The Curse of Internet Anonymity

It's often very difficult to gauge a person's true personality by the actions they make in front of you. Most people are very concerned with their own, carefully crafted image, to the point where they won't do anything that deviates from that image-at least, not in public. However, what happens when that person puts on a mask and their actions become something separate from them?

People can often display weird, seemingly alternate personalities in various areas of their life; a mild-mannered, delicate nerd at home can be a ruthless businessman when at work, just as easily as anyone can become a speeding, reckless maniac as soon as they get behind a steering wheel. However, the anonymity in these situations is limited.

Today, though, anonymity can be found with the push of a button. Internet forums, instant messenger, online games and the like allow anyone to create an entire personality, seemingly separate from the being they are in everyday life. However, if one examines the social dynamics of Internet message boards, what can one determine about the person behind the screen name?

The Internet, through its gift of absolutely anonymity, allows a user to essentially recreate his or herself in whatever image he or she chooses to. A hormonal 13-year-old boy who has trouble talking to girls can recreate himself as a suave ladies man, just as a 70-year old can portray his or herself as a teenager. One would assume, based on this, that most users would display themselves in the most positive light that they could. However, this is not the case.

It's hard to say why but the first thing that becomes obvious about many Internet users is that the second they are given anonymity, the negative sides of their personality are far more likely to emerge than the positive ones. Maybe it's a release, maybe it's a form of rebellion, whatever the reason, so-called "trolls" are some of the most widespread of Internet users. A person who in real life would never insult their best friend will suddenly find themselves perfectly at ease tearing down another user they've never met, or even throwing out an endless spew of coarse profanities for no other reason than shock value.

What's even more fascinating to examine, though, is the response that users like this get. While the more positive users will eventually come to be well-regarded on any message board, the most vile, negative ones will instantly be embraced the second they bare their teeth. Through watching these social dynamics, we can see not just the negative aspects of humanity but also the more sheep-like ones, as hundreds of people cling onto every word of whatever snarky user is "in" at the moment, throwing out numerous comments that really aren't much more than "I agree," or "What he/she said."

The question, then, is what does this say about who we are as a race, or, in fact, does it say anything at all? Is it a display of who we really are on the inside, a free exhibit of our darker underbelly? Or is nothing more than an exercise in imagination, with people tossing fake personalities to the wind to see what sticks? At this present time it's not really clear, however, as time goes on and the Internet evolves into whatever form it may, perhaps someday it will be.