Living in Anonymity

The web is a wonderful thing. I can remember when I started using it more and more during my final years in high school and when it became an invaluable research tool in college. Even now, there are so many times when I will find the answer to even the most obscure of questions somewhere on the web. Sometimes the source of the answer may be a bit sketchy but there is definitely something to be said about the vast array of information out there. There are also so many more ways to make the world even smaller these days. With the advent of sites like Friendster, MySpace and even blogger; there's a way to put a part of yourself on the web and allow the whole world to see you. It's wonderful when you're able to find friends you had long since lost touch with or when you're looking to meet new people. It's not so wonderful when the internet is used by people for malicious intent.

Recently, the University of Maryland conducted a survey in which they found the majority of women who post blogs on the web are more likely to be targets of harassment and threats than men. Part of the reason for this is the relative anonymity that the use of the web affords you. Although the technically savvy out there will be able to find out from where a malicious comment came or who was responsible for it, the majority of web users out there are not so technically literate; as a result, those who choose to be malicious can continue their reign of terror with little or no chance of being caught. These threats range from common insults to more graphic and vulgar 'assaults' by way of comments on web pages or threatening e-mails.

Arianna Huffington who ran the site The Huffington Post was particularly affected by these types of threats. At one point she was receiving so many threts that she stopped posting on her web page. The sad thing is that Huffington was not doing anything other than what most bloggers do and that is voicing their opinion on whatever it is they feel like posting. Some people say that if you're going to be posting things on the web then you should expect some amount of negativity to come your way but when people start receiving pictures of themselves with a noose around their neck and a gag over their mouths, it's a bit more serious. Some women (and a handful of men) have been so affected by this that they have withdrawn themselves from the public eye and stopped writing.

When I first started publishing on the web I was looking for inspiration and one site in particular, Filmtracks, was one that drew my fancy. I had been a longtime collector of film scores on CD and so Filmtracks was a wonderful site to check out because they would post reviews and details on all the latest movie soundtracks as well as their opinions of older scores as well. I used to read the site almost every day until one day I signed on and found a strange note from the webmaster stating that he was temporarily shutting the site down due to threats he had been receiving. It was shocking to me that a guy who was doing nothing more than posting his opinion and his feelings on certain composers or pieces of music was being threatened with physical harm. Although the site was closed for a few weeks, the posts and reviews which were done after the temporary shut down were much different in tone and it was almost like a completely different author was writing the reviews.

I was stunned to see how the anonymity of the web allowed someone to post repeated threats and leave the writer feeling threatened enough to take cover and hide. When I began my website doing soundtrack reviews, I was somewhat wary of drawing such criticism and threats but for the first few years, I also enjoyed a loyal following of fans and positive feedback on my efforts. It wasn't to last too long though. In one of my reviews, I wrote about how one composer meant a lot to me due to the fact that I had grown up with his music and that it was not only a soundtrack for the movie but a soundtrack which I related to parts of my life as well. I didn't find anything remotely controversial in that premise but apparently someone who stumbled upon my site did. I received several e-mails which were sent from dummy e-mail addresses that detailed how 'stupid' I was and how I was writing nothing but pointless drivel and that I should 'get a life'.

I knew better than to respond to these statements but still, a part of me wondered what got into someone's head enough to tick them off and encourage them to threaten me. I never found out but I did continue to get such e-mails on occasion. I chose to look at it from the standpoint that there will always be those who don't agree with your viewpoint and that they will make sure that you know exactly how they feel. But who are these people? Where do they come from and why do they hide? I am no psychologist so I can't point and say that someone's mother didn't smile often enough so that screwed up their brain but I will say that the web offers you a lot of power.

What I mean by 'offering you power' is that you can say what you want, however you want, whenever you want almost wherever you want with impunity. If you think "Star Trek" is better than "Star Wars" or vice versa, you can go to the appropriate web pages and post comments that make that very point. Have an opinion on something? You can go ahead and say it without having to break a facade you may be putting on in public. I remember one co-worker I worked with a few years ago who was probably one of the most reserved and shy people I had ever met, but when I found out he played games over the internet (this was in the early days of internet gaming) I decided to play him. To my surprise he became one of the most profane and violent people I had ever experienced yet when meeting face to face again he was the same quiet person I had always known. It was a scary window into how some people live out fantasies and alternate realities in the web and how they can use it to become something beyond what they are.