As the online community grows, so does the world of anonymity. Having anonymity does come with it's benefits, but mostly comes with horrible disadvantages. One benefit of online anonymity is the fact that you are able to speak what you think on a certain subject with anyone knowing who you are and without judgement. Which is a good thing or was a good thing because you wouldn't be judged for it. Now that I see it and how it's becoming more than just a safe way to say what you think, people tend to abuse that right. Anonymity is growing and growing and we can't stop it. People tend to take that opportunity of going anonymous for different reasons such as hate, cyber bullying, and just putting people down, which is the sad thing about social media. After reading Lindy West's story, I can't believe people would say those mean things about her, even if it is for show. At the end of her article, she finally confronts her "troll" and this troll finally speaks up and says, "Hey Lindy, I don’t know why or even when I started trolling you. It wasn’t because of your stance on rape jokes. I don’t find them funny either. I think my anger towards you stems from your happiness with your own being. It offended me because it served to highlight my unhappiness with my own self." Now, if one troll feels this way at the end, then why do it at all? What is the point in putting someone else's feelings down, just to lift yourself up somehow? This is my stance on online anonymity and it sucks to see how this affects many lives, especially the younger generation. What do you think?
I agree with you Melanie, why do trolls feel like they have the right to put someone else down for their own insecurities? What those anonymous trolls posted about Lindy is just awful! I don't understand that after all Lindy's troll had done to her, once she confronted him it was then when he realized what he's doing is wrong. Why didn't he see that from the start? I do believe that this issue really does affect the younger generation. We are living in a day in age where this is our reality, and I don't know how we can stop the trolls.
ReplyDeleteI think that trolls should be forgiven for the things they do if they admit that they are wrong. Though it depends on the extremity of their actions, and finally the decision of the victim. It is just their own choice to live with the guilt or take it as a learning experience and change their ways. Cyberbullying is basically the same as bullying, but on the internet. Meaning all of the possible reasons why people bully each other personally would be the same virtually. The troll became self-aware of the mistakes he made, and he admitted that he was wrong. It will now be left to him to either learn from it or proceed to revert to his old self.
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