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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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  • 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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