I was prompted to write this mainly due to it being an issue that has bothered me for a while. As a young person and particularly a young woman on the Internet I’ve picked up on a range of different subcultures, behaviours and consequences, both positive and negative, of the anonymity the Internet grants us. In this post I aim to outline both the good and the bad then reach my own conclusion.
Initially I was thinking to focus this post upon how internet anonymity has affected our interpersonal interactions and enabled trolling as well as harassment. However, on further reflection I decided I wanted to focus on the effects of this overall.
Internet Anonymity: A Blessing
Firstly, I’d like to outline the good that has come of the anonymity the internet grants us. Prime examples of this are Anonymous’ acts of hacktivism and also the SJW era on the Internet overall from 2015 onwards.
Anonymous is an international hacktivist movement that is widely known for their cyber attacks on governments, the Church of Scientology and many more. Most recently, Anonymous claimed responsibility for taking the Minneapolis Police Department’s website offline following the unjust death of George Floyd. Prior acts of hacktivism have included pranks, sending black faxes and launching DDos attacks.
Outside of the context of hacktivism the anonymity the internet provides has enabled people to engage in and create dialogues that otherwise would not have been created or would have quickly been shut down in any other context. Internet anonymity has also assisted in protecting vulnerable persons and enabling these people to have a voice; a prime example being LGBT teens and adults living in Muslim countries.
As a result of these dialogues as well as safe spaces being created, genuine social change has been created. Examples of this are misogynists, abusers and colourists being outrightly villified on Twitter and outside of the internet itself, the Black Lives Matter movement; likely due to a ripple effect.
Outside of the context of activism, the anonymity the internet provides is hugely helpful for conducting research into the attitudes people hold and a wealth of qualitative (and quantitative) data can be found on almost any social media app.
However, I would argue that the points shown above are a very faint silver lining that pale in comparison to the negativity and outright dangerous subcultures as well as individuals that internet anonymity enables.
Internet Anonymity: A Curse
I would like to begin by stating that the subjects I touch on in the following few paragraphs may trigger some, so here is a trigger warning for violence, misogyny and more. However, outside of these dark topics I do outline the simple fact that the internet enables neeks.
Firstly, I would like to highlight the fact that anonymity on the internet doesn’t need to be. entire for it to still be harmful based on my own personal observations. Many users have their name or face visible, yet despite this they engage in behaviours or speak out in ways they wouldn’t normally. There are many theories for why this occurs, however, one that stands out to me in particular is the echo chamber effect.
To briefly summarise, the echo chamber effect occurs when an individual exists in online spaces with like-minded individuals. They voice their opinions and these opinions are accepted and even encouraged by others in their echo chamber, eventually leading to said individual developing tunnel vision. On first glance, this concept does not seem to be a cause of great concern, who doesn’t like to be agreed with? However, the problem lies with the wrong people being enabled.
One online subculture in particular that drew my attention was the incel community, mainly found on Reddit and on occasion on Twitter. For those unaware, incels are persons, mainly men, who are involuntarily celibate. The term involuntarily celibate was first coined in 1993, by a young woman named Alana (who has chosen to keep her last name confidential), a self-described late bloomer, who created a website in order to discuss her sexual inactivity with others. The website, titled Alana’s Involuntarily Celibate Project, was a simple text only site where she would post theories, articles and also ran a mailing list. Essentially, it began as a safe, inclusive space for those who struggled with people who were lonely and unsure how to begin dating. Unfortunately, it quickly became a movement filled with virulent hatred, hostility and misogyny.
One notable community on Reddit that stood out to me was r/BlackPill. It has since been shut down by Reddit in 2017, mainly due to how hate-filled the posts were. I attempted to access r/BlackPill and find some posts so I could insert some excerpts below, unfortunately I was not able to. Below however, are links to BlackPill posts on forums I have found:
https://lookism.net/threads/this-is-so-fucking-sick.562288/
https://blackpill.club/blackpill/index.php?threads/ngl-flaw-fetishization-is-ragefuel.914/
https://blackpill.club/blackpill/index.php?threads/theres-no-such-a-thing-as-misogyny-or-sexism.676/
However, despite this, similar, smaller subreddits exist and thrive. One such example being r/BlackPillScience. In this subreddit, articles are linked to and discussed that confirm the “black pill” is true.
“Taking the black pill” is essentially accepting a deeply bleak outlook on dating, love and partnering overall. Incels generally believe all women engage in hypergamy, choosing to partner with men more attractive than themselves, and as a result of this men who don’t fit the criteria of a “Chad”; a tall, attractive wealthy man, are discarded and not even considered as sexual or romantic partners.
Whilst this subculture may seem strange and even humorous to some, the growth and consequences of said growth have been devastating. Many attacks have occurred with incels both perpetrating and praising said attacks; a recent example being the murder of Ashley Noelle Arzaga earlier this year in Toronto.
Outside of the incel subculture on Reddit, there is another growing subculture I have observed on Twitter.
On Twitter, most are aware of burner accounts; anonymous accounts that are used primarily for voicing unpopular opinion or engaging in harassment. Oftentimes, burner accounts engage in targeted harassment against one individual in particular.
Burner accounts on Twitter often engage in targeted harassment; including rape or murder threats, as well as dogpiling, primarily towards women. Naturally, we can assume that these accounts would not engage in such behaviour, or would be far less likely to, if their identities were known. However, going back to the initial point I made before talking about negative subcultures on the internet; people whose identities are somewhat known also engage in this behaviour.
Overfamiliarity is also rife; not only on Twitter but on social media as a whole. People often get brave, simply because there is a screen in between themselves and the person they choose to irritate or harass.
This is likely due to the echo chamber effect mentioned previously; people’s opinions being encouraged and accepted by their followers, or the idea that there are little to no consequences for said behaviour.
In conclusion, the internet is hellish.
