#onlineanonymity

[toolsonfire]

ICYMI: The Rise of AI Anonymity: Navigating New Frontiers http://dlvr.it/TSLThj

[otaviogilbert]

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[studentthoughtsonly-blog]

2. #Anonymity - is it such a thing?

K, ok, let me take it from here.

I’m going to try and convince you why it’s crucial we keep the anonymity debate out of the hands of government and big business.

I pose the question, what do you consider should be truly free to every person who claims this world as home?

 Just as most of us take for granted clean water or fresh air, so we should assume automatic entitlement to the free exchange of information. In Professor of sociology, Gary Marx’ (1999), comprehensive rationale outlining why online anonymity is socially accepted, he posits that anonymity facilitates the flow of information (van der Nagel 2013).  

I believe that for the most part, humans have proven how incapable we are to provide anything for free.  So in fact, what I have come to accept in this life, is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. 

This rings true with the use of algorithms, a form of technological code that sorts online content, and on some websites such as Reddit, determines what information is more predominantly seen by audiences.  Chief executive of Upworthy (website for “meaningful viral content), and internet activist, Eli Parisi, goes as far as saying that algorithms are the new gatekeepers of online technology.  

 “The more users to frequent sites that employ algorithms, the more they end up in a personal “filter bubble” (van der Nagel, 2013)”

These filter bubbles, or “echo chambers”, as they are also referred to, are terms used to describe homophily or the tendency to link to similar others (Siapera, 2012).  A study on echo chambers and the influences on climate change in online discussions found that peer attitudes had a strong influence on individual perceptions of climate change. Further, a critical aspect of homophily is the effect it has on an individual’s social identity, that can be defined as aspects of an individual’s self-image, and how they perceive themselves as belonging to others (Williams, McMurray, Kurz & Lambert, 2015).  As van der Nagel (2013) asserts in her assessment of the reddit gone wild website, although anonymity is encouraged, users are lulled into a false sense of neutrality of code and freedom.  Or should we subscribe to the proclamations of Mary Cross (2011) that social medium such as blogs enable the wisdom of the crowds without official gatekeepers.  The latter view possibly taking us to a place where it is safe and you accepted.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/11/get-out-of-my-echo-chamber-its-cosy-in-here

With this in mind, how do we then position our online selves to avoid the magnetic tendencies within human psyche, given I have asserted earlier that the human psyche remains inherently susceptible to cohesion, conscious and subconscious code? Van der Nagel (2013) suggests that online anonymity provides freedom of speech from surveillance, or judgments such as those being made based on gender, age or appearance.  Information that has no bias, has no motive and is not tainted by artificial or inherent data influence.

Have you ever just stood beside someone on a platform and out of the corner of your eye see someone there beside you?  Have you ever then tried to imagine their gender without specifically looking at them just using your perception alone?  The point I’m making is that this suspension of detail is probably the closest we can ever come to real anonymity.  Real anonymity relies on us allowing ourselves to negotiate within ourselves.  To remain open to discovery.  Anonymity on your terms no one else’s.

 Because of our inherent flaws as human beings, we can never experience true anonymity if the opportunity is being offered from an external source. If it is from an external source, then we no longer have anonymity. 

 So we can’t have it both ways.  We cannot be truly anonymous without first understanding consent.  We cannot expect similar value in data with or without attribution, and sadly we can rarely ever trust human kind to ever do the right thing, regardless of setting. 

 “Anonymity makes us all strangers, and strangers are hard to trust”, claims A. Michael Froomkin (1999: 114), (cited in van der Nagel, 2013)

 References

 Cross, M 2011, Got Blog, in Bloggerati, Twitterati: How blogs and Twitter are transforming popular culture, Praeger, Santa Barbara.

van der Negal 2013, 'Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on reddit gonewild', Scan Journal of Media Arts Culture, vol. 10, no. 2, Macquarie University.

Williams, McMurray, Kurz and Lambert, 2015, “Network analysis reveals open forums and echo chambers in social media discussions of climate change, Global Environmental Change, vol. 32, pp. 126-138.

Wiseman, E 2016, “Get out of my echo chamber.  It’s cosy in here”, The Guardian, Sunday 11 December, viewed 10 December 2018 <https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/11/get-out-of-my-echo-chamber-its-cosy-in-here

[kayleysmithblr-blog]

Connectivity Opening all the right and wrong doors.

We live in an era of a largely participatory culture which is only enhanced by our many online platforms and ever-growing social media. Two of the driving factors to the popularity of social media is 1) the ability to be constantly connected, to share our lives with the world and to have a window into the world of those we know or share common interests. 2) the potential for self-publication of ideas and opinions. These to aspects together open a world of opportunity, as we have seen, for activism and political forces as well as globalization. It is when you add anonymity to these factors that you have the potential for a volatile situation.

Anonymity can have some very positive uses, for the protection of personal information in a very public online world, as well as the protection of identity for personal safety. “Allowing anonymity in social action is arguably essential for the protection of basic rights, such as liberty, dignity and privacy” (Kerr, Steves, & Lucock, 2009, p 439). But it has become very common that anonymity encourages the uncivil use of discussion forums to provoke, degrade, and distract others known as ‘Trolling’ (Youmans & York 2012). So, add the very public display peoples lives online, the ability to instantly publish your opinion along Anonymity that encourages trolling in a way that it allows for little consequence for one's actions online and you have a place where people can do and say what they want log off and not give it another thought.

Anthony McCosker states ‘the persistent belief in the transformative effects of reduced interactive cues, altered feed-back, structures and flexible identification (or anonymity) offers a tempting though problematic, starting point for categorizing new forms of antagonistic online behavior’ (2014, p204). Additionally, unlike face to face confrontations, a written published statement to someone online is harder to refute. The victim of trolling may choose to defend themselves but it does not retract what has been said and the troll may choose not to acknowledge the response. A defense may have little effect on a troll.  

In most cases, depending on severity, the majority of adults have the ability to protect themselves from the effects of trolling, be it prevention or resolution, which leaves younger generations a lot more vulnerable to the effects of trolling as well as the temptation antagonistic online behavior. As a result of this Centre Alliance states that “It has been estimated by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner that in the 12 months to June 2016, 19 percent of teens and eight percent of children were cyberbullied”. They also aim to prioritize the protection  of children in the digital space stating “We must protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

As a mother, I wholeheartedly support the idea of online safety, particularly for children. But as a Global citizen, the idea of potential censorship of internet doesn’t sit right. I can only hope that as the times changes so do the ways we educate our vulnerable, and empower them to see the endless opportunities they have in this new world and how to use them positively and to be a force for change not new forms of hurt.

 Reference

Kerr, I, Steeves, V, & Lucock, C 2009, ‘Lessons from the identity trail: Anonymity, privacy and identity in a networked society’Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

 Youmans, W, & York, J 2012, 'Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements', Journal Of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 315-329.

Patrick, R , ‘Cyber Safety’, Centre Alliance, Viewed 20/5/2018, https://centrealliance.org.au/state-policies/cyber-safety/

[penogrows-blog]

BRING BACK CRAIGSLIST PERSONALS !!!Wtf just happened???? I like reading think page like this is my soap operas and I'm pretty sure this is not something the government should be spending their time on I'm so disappointed in what's happening #thinkforyourself bring back Craigslist personals! #bringbackcraigslistpersonals #onlineanonymity #whatarewedoing

[apattiproduction]

The people behind the cloak of anonymity

Social media brings together public communication and individual contributions, in a new online society. With this digital citizenship comes new norms, responsibilities and unfortunately, potential misuses. Enter the term ‘trolling’, which has evolved as a way to describe cyberbullying, yet its meaning can vary significantly (McCosker 2014, p.202). Anyone can be a troll, sometimes purposefully harmful, and other times unintentionally. Sometimes they even feel like they’re helping the world. The truth is that people are fuelled by existing socio-cultural factors (Phillips 2015, p.169). One thing to consider, is the cloak of anonymity, which makes it easier for us to fall prey to our darkest impulses.

(Irresistibly Fish 2014)

Aren’t all trolls just deceitful creatures with malicious intentions?  

While trolls may seem callous, they represent the uncomfortable reality that these behaviours are actively celebrated in our society (Phillips 2015, p.168). Watch how European countries trolled Donald Trump with “hilarious parodies” (What’s Trending 2017). 

Or how activists are trolling Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, in a bid to raise awareness of human rights violations in Turkmenistan:  http://mashable.com/2017/08/04/turkmenistan-viral-video-parody-trolling/#zouO7T3iUOqt  So wait, anyone can be a troll? Even me?  Unfortunately, yes. While some trolling may be satirical or for the greater good  (although subjective), commentary trolling is not confined to an antisocial minority. Anyone can be triggered by two factors: their mood and the discussion contexts (Cheng, Berstein, Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil & Leslovec 2017, p.1217). That is, that the time of day, and day of the week affects our mood. While the second factor means, that if a discussion starts with a vitriolic comment, it is twice as likely to be trolled; and the more troll comments in the overall discussion, the more likely future users will continue this trend (Cheng et al. 2017). Steering, Kraut & Dabbish (2017, p.111) also discovered this, in their study of Twitch user interactions, explaining that “users imitated examples of behaviour that they saw”. Highlighting just how susceptible we are to propagating negative behaviour. If we’re all trolling each other, then what’s the big deal? This behaviour is replicated by younger users, who mimic popular behaviours to compete for social commodities. If an adolescent gains admiration from their peers, they’re more motivated to act accordingly (Reio, Jr. & Ledesma Ortega 2016, p.149). This is nothing new in the teenage world. However, cyberspace now provides anonymity. Which makes trolling more appealing to young internet users, as it vails the effects that their online behaviours have on victims (Ozden & Icellioglu 2014, p.4383).

(Jayvay 2012) Anonymity also creates the issue of adolescents anonymously trolling themselves. Teenagers involving themselves is known as digital self-harm. They do so to gain attention, support and/or validation (Boyd 2014, p.141). This behaviour is linked to depression and an increased risk of suicide attempts (Patchin & Hinduja 2017, p.761). It has also been found that an average of 6% of highschool students have participated in digital self-harm (Patchin & Hinduja 2017, p.761). This study was prompted by the unfortunate cases of Hannah Smith, 14, and Natalie Natividad, 15, who both anonymously sent hurtful messages to themselves in the weeks leading up to their suicides (Brantley 2017).

(Gemini Designs) It is evident that trolling is highly contextualised, subjective, and still evolving (McCosker 2014, p. 202). The fact that we can be an entirely different person online, makes it easy to lose ourselves and our ethics. Recognising why we engage in these particular acts is crucial in creating a diverse digital community with shared morals and ethos, without stifling personal freedom. What are you thoughts on this complex issue? References: Boyd, D 2014, 'Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?', in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, pp. 128-152.  Cheng, J, Berstein, M, Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, C, & Leslovec, J 2017, ‘Our experiment taught us why people troll’, The Conversation, 2 March, viewed 16 December 2017, https://theconversation.com/our-experiments-taught-us-why-people-troll-72798. McCosker, A 2014, ‘Trolling as provocation: YouTube's agonistics publics’, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217. Ozden, M. S. & Icellioglu, S 2014, ‘The perception of cyberbullying and cybervictimization by university students in terms of their personality factors’, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 16, pp. 4379-4383. Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S 2017, ‘Digital Self-Harm Among Adolescents’, Journal of Adolescent Health’, vol. 61, no. 6, pp. 761-766.  Phillips, W 2015, This is why we can’t have nice things: Mapping the relationship between online trolling and mainstream culture, MIT Press; Cambridge, Massachusetts. Reio Jr., T. G. & Ledesma Ortega, C. C. 2016, ‘Cyberbullying and Its Emotional Consequences: What We Know and What We Can Do’, in S. Y. Tettegah (ed.) Emotions, Technology, and Behaviors, Elsevier Inc, London, UK; San Diego, USA; MA, USA; Oxford, UK, pp. 145-158. Steering, J, Kraut, R.E., & Dabbish, L 2017, ‘Shaping pro and anti-social behaviour on Twitch through moderation and example-setting’, CSCW ’17 Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, ACM, New York, pp. 111-125.