Anonymity on the Web Wiki

## Welcome to the Anonymity on the Web Wiki

This wiki was created by the "Fab5" team for ISC325/HCI525. It discusses Anonymity on the Web.

## Anonymity

What Is Anonymity And Can It Even Be Defined?

The uber-Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia tries to defines anonymity, but can only manage “The important idea here is that a person be non-identifiable, unreachable, or untrackable. Anonymity is seen as a technique, or a way of realizing, certain other values, such as privacy, or liberty.”  The fact that one of the web’s most famous sites for encouraging anonymous contributions can’t even accurately come up with an effective way to describe anonymity is extremely insightful.  Some feel that “there remains a dearth of analyses dedicated solely to the concept of anonymity itself” (Ponesse, 2013, p. 323).

## The Need for and Rise of Anonymity

The transformation of the Internet into an all-seeing electronic marketplace has made it significantly more difficult for users to maintain privacy.  The public is growing more aware of the need for keeping their personal information away from the web’s prying eyes.  They also have higher expectations of knowing how information that’s collected about them is used, and that the technologies that exist to insure anonymity need to be easier for them to use (Kang et al., 2013). But the self-publishing explosion on the web is also tailor made for its users to disguise their identity.  The public’s ability to hide behind a “handle” or other pseudonym has created a dramatic alternative to the traditional relationship between editorial content and reader feedback.  A number of journalists have actively advocated for the prohibition of anonymous comments, and a few publications have followed through (Reader, 2012).

## The Great Anonymity Experiment

As for Wikipedia, its larger than life presence as the web’s all-purpose go-to information source, it is also the Internet’s biggest experiment in the influence of anonymous content.  A study done that examined over 100 editors of Wikipedia content concluded that the site it is an excellent model for designers of online communities to insure adequate anonymity and avoid issues of groupthink (Tsikerdekis, 2013). At the same time, there is evidence that Wikipedia’s anonymity is masking the self-interest of some of its editors, with an offer to peek behind the curtain to see who is actually at the controls.

## Dangers and Benefits

There are some strong arguments for why anonymity should not be widespread.  The concept of deindividuation suggests that people withdraw from social norms as anonymity increases.  One of the darker aspects of how anonymity has affected the Internet in general and social media in particular is the rise of “cyberbullying,”and its attendant rise in depression and suicide of its victims, as well as angry and often violent reactions to it (Moore et al., 2012).However, much of the negativity with anonymity on the Internet comes from the vast number of negative comments posted everywhere on the web by those who have come to be known ignominiously as “trolls” (Bowman, 2011). Bowman points out that there is some dichotomy in vilifying anonymous comments.  That dichotomy is most evident in examinations of how anonymity can be both cursed and blessed in online comments.

There are also arguments to encourage anonymity in the workplace, saying that it definitely promotes more productivity when workers believe they can work surveillance-free (Fradera, 2012). For Internet users simply trying to avoid the scrutiny of prying eyes into their buying and browsing habits, there are some valuable resources available.  Tools like anonymizers help users keep a safe distance between them and the sites they visit.  Other tools aid users in exercising control over location-based services that can also be used to identify them

## Cat-fishing

### A phenomenon in and of itself within the concept of internet anonymity.

**Definition** - As defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Cat-fishing is defined as:

* A person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes. There have been many stories in the news surrounding this very thing.
* It would be easy to fall into the Cat-fishing trap, as you never know who you are **really** talking to on the web. However, there are many ways to protect yourself from Cat-fishing schemes.

**Catfish - The Show**

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