Weekend Kick Around: Are the days of online social media anonymity coming to an end?

[El Presidente]

The push to end online anonymity started in ernest in Europe. However, pressure is now also building in the US, Australia, Canada. 

Let's face it, vile personal attacks are water off a ducks back to some. To others it is a trigger for depression and worse. Kids, teens and young adults appear the worst affected but no demographic is really spared. 

Would putting a verified/verifiable person to the handle actually stop/slow the abuse/trolling? I am not so sure. Narcissists are narcissists for a reason. We have had a few through here over the years. 

Do you create a special rule for those from countries who are at risk of political persecution? How about our Cuban family and friends? They may hide behind a handle but is the platform/govenments really going to insist that they register with their real name and details? Do you trust that information to be protected from state hackers? 

How do you balance personal freedom and protection here? 

Weekend kick around 

 

 

[DaBoot]

Definitely hard to answer when government is oppressive.

 But I think the nastiness of the internet is due to lack of fear of physical violence.people say a lot of things online, they would never say to your face. Period. 
the human mind always has thoughts that are obscene and dark, but most humans won’t say it aloud.

[Edicion]

Louis CK has some valid points about this topic.

 

 

[Chas.Alpha]

Both of my Twitter accounts were permanently suspended. 

[VictorEremita]

There are going to be privacy-protective alternatives (Signal for messaging, Impervious for web browsing, etc), but overall we're moving toward a centralized safetyism. But surely it's always foolish to trust a centralized authority (however well meaning) with anything that really matters.

[Bijan]

I don't really have any anonymous accounts.

Most use my full name. Twitter and FOH use my first name. But it wouldn't be too hard to track me down based on my posts.

I think for most people posting publicly and anonymously on social networks is not necessary (or even possible).

Browsing anonymously is fine.

Posting anonymously gives you a false sense of security as is evidenced by all the doxing and ensuing harassment.

Edit: just to be clear I'm referring to social media and not the internet. You can chat anonymously or publish a book or a blog anonymously. I don't think you can be part of a public group of friends for months and years anonymously.

Kind of how you can go play basketball or tennis in the park anonymously but you can't compete in tournaments anonymously. Or enroll in school anonymously. Journalists can have anonymous sources, but do we want anonymous journalists?

[VictorEremita]

Once you've had a bad experience tho (been SIM-swapped for example, which is all too easy) then you make privacy online a lifestyle.  

[Cairo]

As long as we can train our dogs and cats to post for us I have no issue.

If they ban that as "animal cruelty" then we have a problem.

😀

[JohnS]

As has been mentioned, the concern here is balancing two legitimate issues; one, the need for privacy and two, the understanding that speech is not quite as 'free' as people in first-world developed countries think it is, it comes with consequence/s.

I concur that trusting a central authority to navigate between these two issues isn't always the best answer (witness Facebook's efforts at moderation for example over the years), but in my view it's often better than nothing.

[Chibearsv]

Get off social media and interact face to face instead.  Then if someone "trolls" you, punch them in the nose.  No government intervention necessary.

 

[dominattorney]

This guy wrote a greatly interesting blog post about it back in 2014. He's a bit heavy handed and disjointed for some, but the issue is fully briefed and I can add little to his baseline analysis. 

https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2014/05/cyberbll.html#more

TLDR it's all a red herring for something else. 

My personal take? Jerks exist and will always find a way to fly their true colors. More government regulations are not the answer. I prefer a guarded level of anonymity online. 

[Fuzz]

To stop trolling/fake account/hackers, etc, you should have to provide a valid passport, birth certificate, finger prints, cornea scan, blood/stool/urine samples and a map of your colon, before you are allowed online.

[dominattorney]

38 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

To stop trolling/fake account/hackers, etc, you should have to provide a valid passport, birth certificate, finger prints, cornea scan, blood/stool/urine samples and a map of your colon, before you are allowed online.

To be allowed to post online, you must only mention shipping....

[Greenhorn2]

On 11/17/2022 at 8:06 PM, DaBoot said:

Definitely hard to answer when government is oppressive.

 But I think the nastiness of the internet is due to lack of fear of physical violence.people say a lot of things online, they would never say to your face. Period. 
the human mind always has thoughts that are obscene and dark, but most humans won’t say it aloud.

You would see a ton of super badass keyboard warriors miraculously disappear. 

[Nevrknow]

2 hours ago, Greenhorn2 said:

You would see a ton of super badass keyboard warriors miraculously disappear

True statement . 22 odd years ago, we had in NC a chat room. Yea I was one of those. In those days we still had long distance phone charges. Well hell, for $9.95 a month we could talk to friends all over the state/country for cheap as much as we wanted to. We went to each others homes, went to massive parties together. Held smaller gatherings. It was great. 

But, there's always a but. 😂

Occasionally we would get a troll. Dare them to show up. The looks on their faces when they would actually show up and be surprised by 75 or so of us there. And not everyone was a 98 lb computer geek. 😂😂😂

The girls loved the safety of having so many bodyguards around.  👮🏻‍♂️👷🏻‍♂️🙅🏼‍♂️🥷🏻
 

Reminiscing, good times. Honest times. Now? Not so much. Only in a few places.

[helix]

Gonna send out your opinion, own it.

[Greenhorn2]

3 hours ago, Nevrknow said:

True statement . 22 odd years ago, we had in NC a chat room. Yea I was one of those. In those days we still had long distance phone charges. Well hell, for $9.95 a month we could talk to friends all over the state/country for cheap as much as we wanted to. We went to each others homes, went to massive parties together. Held smaller gatherings. It was great. 

But, there's always a but. 😂

Occasionally we would get a troll. Dare them to show up. The looks on their faces when they would actually show up and be surprised by 75 or so of us there. And not everyone was a 98 lb computer geek. 😂😂😂

The girls loved the safety of having so many bodyguards around.  👮🏻‍♂️👷🏻‍♂️🙅🏼‍♂️🥷🏻
 

Reminiscing, good times. Honest times. Now? Not so much. Only in a few places.

Yeah it's a damn shame kids today don't have any dirt roads or parking lots to hang out at.

[BettyHumpder]

56% of respondents say they haven’t experienced trolling online? man, idk where you all hang out online but it’s absolutely everywhere. or you haven’t realized you were being trolled. besides, the best troll is one you don’t realize is happening.

[Cigar Surgeon]

I think the premise around anonymity was flawed. The original premise was that online trolling is primarily driven as a result of anonymity.

Facebook is a fantastic example of how that just isn't the case. There are people with very real, very public profiles that do and say completely toxic things.

I do agree that bad behavior is amplified as a result of being online. 

[Puros Y Vino]

Digital spaces do need some policing, but I don't think to the extant that every user is fully verified.  There are ways to pinpoint digital troublemakers with some very high degree of accuracy.  It's just that most governments and private counterparts (such as ISP's, Telecoms, etc  don't want to do it or don't want to show how well they can do it. 

I view a digital space, such as Reddit for instance like I would a Starbucks.  I dont necessarily have to declare who I am when I walk in and place an order.  Same goes with Reddit. I can either browse anonymously and not be able to comment, only read. Or I can make a BS account that has nothing to do with my actual name, address etc.  I can "walk in" and either sit and watch or participate (order a drink, chat with someone, etc). Should anyone act up in a Starbucks there are laws to deal with the nature of the offense.  Whether it be theft, vandalism, assault/battery, etc.

Digital spaces IMO need something similar.  Sure it is easier to go after someone who is fully identified. But there are enough digital fingerprints to pinpoint or at least block/ban miscreants.  Full registration on private sites is not something I'd be up for.  I already have all my personal details with the Canadian government that allows me to take advantage of services as a citizen.  I use those accounts for their sole purpose(s).  Any non-gov't site gets a pseudonym from me.  FWIW, many of us already have something similar in place. And that's a credit card. Unless you've stolen an identity and successfully got issued a card, that account alone can track you worldwide.  For instance, when I book a flight ticket with my VISA and use my gmail account as my ID.  Google pops in my flight info into my calendar coming and going.  Scary, but also handy.  Your online anonymity is equal to how little info you put out there to begin with. 

[dominattorney]

19 hours ago, BettyHumpder said:

56% of respondents say they haven’t experienced trolling online? man, idk where you all hang out online but it’s absolutely everywhere. or you haven’t realized you were being trolled. besides, the best troll is one you don’t realize is happening.

I'd wager most of them just post here. I've never been trolled here other than light heartedly. 

[BettyHumpder]

17 minutes ago, dominattorney said:

I'd wager most of them just post here. I've never been trolled here other than light heartedly. 

yeah that’s a fair assessment. trolling can be a lot of fun. especially if the person you’re trying to rile up is a worthy target. 

[Bijan]

16 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Your online anonymity is equal to how little info you put out there to begin with. 

This. 👆