Is Being Anonymous Good or Bad?

The topic that we've been discussing in class these past couple of days have been about anonymity. I believe becoming anonymous has positive and negative sides to it, and even though most of the class might think it's a bad thing I think it's a good thing. Becoming anonymous means being able to say things you wouldn't usually say because you know you'll be judged if you say something people don't agree with. A good example of it being a good thing would be a discussion we had a couple days ago and it was about doing blind reads. I feel that by doing blind reads it helps the writer because they're getting actual feedback and  they don't have a friend or someone they know reading their paper. It's obvious that they won't want to give harsh critic because they don't want to have their friend hate them, and I would know because I never give my harsh feedback to my best friends whenever they want me to read a paper or review what they have typed. I don't look as being anonymous a bad thing because there's people that don't have a voice in the real world and the way society is set up we wouldn't be able to know what people's thoughts are. But there's also the negative side to anonymity and that would be that people abuse being anonymous. By wanting abuse that power they end up hurting certain individual and that's why most people have the mind set of not wanting to be anonymous. We shouldn't let ignorant people affect us in our way of expression and actually want to have an opinion of our own.

Online Trolls Are Uneducated

So within these past few weeks I have been trying to keep a close eye on the comment sections of popular pages on Instagram just to see how many trolls I could find. Throughout the weeks and the endless reading of hate comments I came to realize something interesting. Most of these trolls that we find online try their hardest to create trouble for others just by tormenting them, but what they fail to do half the time is create valid, strong arguments. I commented back on a few of these disturbing claims made by trolls just to see what exactly they were trying to do and/or say. What I came to find out was that when actually spoken back to, which they are not used to, they tend to make arguments that are extremely uneducated. These trolls try to make claims of things that are fictional. If they were to actually sit down and do a little research before berating others then I might have a little more respect for them in the sense that they were honestly doing some work to find information before trying to argue over something that they knew nothing about. Either way, trolls will still always be terrible people to me. Harassing others just for your own self amusement is sickening.

The problem with trolls

the war on trolling is never going to stop.  there will always be that group of people who think it is the best thing since sliced bread.  Ryan m. milner's article, " Dialogue is important, even when it's impolite" says there is a difference between civility and politeness online.  "solutions to hateful speech often comes down to gate keeping, says milner.  some sites only let you comment if you're signed up or you are verified through google or Facebook.  sure, there are buttons to press if someone is trolling online but how many times does that button get pressed a day?  there's no real way to monitor every single comment that gets posted daily.  there's just no way.

Is anonymity always bad?

For the past few days our class has been reading about online trolling, and then many stories of people who have dealt with an online troll. Most people blame anonymity for why trolls do what they do, they believe if anonymity wasn't an option the trolling would stop. However, a troll wont stop just because they cant be anonymous, they would just create a fake account. Trolls do what they do because it makes them feel good, and not having anonymity wouldn't stop them. Trolling has given anonymity a negative connotation in the sense that anonymity allows for people to say what is need to be said in order to maybe help another person through a hard time, where as if said in person would hurt that person. Anonymity isn't all bad, just like with everything in the world there are people who abuse what they have but it shouldn't ruin it for all the rest who use it responsibly.

Anonymity or Trolling

When first introduced to this topic of trolling, I believed that all anonymity was bad due to it being closely associated with the idea of trolling. However, after reading the last four articles of the war against online trolls, I began to have a better understanding of both. Both anonymity and trolling are usually seen together.
 However, in the room for debate articles there is a fine line drawn between the two. Anonymity is actually shown to have provided many benefits for those who are not trolling. Anonymity allows writers to get a message across without having to worry about a bias response. It can also protect people when speaking out an unpopular opinion.
Trolling can be done without being anonymous. If a user if on a forum without knowing anybody, allowing his name to be shown will be no different from having an anonymous username.
I found this interesting because at first we learned so much about anonymous trolls and different ways proposed to stop them. The idea of being anonymous is so closely related to being a troll, that I started to believe that anyone who is anonymous is a troll.
While reading the first room for debate articles, my idea of a troll was strengthened. I was focused more on how to get rid of trolls and contain their chaos. However, after the last four articles I began to focus less on a troll, but more of what a troll actually is. The last four articles created a line between anonymity and trolls and I found it interesting that the two are so close associated yet not always related. It also surprised me how many benefits anonymity can provide for someone who does not look to wreak havoc and avoid consequences.

[KC]: A "Work Day" for Friday, December 4th

Seniors, this is what we've got planned for today:

1. Complete the VOCABULARY HOMEWORK in the back of their notebooks (the 8 assigned by the teacher and 8 of your choice)
2. Work on the GRAMMAR PACKET--particularly activities 4 and 5 (there is a grammar and vocabulary quiz next Thursday, people!)
3. Work on the RHETORICAL PRECIS ASSIGNMENT (this is due next Tuesday!)
4. Work on the ROOM FOR DEBATE CHART in your notebook

Just an FYI...

If you know any college students, you've probably caught wind of what they're going through as students around this time of year. The semester is wrapping up for most of them and they are all studying for final exams and writing A LOT of academic papers! Most are desperately trying to stay afloat in this storm that is their college education.

So the pressure you may be feeling right now--either due to this class or the collective load from all your classes--...

it is the new normal.

Have a good day and a relaxing weekend.

Anonymity is two faced...

         When most people think about being anonymous online they tend to see the bad side of it and how it may affect Internet users in a negative fashion. Tolls now a days are the main focus of anonymity. We see them as those rude and unlikable people who always have to comment on what people do or say. Whether it be sexist comments or escalated opinions, its really all very similar. As others in my class said, it a a new basis of class where everyone is set at the same level playing field. No one person is able to stand above the rest because the Internet has provided most people a safer or easier alternative to getting their opinion out there and making their thought count. What many people don't see is that anonymity can also have its good side to where people are using anonymous accounts to protect themselves from more serious problems that may be occurring in their own lives. Some people use this type of "mask" online to put things out there that might not normally be accepted by everyone. For example, a good percentage of the people online today are sexist and get bothered easily when someone posts online. A way to combat this is, people can simply just remove their sex from the situation and remove bias from the resulting comments. This whole "troll problem" is really bigger than we can imagine and we need to look from outside the box to get better perspectives of what we are dealing with before we actually profile people without being sure of who they are and where they come from. Its all the same as life besides the screen and some people dont give the time to realize it.