towards accountability. Instead of KittyKat_7 telling you to kill yourself, Shelby from Kalamazoo is telling you to kill yourself and that is something you can actually take action against. Instead of hiding, Shelby now has to face the idea of friends, family, and her employers seeing what she's posted. It's a much more powerful deterrent than a simple block or report against her persona.
Now, I think that there are a lot more issues with a nonanonymous Internet than the good. I think we will lose our free speech and our privacy- something that we cannot let happen. But the way things are now is no longer working. We need a way to safely police who is saying what on the Internet because it is no longer a safe space. Unless we find a way to clean up our act, now, using personal accountability and common sense, someone else will have to step in and that is looking more and more like the loss of anonymity.
Often, the issue can be boiled down to anonymity. Anonymity is a very powerful tool. We can do and say things that we normally wouldn't with relatively few consequences. That is an amazing feat. Even on social media platforms like Facebook that are supposed to be all about connecting and making friends, people lie about their names, genders, ages. Online, it is near impossible to know who we are talking to. KittyKat_7 could be a complete stranger, an acquaintance, or even our own mother. This anonymity serves as a way to embolden everyone.
Lately, social media platforms have become a minefield. People receive death threats over the smallest infractions, everything has been accused of being 'fake news', no one can post an opinion without getting crucified, and stupid posts from the past are getting dragged forward to serve as evidence in the court of public opinion. These issues have reached absolutely ludicrous levels with very little to actually do about it.
That's where a nonanonymous Internet comes in. On an Internet where you actually have to verify every single piece of information you input about yourself, it becomes impossible to hide behind a stupid username or fake persona. This obviously won't solve every single issue- there are still bad people who have no problem doing bad things- but lends itself towards accountability. Instead of KittyKat_7 telling you to kill yourself, Shelby from Kalamazoo is telling you to kill yourself and that is something you can actually take action against. Instead of hiding, Shelby now has to face the idea of friends, family, and her employers seeing what she's posted. It's a much more powerful deterrent than a simple block or report against her persona.
Now, I think that there are a lot more issues with a nonanonymous Internet than the good. I think we will lose our free speech and our privacy- something that we cannot let happen. But the way things are now is no longer working. We need a way to safely police who is saying what on the Internet because it is no longer a safe space. Unless we find a way to clean up our act, now, using personal accountability and common sense, someone else will have to step in and that is looking more and more like the loss of anonymity.
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