Project 3 Draft: Abusive Anonymity

Bullying is an epidemic that can cause serious problems.  It is often seen between adolescents and teenagers and may not have been considered very serious most of the time.  However, the effects of bullying can be detrimental to a growing child who may not have self-confidence or the simple ability to ignore harsh and cruel comments and gestures.  This past fall, five homosexual adolescents committed suicide within three weeks of each other due to bullying that became too much for them to handle. 

Among these five was an eighteen-year-old freshman, at Rutgers University, named Tyler Clementi.  Tyler’s roommate videotaped Tyler having sexual relations with another male student and posted it on the Internet.  Upon hearing of this invasion of privacy, Tyler jumped off the George Washington Bridge and ended his life.  His only goodbye was a Facebook status that Tyler posted, “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry.” (Friedman, 2010).  This is not the way that a person of Tyler’s age should be saying goodbye to the world.  However, Tyler Clementi is one of many homosexual, adolescent victims who do not see any other solution to their problems.  

The day after Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge, a student Johnson and Wales University took a similar course of action.  Raymond Chase, a nineteen-year-old boy, was an openly gay teenager.  He hanged himself in his dorm room because he too faced harsh peer victimization due to his sexual preference.  The victimization that he suffered drove him to commit suicide.  This is a path that many homosexual adolescents choose because they are harassed to the point where they feel like that have no other option.  This tragedy has become a reality to parents, siblings, friends and countless others of too many adolescents. 

A few weeks prior to the horrifying deaths of Tyler and Raymond, a thirteen-year-old boy faced a similar unfortunate situation.  This California teenager was bullied and harassed in school for being gay.  He hanged himself because the bullying was too much for him to handle.  At the age of thirteen, adolescents are already facing peer victimization and harassment that is driving them to commit suicide. 

In Massachusetts, eleven-year-old, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover hanged himself by an electrical cord, due to the bullying he faced at the charter school he attended.  “According to his mom, the kids picked on him for everything from the way he dressed to how he talked. Carl's classmates often taunted him and called him "gay"” (Dorning, 2009).  This cruelty and harsh treatment towards peers is developing at an early stage, and it is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately.  Carl’s mother advocates anti-bullying laws because she does not want other parents to suffer the loss of a child the way that she did.  Carl’s mother, along with many others advocating these laws, are helping solve the problem of bullying based on sexual preference.  They recognize that this peer victimization can lead to extreme isolation that has the power to deteriorate a child’s mental and physical health to the point where suicide seems like it is the only way to escape.

If these occurrences are happening due to bullying in person, it is impossible to imagine how much damage can be done if the victim does not know the person bullying them.  Due to the popularity of the Internet, people of all ages have gained a new form of bullying, commonly known as cyber bullying.  “In the information age, playground poundings have moved to online chat rooms and instant messages. Nearly half of all teenagers report they have been the victim of cyber attacks” (Parents).  I think that the reason cyber bullying causes such a threat is because of the possibility of anonymity.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, anonymous means “nameless, having no name; of unknown name” (OED).  When a child is bullied to their face they know the person, the child has a better chance of stopping the bully by avoiding them, talking to them, or seeking adult assistance.  However, on the Internet, people can hide behind false identities that give them anonymity. 

Although anonymity can be positive, there is also a negative side.  On the one hand, when we have an embarrassing question we can ask it anonymously on websites, this is helpful because people can get answers without being judged by peers.  On the other hand, there are sites such as www.FormSpring.me, on which anyone can anonymously ask questions to a specific account holder, which can create damage to an adolescent’s confidence.  I first saw this site when I was a Peer Leader for 7^th grade girls last year.  My girls showed me funny things that they were asked, but I was shocked to see one post that was not a question, but a statement that still upsets me. It read, “You are such a b*tch. I don’t think it occurs to you how many people hate you!”.  These young girls were being verbally abused on this website by people who knew that they could never say such harsh words to someone else’s face.  They hid behind cyber anonymity in order to bully and torment others.  Adolescents have yet to fully matured, meaning that they are very susceptible to judgment especially when it is possibly coming from a peer.

When anonymity is factored into cyber bullying, the victim has no way of knowing who is harassing them.  In October 2006, thirteen-year-old Megan Meier was being cyber bullied by an anonymous profile.  The person started out as a male friend with whom Megan began to form a close friendship.  However, eventually the person began insulting Megan and nasty things were being posted on the Internet about her.  When her parents found out they tried to solve the problem, but it was too late.  Megan had been victimized and the damage was irreversible.  Megan hanged herself because of this instance of cyber bullying.  The shocking part about this unfortunate story was that the Myspace profile that had harassed Megan was created and used by the mother of one of Megan’s peers.  Anonymity permitted this adult woman to be vicious to an innocent teenager to the point where Megan committed suicide.      

Anonymity and cyber bullying is a serious issue that needs to be put to an end.  Adolescents have not fully developed and are susceptible to judgments and awful comments made by their peers.  They are vulnerable and an anonymous cyber bully can seriously damage their self-esteem.  As nice as it is to ask anonymous questions, that might be embarrassing or might cause the person asking to be judged, anonymity can be easily abused.  It also provides people with the ability to say things that would not be acceptable to say out loud because it is too harsh or too cruel.

In Second Life games, people have the ability to create an avatar.  They can choose its race, gender, and other features.  People have the opportunity to become something they are not on the Internet through their avatar.  In the real world there are stereotypes and prejudices, these same issues are present in Second Life games as well.  For example, “Brazilians are often assumed to be prone to content theft…Still, because of the stereotype, there are honest Brazilian content creators in Second Life who now disguise their national origin, for fear of being accused of content theft” (Au).  Having prejudices and biases like this are frowned upon today because we are a nation that is supposed to accept everyone and respect one another as equals.  However, when anonymity is factored in people with prejudices and biases are free to express themselves as aggressively as they want.  This creates conflict on the Internet because these stereotypes and other issues are much less likely to be present in the real world.  People have a higher tendency to be harsh when they are not recognized for their words and actions and they are protected by anonymity.            

Another way that people hide behind anonymity is on blogs.  People who comment with strong words or are putting down another blog, more commonly known as trolling, probably would not make the same comments if their real identity was exposed.  People have the liberty to be obnoxious and rude on the Internet because they are hidden by a fake identity.  Trolls are often looking to start commotion or extract a specific reaction from other people on the Internet.  In an article in the New York Times Magazine, a former troll explained that, “Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh,” said one ex-troll who, like many people I contacted, refused to disclose his legal identity” (Schwartz).  The idea that manipulating anonymity to extract emotions is, unfortunately, popular.  Trolls roam the Internet in search of victims that they can easily abuse for fun.  Trolls are an example of anonymous cyber bullies; they get pleasure from watching an innocent person suffer.  Anonymity gives people the power to do things that they know are wrong; they can get away with things that are even illegal.

One example of this was proven through the Robin Sage Experiment.  The experiment, performed by Thomas Ryan, started with fake profiles on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn under the alias Robin Sage. Thomas Ryan, “sent requests and established social network connections with more than 300 professionals in the National Security Agency, DoD, and global 500 corporations” (Ohab).  Ryan was able to access security questions to email accounts and bank accounts of people that befriended the fictitious Robin Sage. Even though a user has a profile picture and friends on a social networking site, it does not mean that they are a real person.  “Having a friend you don’t know means virtually anyone could be monitoring your activities and the information in your posts. If you post as much as some of my friends that means they’d know almost everything about your schedule right down to that “epic cheeseburger” you ate” (Ohab).  Anonymity is easily abused and someone can obtain private information if people are not wise about privacy settings on such sites.

Another way that people can easily fake their identity through abusing anonymity is seen through 90-Day Jane.  90-Day Jane was a blogger who blogged that she was going to blog for the next ninety days and then commit suicide.  She wrote, “What else should I say? ...This blog is not a cry for help or even to get attention. It's simply a public record of my last 90 days in existence" (Hinckley).  Her blog grabbed the attention of many people on the Internet.  Psychologists who handle suicide patients expressed deep concern, as well as average every day people who feared for 90-Day Jane.  She went as far as to post videos asking for advice on what outfit to wear when she committed suicide.  Needless to say numerous people were disturbed, but the site, “attracted 157,530 hits before it was taken down” (Hinckley).  As it turned out 90-Day Jane was an experiment preformed by a blogger who, “made the site as an art project, figuring only some friends would see it because people usually aren't drawn to dramatic stories on the Internet” (Douglas).  She was protected by her ability to be anonymous on the Internet and was able to create a great deal of commotion online without even trying.

Anonymity has been abused on the Internet in many forms.  Cyber bullies, people on social networking sites, trolls and other bloggers have the power to manipulate other Internet users for their own entertainment.  If this abuse continues there could be more issues caused simply because people are looking for a way to stay entertained, despite the fact that they may damage another person.  Adolescents are most vulnerable to these methods of bullying, however, adults can be affected as well.  Adults can also be the ones causing the problems on sites as well as online games by using the power of anonymity in unjust ways.  Although anonymity can be a positive thing in certain situations, people have been able to use it in negative ways and cause problems as severe as suicide.  It may be impossible to end abuse of anonymity but there are ways that people can be smarter about it.  Parents can protect their children by monitoring their use of the Internet.  Adults and teenagers can be careful what they post on social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn.  These are only a few examples of the ways in which people can be safer on the Internet and less susceptible to abuse through anonymity, cyber bullies, trolls and other cruelties on the Internet.

Works Cited

"Anonymous." Home : Oxford English Dictionary. Nov. 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/8061>.

Au, Wagner J. "New World Notes: My Top 3 SXSW Talk Takeaways: Avatar Anonymity Is (Mostly) for Kids and Has Helped Keep Second Life Niche; In SL, National/Racial Identity in SL Exposed by Chat & VOIP." Second Life: New World Notes. 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/03/sxsw-e-race-avatar-anonymity-and-racism.html>.

Dorning, Ann-Marie. (2009, November 17). “Anti-Bullying Efforts Gain in Mass”. - ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/anti-bullying-efforts-gain-mass/story?id=9103058&page=1

Douglas, Nick. "90 Day Jane Not Killing Herself, Not As Hot As You Hoped." Gawker — Today's Gossip Is Tomorrow's News. 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. <http://gawker.com/#!356131/90-day-jane-not-killing-herself-not-as-hot-as-you-hoped>.

Evans, William P.; Marte, Ricardo M.; Betts, Sherry; Silliman, Benjamin. 2001. “Adolescent Suicide Risk and Peer-Related Violent Behaviors and Victimization.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 12:1330-1348.

Friedman, B. E. 2010. “Tyler Clementi, Victim of Secret Dorm Sex Tape at Rutgers University, Commits Suicide”. ABCNews.com. http://abcnews.go.com/US/victim-secret-dorm-sex-tape-commits-suicide/story?id=11758716&tqkw=&tqshow=W

Hershberger, Scott L.; D'Augelli, Anthony R. 1955. “The impact of victimization on the mental health and suicidality of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths.” Developmental Psychology. 31(1): 65-74. http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/31/1/65.html

Hinckley, David. "Controversial 90-Day Jane Blogger Maintains Suicide Countdown Is Real - New York Daily News." Featured Articles From The New York Daily News. 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. <http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-02-13/news/17891973_1_suicide-contagion-national-suicide-prevention-lifeline-blogger>.

Levmore, Saul. "The Internet's Anonymity Problem." The Offensive Internet : Privacy, Speech, and Reputation. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2010. Print.

Ohab, John. "The Dangers of Friending Strangers: the Robin Sage Experiment | Armed with Science." Armed with Science | Providing You Information on Military Science and Technology. 21 July 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://science.dodlive.mil/2010/07/21/the-dangers-of-friending-strangers-the-robin-sage-experiment/>.

"Parents: Cyber Bullying Led to Teen's Suicide - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. 19 Nov. 2007. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3882520&page=3>.

Schwartz, Mattathias. "The Trolls Among Us." New York Times. 3 Aug. 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html>.

"Troll (Internet)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)>.

          

Mark's Mystery Motivation

As I watched The Social Network for class, I wondered what motivated Mark Zuckerberg to create Facebook, especially when he knew the possible consequences.  I remember writing my first project about the claim that Tim Wu makes in The Master Switch that, “the motivations of information moguls can almost never be exhaustively described in terms of simple greed and vanity” (315).  What if Mark Zuckerberg was motivated by something other than greed? 

Zuckerberg may have been motivated by the rejection he faces when his girlfriend breaks up with him.  He clearly was caught off guard when she abruptly ends the relationship and may want her to notice him.  This theory appears to be true when Zuckerberg wants to be certain that there is an article about Facebook in the Boston University newspaper, where his ex-girlfriend attends college.  

This possibility becomes more believer when Sean Parker, the creator of Napster, tells Zuckerberg the story behind why he decided to make Napster.  He wanted a girl to notice him so he invented the next big thing.  Similarly, Zuckerberg may have started the next big thing to get his ex-girlfriend's attention. 

Another possible motivation that presents itself is jealousy.  His best friend begins to get recruited for the Final Club that Zuckerberg wants to join.  There are multiple scenes in which Zuckerberg is condescending, rude and unsupportive towards his friend about the situation.  In the end, it is suggested that Zuckerberg screwed over his friend by taking away his share in Facebook out of jealousy.  Although Zuckerberg seems sincerely upset by the idea, it is not clear as to whether or not it is true or not.  

Zuckerberg's motivations are unknown, but it is unlikely that he was only interested in stealing an idea and getting money.  There are other factors that may have motivated him.  It may not have been an attack on the Winklevoss twins to steal their idea of Harvard Connection.  Zuckerberg may have been motivated by something else entirely like Tim Wu suggests.     

Project 3: Hiding Behind Anonymity

Bullying is an epidemic that can cause serious problems.  It is often seen between adolescents and teenagers and may not have been considered very serious most of the time.  However, the effects of bullying can be detrimental to a growing child who may not have self-confidence or the simple ability to ignore harsh and cruel comments and gestures.  Due to the popularity of the Internet, adolescents have gained a new form of bullying, commonly known as cyberbullying.  I think that the reason cyberbullying causes such a threat is because of the possibility of anonymity.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, anonymous means “nameless, having no name; of unknown name” (OED). On the Internet, people can hide behind false identities that give them anonymity. 

As nice as it is to ask questions anonymously that might be embarrassing or might cause the person asking to be judged, anonymity is abused.  It also provides people with the ability to say things that would not be acceptable to say out loud because it is too harsh or too cruel.

Another way that people hide behind anonymity is on blogs.  People who comment with strong words putting down another blog, more commonly known as trolling, probably would not make the same comments if their real identity was exposed.  At the same time people who blog may be less concerned with what they say if they are anonymously blogging. 

Because this topic of anonymity and cyberbullying is rather new, I know I will struggle to find good academic sources as well as book sources.  However this topic has been fairly popular in the news this past year, so I will have the ability to relate it to what is happening today well.

Based on my research thus far, I think that anonymity can not be avoided however it does need to be tamed because it has gotten so outrageous that teenagers are committing suicide due to an online bully.  Are people bolder on the Internet in terms of bullying because they can hide behind that anonymity?

"Anonymous." Home : Oxford English Dictionary. Nov. 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/8061>.

Au, Wagner J. "New World Notes: My Top 3 SXSW Talk Takeaways: Avatar Anonymity Is (Mostly) for Kids and Has Helped Keep Second Life Niche; In SL, National/Racial Identity in SL Exposed by Chat & VOIP." Second Life: New World Notes. 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/03/sxsw-e-race-avatar-anonymity-and-racism.html>.

This blog talks about how anonymous avatars are focused towards a younger age group.

Evans, William P.; Marte, Ricardo M.; Betts, Sherry; Silliman, Benjamin. 2001. “Adolescent Suicide Risk and Peer-Related Violent Behaviors and Victimization.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 12:1330-1348.

The writers discuss how much bullying can affect adolescents, to the point where those being victimized by their peers feel that the only escape is suicide.

Hershberger, Scott L.; D'Augelli, Anthony R. 1955. “The impact of victimization on the mental health and suicidality of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths.” Developmental Psychology. 31(1): 65-74. http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/31/1/65.html

The writers discuss the impact that bullying can have on children and young adults who are confused about their sexuality.  It has become such a severe and traumatizing experience that many have committed suicide.  

Levmore, Saul. "The Internet's Anonymity Problem." The Offensive Internet : Privacy, Speech, and Reputation. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2010. Print.

Ohab, John. "The Dangers of Friending Strangers: the Robin Sage Experiment | Armed with Science." Armed with Science | Providing You Information on Military Science and Technology. 21 July 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://science.dodlive.mil/2010/07/21/the-dangers-of-friending-strangers-the-robin-sage-experiment/>.

This author discusses the dangers of adding friends on Facebook that you don’t really know.  Just because they have a picture of a person does not mean that is who they actually are.  There is a chance that the person is a hacker and can access your bank and email accounts.

Is It Human or Computer?

As I was reading Brian Christian's article, "Mind vs. Machine", I was intrigued by the Most Human Human award that he discusses.  It seems strange to have to prove to a panel of judges that you are human and not a computer.  However, it seems perfectly normal for machines to go through the Turing Test to see if the panel of judges can tell the difference.  Christian was told to be himself and he would be able to prove that he was human.  I wonder if I would be able to prove that I was human if I were to be tested the same way. I think it would be odd to hear that I sound like a computer when I type, but technology is so advanced today, that they have the ability to sound like a human through Internet correspondence.  There are multiple bots on the Internet that can instant message with AOL users and sound like a human, with the exception of the advertisements they sometimes send.  In middle school my friends and I would instant message them, hoping to prove that they were not real people.  Although the bots never admitted it, it was obvious that they were not human.  However, many bots have been programmed to pick up on our slang and style of speaking that it is possible for us to momentarily forget that they are in fact machines.  

I think that it is a significant accomplishment for a machine to win the Most Human Computer award, but after Christian wins the Most Human Human award, he makes a very valid point that, "It seemed strange to treat the award as meaningless or trivial, but did winning really represent something about me as a person?".  The Most Human Computer award proved that the machine had impressed the judges and seemed least machine-like out of all of its competitors, but the Most Human Human simply determined who seemed least like a machine.  What if someone had sounded like a machine to the judges?  Would they feel less like a human? 

        

Birkerts Has a Point

I spend a large majority of my time on communication technologies, especially social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.  Whether Im checking them first thing in the morning or during study breaks, I am constantly checking them.  My friends are the same way, we are constantly connected to one another despite the fact that we are all at different schools.  We communicate frequently and it is great to hear from a friend, who is all the way in Boston, Pennsylvania, or even California, in a matter of minutes.  This, to me, seems like a good thing, but Sven Birkerts does not agree.  He argues, in an online conference, that, "I'm almost tempted to say that we would do better with less communication, the more so if communication becomes a kind of stand in for facing oneself inwardly".  Even though the first time I read this, I couldn't have disagreed more, Birkerts has a valid point.  If I am not on my computer chatting with friends or text messaging someone, I don't like to be seen alone.  It makes me feel awkward and self conscious of what people may think of me.  

Another simple solution to my fear of being seen sitting alone would be to bring my homework out with me or reading a book, but I strongly prefer communication even if it isn't face to face.  Birkerts brings up the point that people don't read anymore and it is unfortunately true.  When I was younger, I loved to read for fun.  However, as I grew up and discovered the Internet and social networking sites, I began reading less and less to the point where I will only read a book if I need to for class, or if I'm on vacation.  I have read Woolf, but it was for a classs, therefore I was not enjoying the reading, I was focusing on what points I could write about from the text.   This is upsetting to think that something I used to enjoy is being boxed out by communication technologies.  Birkerts makes a strong point.  People today have increased their use of the Internet and it has taken a toll on their knowledge of literature and history.  These important subjects are extremely important, but is it possible that technology is becoming more important to us?