Anonymity in a Digital Age
I’ve always struggled with the idea of anonymity in social media. On one hand, I’m usually an avid supporter of privacy online — agreeing to Facebook’s Terms & Conditions time and time again will haunt me for the rest of my life. On the other hand, there’s 4chan. I still remember my first visit to 4chan, as a curious little Internet “n00b” at 13. It was not pleasant, and neither were any of my consecutive interactions. As a teen, all of the content I saw from 4chan was beyond graphic and disturbing. I’m talking about burning animals and shooting practice and absolutely absurd pornography. I had a brief but passionate love affair with YouTube around the same time, and the witch hunts against Boxxy and Jessi Slaughter were very visible to me. Whoever dubbed 4chan “the Dark Side of the Internet” could not have been closer to the truth.
Now, having read this week’s article, I’m glad to hear that 4chan’s powers have mainly turned towards better causes (although a quick look at /b/ can tell you that the primary demographic hasn’t changed a bit), but I still can’t say I think absolute and uninhibited anonymity online is ever a really good idea. I don’t think any “real name” policies are necessary or even that helpful, but I think we can all agree that creating places where large groups of unidentifiable people can get together and create these plots, terrorize people, and generally wreak havoc with no accountability is no longer a viable idea.
Look at YikYak. It’s not quite the monster that 4chan has the capacity to be, but its problems (and solutions) point to the future of anonymity. The localized nature of the software is a result of our mobilized, always-on digital world. Since young adults are moving more and more of their online activity to their cellphones, software has the capacity to bring this sort of hyperfocus to its constituency. The “disturbing dimension” of YikYak, eloquently stated by Elias Aboujaoude, that you “don’t know where the aggression is coming from, but you know it’s very close to you” resonated deeply with me. When I was young, I could look at 4chan and be horrified but take comfort in the fact that I probably didn’t know anybody involved with the worst of it, and if I did I would never be aware of it. Now, if I read a horribly racist post on YikYak, I know that it’s somebody from my community, and it could be a classmate or even a friend. That’s an incredibly frightening feeling.
Now, on the other hand, the little tweaks the founders are working on are equally intriguing. For example, the “geo-fences” are an incredibly innovative way to protect younger generations. I am interested to see the future of YikYak. The founders refer to YikYak as a learning process, claiming that they’re “definitely still learning.” As it happens, so is the Internet. Hopefully, together, they can figure out a safe and productive way to make anonymity in the digital sphere work. Until then, I’m staying off YikYak.
