Safety in Anonymity

Have you ever listened to or read a news item that really set you off? You know the kind I mean, the ones about government overspending, the criminal who was guilty as sin but got away on a technicality or the ones about some criminal mastermind who stuck his tongue to a frozen post and got caught. You see or hear these news items and perhaps you have a laugh or maybe even, shall we say, an uncharitable thought. Perhaps you even comment on the item to a friend or family member.

I follow the news allot. For anyone who knows me, that, is not a big surprise. I don't have a voyeuristic streak or anything like that. I just like to be informed about the world around me. I tend to avoid the entertainment news, mainly because it is singularly un-entertaining. I also try to avoid the stories about individual tragedy and loss. But after that, pretty much anything is fair game. Being a kind of news junkie, I tend to check out news sites on a regular basis. I browse the headlines and if something catches my attention, I will take a few moments to read some of the piece and see what it is about. Sometimes I am rewarded by a good piece of journalism and sometimes not.

If you have ever taken the time to get your news online you have probably seen the stories where people can comment on the item by posting their thoughts on a discussion thread. Sometimes these comments are thoughtful and add something to the discussion or the story. If an avalanche happened, for example, perhaps someone with background in that particular field will post a further explanation of the events or the science behind the story. This helps people make sense of what happened and perhaps adds to the public understanding.

More often than not however, people with no expertise and no other intention than to say something foolish or hurtful post their thoughts instead. They make assumptions about motives or results. They jump to conclusions, with no proof, which are not based on anything that they have just read. They take small things, like a misused word, and blow them all out of proportion when it has nothing to do with the point of the story. They insult the subject of the news item, the families involved or the victims of the tragedy in one fell swoop and care less for the consequences of their comments.

The one thing I notice about most of these rude comments is that the people who make the most inflammatory remarks are the ones who do not use their real names or location. Often, it is some made up user name like 'IamAnIdiot123' or some other equally quaint name that is used to hide who the commentator is. Why? If you make a comment in a public forum, why are you allowed to hide who you really are? Like I said, I follow the news allot and sometimes the item makes me think uncharitable things, but before I can give voice to the thought, the little filter that I have in my brain slides into place and I keep the thought to myself. Some people, it seems, lack this filter and say whatever they like, regardless of who they insult or hurt.

Until news sites finally make it mandatory for everyone to provide their real names and locations before commenting on a story, imbeciles with nothing better to do will continue to post insulting and derogatory remarks and hurtful comments. These people hide behind the fact that no one can hold them personally responsible for the things they say. They feel safe in being anonymous. The only way I can see for this to change is for disclosure of identity. But what about privacy and freedom of speech? I agree with both concepts. But if you are not willing to stand behind your words with your identity known to all—then perhaps what you said should have been left unsaid in the first place.