Dominique Aulds
Professor Thompson
RWS 200
23 September 2018
Internet Sensations
Many online platforms exist where people can create an account and post whatever comes to mind. In 2010, among middle and high schools across the country, a mobile app ask.fm was released and became one of the most popular social media outlets for young adults. Ask.fm is a question-asking website where users create an account and answer or ask questions between other users and most of the time these exchanges were anonymous. According to a post on AdColony, in the first three years of the release of ask.fm about 300,000 new users added to the site every day with almost no advertising. This site became a hotspot for cyberbullying and was even linked with multiple teen suicide cases according to Daily Mail.
Yale University alumni, David Auerbach, in his digital project, “Anonymity As Culture: Treatise” published in 2012 in the Triple Canopy online magazine, addresses the topic of being faceless over the Web and argues that writing anonymously over the Internet gives a person the liability to use vulgar and offensive language without consequences. He explains that allowing these people to behave erratically online has impacted everyone else by creating an uncomfortable environment. In his article, he displays his knowledge of this anonymous lifestyle and provides his audience with many cases that show how this lifestyle can be taken too far. Auerbach supports this claim by establishing that these anonymous posters are isolating themselves, then providing evidence that proves how abnormal unsourced bloggers are which finally acknowledges the power that these alienated online users feel they have by being unknown. Auerbach enlightens the audience about what incognito people post on the Internet to stress that this culture has a place and identity, both online and in reality.
In this essay I will highlight the methods that Auerbach uses to communicate to his audience the outcomes of anonymity on the Internet and I will discuss how he guides his readers through his knowledge of this anonymous online society.
First, Auerbach claims that many different types of people “want to shut out the world” (Auerbach) and to do so they form anonymous communities which he defines as “A-Culture.” Auerbach exposes that being an anonymous blogger on the Web segregates these individuals from the rest of society that is on the Web. He believes that by forming these anonymous communities online, these Web users are able to create their own world and leave the real one for as long as they are online. Auerbach continues to suggest that these people spend their time associating with other random people on the internet instead of socializing with legit people which creates the sense to the readers that these bloggers are joining a virtual realm with other humans that they don’t even know the identity of. Auerbach has discovered that there are even chatrooms where random users can join and they can discuss anything they desire. He includes one called “Homosexuality: A Chatroom Debate” where a user “woofertweeter” declares, “yeah i don't think gay people deserve to live either” (Auerbach). Woofertweeter is clearly not this user’s real name and therefore has a username to hide behind. According to Auerbach this allows this user to voice whatever is deemed necessary to him/her. This shows that Auerbach claims that people take part in online activities that are nothing like real world activities. He makes it evident that it would be close to impossible to find a group or club that debates about the worth of homosexuals, and it is highly doubted that woofertweeter has the nerve to say something of some sort in person but because their identity is not really them online, he/she has the freedom to put out whatever thoughts they choose.
Next, Auerbach claims that these people who partake in A-Culture are uncanny because they act with mischief but also purpose. He explains that these users not only act immaturely online just for fun, but also to intentionally anger these other users. Auerbach discloses that the anonymous community’s ability to intentionally hurt others online was so popular, it had a name. He unpacks the technique called “trolling,” which is purposefully offending others on the Internet. He reveals an unknown user wondermint posts, “Ruining the lives of noobs makes me a troll” (Auerbach). Auerbach depicts that these online trolls are there to deliberately distress others and that it is so easy to do so when hidden behind a screen-name that hides these users’ true identity. In the same way Auerbach introduces trolling, in 2009 there was in fact a troll meme that surfaced the Internet that users would post to someone who just got trolled. The “Trololo” meme was a viral video that Internet trolls would use as a reply to an Internet “noob” who got insulted online. In 2009, another troll meme surfaced the Internet called the “Trollface” meme. Rage comics are very popular online and the Trollface meme was a very popular character that was used in them. Web users would place this meme when obviously trolling someone online or identifying themselves as a troll. In Auerbach’s article he chooses to verify the popularity of Internet trolling to show that being able to have a different identity online allows these users to play a hurtful role in the online community. He clearly values the Internet noobs’ feelings and even lists the A-Culture trolls as “assholes.” Doing this, Auerbach gives the sense to his readers that online trolling is a mischievous act that anonymous users partake in but trolling is so popular, there are several memes that these trolls have given themselves that have populated the Internet at one point.
Finally, Auerbach claims that these anonymous users feel they gain power by their anonymous posts. Reddit user ineedbeta explains, “By being anonymous, they not only remove ego from the users (which might be why they’re such dicks to everyone else) it also combines the power of every member into one force,” (Auerbach) to reinforce how powerful being anonymous can make an individual, and especially a group. Auerbach provides to his audience that being able to escape reality and entering into an online forum of freedom gives faceless users power to overrule other users with offensive content. He continues that being anonymous, these users can voice their opinion on anything, whether it be true or not, with no consequences these users have the power to post and communicate how immature they wish. In the same way Auerbach proves these users have, in a sense, a mask over their identity, there are many real world occurrences where masks give people power. We are not able to walk up to a stranger’s door, knock, ask for candy, and successfully receive some. With the exception of Halloween, the one day of the year where everyone is encouraged to wear a mask, we are able to receive that candy. This holiday that gives us the power to receive candy from strangers as long as we have a mask on, relates to the issue that Auerbach is displaying in his article. He explains that these faceless users resemble wearing a mask to hide their true identity, but gain power from this. He continues that they gain power because they are able to irritate other users online with no repercussions.
Auerbach argues that the ability to log in as anonymous on the Internet gives the power to these users to not only have the freedom to express themselves however they wish, but also allowing these users to not have any consequences for their juvenile behavior. He successfully delivers his message by accounting for the isolation, power, and irony that online anonymity brings forward. Auerbach’s ability to address the issue of faceless comments on the Web allows his audience to understand why there are many immature people online.