Comments on: The Connection Between Anonymity and Nastiness in the Online World

By: Le Web des cons : insultes et menaces de mort || Relief

Le Web des cons : insultes et menaces de mort || Relief — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:58:18 +0000

[...] mais celui de la vermine qui dissémine les insultes comme des chiures partout où elle passe. Alec Couros s’inquiétait récemment du phénomène, de même qu’un article dans le Globe and Mail [...]

By: Kelly Christopherson

Kelly Christopherson — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:31:47 +0000

Alec,

Thanks for the link and the article. My experience is that anonymity creates, for the user, a sense of power that the user would not have in a f2f encounter. Now, this can be both positive, as in it erases prejudice and allows people to communicate freely and negative, as you demonstrate a few times. My experience on the net is that the way it is used will depend on the location and the people who are there view others ideas. I’d prefer the first but I’ve seen way to much of the latter.
You are correct about teaching and talking about this whole thing. Really, you are not anonymous especially with the ability to track IP addresses. However, that is something few people think about.

By: Francois Guite

Francois Guite — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:17:32 +0000

In case you’ve missed this article in the Globe and Mail, this morning (along with the zillions of comments it’s generating):

“Is nastiness the price we pay for Internet anonymity?”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070321.wanon0321/BNStory/PersonalTech/home