+-=-+ [b]SOCIAL ANONYMITY[/B] +-=-+
First off, I'm [u][i]not[/i][/u] referring directly to [u][i]Anon[/i][/u] the online group so let's set that straight...
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Today, I feel like we take anonymity for granted, it's something we all experience here on Facepunch every time we log in and post something. I know your screen name and maybe a few details about you from your profile, but otherwise you and I are entirely separate people in different parts of the world. We will probably never meet or speak face-to-face. It's something we here on the internet have come to enjoy at great lengths... so far as to spring up sporadic cases of moderator abuse by perfectly rational individuals, racial degradation by the most straight cut people, espionage and information leaks on scales never seen before in history, and global-scale saboteurs destroying millions of hard drives from a small town in Indonesia.
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Yet it's not without it's benefits, it's been commended for helping inspire and organize revolutions beneath oppressive powers without exposing the organizers and dare I say it.... putting fear in big morally-grey powers through [i]ANON[/i]ymous endeavors.
Then I started thinking... the whole Anonymous-thing has created a unique social environment online that many who have never experienced or grown up with would see as pretty distasteful yet to us is fairly normal; We're used to being called faggots and cunts here, it's as common as a cloud in the sky or a hello and a goodbye. Thing is, most people seem to feel as though this is entirely separate from the real world. "Well I bet he wouldn't be calling me that in-person!" ... Maybe.
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... Maybe not, but think about how many people there are in the World right now- somewhere around 6,994,386,804 last I checked the population clock, and it could be WAYY past that as the population clocks are only an [i]estimate[/i]. Now think about how many people live in your country/region? Where do you live? [url=http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=country:US&dl=en&hl=en&q=us+population]The U.S.[/url]? [url=http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:GBR&dl=en&hl=en&q=uk+population]The U.K.[/url]? [url=http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:DEU&dl=en&hl=en&q=germany+population]Germany[/url]? [url=http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:CHN&dl=en&hl=en&q=china+population]China[/url]? [url=http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:RUS&dl=en&hl=en&q=russia+population]Russia[/url]? Some of us don't seem to have it has bad as others, but when you consider that the densest populations often exist along to or close to the coasts or the limited land space available to the particular country and that this just happens to coincide with many of the [url=http://www.citypopulation.de/world/Agglomerations.html]World's largest cities[/url]... don't you wonder how anonymity plays into a city like Tokyo with 34 million people in it or New York with around 20 million?
Looking at the United States, we're a perfect example because of the amount of [i][b]boom[/b][/i] we've experienced over the last 50 years (never the less the last 100-150). Rural farming towns have become bustling urban cities in a few decades. It's forced a whole restructuring of social structure in some of these places and I for one have seen a trend popping up.
[u][b] Social Anonymity[/b][/u]
In a small town environment where everyone knows everyone else there is a closer relationship between each person. You probably won't catch Ted stealing from Nancy next door because Gladis who lives across the street also knows them both and would likely tell Nancy that she saw Ted stealing from her. In addition, with fewer people there is a greater reliance on each other to help another when in need. Often times in small towns i've seen neighbors give each other keys to their homes under the principle "Well if there's a heavy snow storm or something happens to them and I'm not home I want them to be able to get in and get what they need or call for help."
This does [u][b]not[/b][/u] exist typically in a big city. Some scenarios excluded, most people in large population centers tend to see one another as nuisances. "Ugh, traffic was horrible- There was this asshole on the road today.." or "I can't stand the people I work with, they just irritate the hell out of me!" so we seclude ourselves from most of these people. We have our friends.. but if you live in a City with a heavy population- How many neighbors do you know well? How many would you entrust with the keys to your home?
In a case like above, Ted breaks into Nancy's house and while Gladis was still witness, she hardly comes out of her apartment and thus never knew about Ted who lived upstairs. A unique fact most police precincts will tell you is many thefts or house robberies are committed by an individual who lives within a couple miles, usually in the same neighborhood. Easy to track who's car is gone when, their habits, and because of the number of residents most people do not know more than half of their neighbors.
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I live in [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver]Denver, Colorado[/url], residing in a denser part of the city. I see it even here, people steal from one another and avoid each other. They become passive aggressive and do absurd things to one another. My neighbor parks like an asshole yet she sends her son-in-law over to bitch about potentially hitting her car because I back into my space and then i'm pretty sure she key'd my car later when i continued to back in... Or how about the kid who lives down the way and steals from his neighbors by siphoning their gas... And don't get me started on people in traffic.. This is ALL OVER too, not just my neighborhood.. I may not live in the greatest neighborhood, but even the nicer neighborhoods have a semblance for this aspect.
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But why does this phenomenon happen? All throughout history it has been key for humans to stick together. We are very social creatures and rely on one another for survival. Logically you'd think that trait would persist today since it was only recently the quality of life has greatly improved beyond the need for heavy reliance on one another. In times today it seems like this requirement has lessened more and more. Largely, I believe, brought on by our crutch with technology. We are able to mass-produce food and cover our needs entirely without the help of others. No longer do I need Nancy to grow crops for me to buy/trade or Ted to make my tools. I can go to the store or even better, buy online without any contact but a mouse click.
So what does this mean for our society...? As populations grow larger and the means with which we satisfy our needs become more and more impersonal we seem to be losing some connection to others. Is it just a transitional period into something more adaptive or better suited, or are we simply failing as a society... slowly beginning to decay from within by detaching from one another..?
[b]"tl;dr because i'm a cunt."[/b]
It's as if the larger the population and more impersonal our relations are the more anonymous people become; and the more anonymous people become the worse their behavior towards others is. This seems to relate to our internet-social environment that exists today. Discuss faggot.
What do you propose should be done about it? Name tags or something like that?
Name tags? How would that fix it? I have no idea how to fix it personally, I'm only asking if anyone else has seen this or disagrees with it. I find it a fascinating aspect of Western society (and i'm sure in the East, too).
People get impersonal when there are large numbers of us, stupid too but that's another dark topic in it's own.
Online I don't think it's just a matter of quantity, but also the mere fact that everything is usually a lot less personal. People can't talk to you face to face, see how you react to them in person, and judge you based on what they percieve of you. So what's left to judge and for you to be judged by is something much more impersonal than in real life. The only thing we have left to judge eachother by here on facepunch, is our names, the way we write, and the things we express in our posts, and our reputation.
4chan is an example of what happens when you take away name and therefor reputation, it becomes something so impersonal that the only way to judge eachother is by how you write and what your post contains. The reason tripfags are so hated on 4chan, is because they have additional names and reputations that can be judged aside from their posts. No anonymous user experienced with 4chan minds the insults and namecalling, because you don't give out enough personal information for people to make insults that can considered personal.
[editline]16th February 2012[/editline]
I still think our behavior in real life follows the same principle of how personal versus how impersonal things are. The less you know about a person, the less likely you are to care about them. The less people know about you, the less you will care about what they think of your actions.
Ahh, nice point- But what do we do about it then you think? Should we just ignore it and accept it as it is. "That's just how humans are..." and leave it at that?
I personally, see it creating a rift between people in the future, if it hasn't seriously already started to. Without all the face-to-face and personal understanding that comes from physically being around someone and interacting with them I feel as though people are only going to get worse in their behavior towards each other; all it needs is a little catalyst for it to get really bad.
The western economies are a perfect example of such a catalyst in my opinion. As finances become tighter and tighter people are forced to step down to more desperate means to survive. We are more likely to steal from and cheat one another, and while this all seems to make sense I wonder if you took a small town and placed financial/resource burdens unto it; would the residents begin stealing from each other and trying any way they can to survive above anyone or thing?
In my experience I haven't seen that, it only happens when populations become large enough for anonymity and that disconnect from one another to form.
I guess in reality I don't know where i'm going with all this, but it's an interesting topic to discuss further IMO.
I sadly don't think there is anything we can do about it :v:
In real life it's a matter of making yourself known, and there is only so much a single person can do.
On the internet... it's inevitable. Unless everyone uses webcams and voicechat, it will never be very personal.
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