Anonymity and the Internet: A Love/Hate Story

photo credit: boskizzi

Anonymity has always been a wonder and a hindrance to the market. People happily buy and sell products and services throughout the world to people they do not know, yet there will always be some instances of fraud, deception, and disappointment. Fortunately, many products, services, and techniques have been developed in order to reduce distrust in commerce. Brand names build reputation and third-party reviews and return policies make quality more transparent to name a few.

With the introduction of the internet, commerce and information sharing expanded dramatically. There are more choices and more opportunities to interact than ever before. Everyone has a voice. Academics, professionals, and enthusiasts can upload books, blog, and stream videos about their interests in a way that can allow others to comment and expand upon those ideas. Many people have developed reputation and fame from their online work.

Yet, others can participate anonymously avoiding recognition, fame, and maybe even responsibility. With the rise of the internet came along a new way to defame, hate, and even admire with no real accountability. In other words, everyone may have a voice, but many do not have a face. In a segment from On the Media from NPR, host Bob Garfield compared internet anonymity to Lord of the Flies, stating that:

Anyone who frequents sports websites, or politics, or classical music, for that matter, knows that the anonymity and physical distance of Internet communication can lead otherwise civilized people to barbarism and cruelty. The “online disinhibition effect,” it’s called.

The segment goes on to highlight differing views of how to change the incentives for anonymity. Michael Fertik, founder of the privacy service ReputationDefender, has worked towards a private solution but still wants legal reform. Others, like Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, advocate privacy over legal protection. My alliance falls with Opsahl and I have my bets on private solutions. Still, how do you increase accountability?

Some economics bloggers have also pondered the problem: Don Boudreaux, of Cafe Hayek, has discussed unsavory comments, and Tyler Cowen has conducted experiments on the unusually high quality of discussion found at his blog, Marginal Revolution. Also, efforts to reduce anonymity do already exist, many blogs and websites ask that commenters register or interact using their email addresses and Facebook profiles.  And finally, learning how to take cruelty may just be part of partaking in the internet culture.

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