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Internet Communication: Heading Down the Tube?

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Internet Communication: Heading Down the Tube? Ross Bender PHIL 308 2009-11-13 Final Revision Internet Communication: Heading down the Tube? The invention of the internet is undeniably something that has affected almost everyone in the United States, let alone the rest of the world. Since the mid-90s, when its use exploded, it has become a place that many people rely on in countless aspects of their lives. They don’t think twice about shopping or paying bills online. However, the internet is used for much more than that. As the name implies, it is essentially a huge network of connected computers. What do people gain from being “plugged in” to this network? One main answer is the ease of communication. The internet has many functions, but the largest ones all revolve around how people interact with each other. People play games, read breaking news stories, and post on forums or blogs about an array of topics. YouTube, arguably the internet’s largest website for watching user-posted videos, understands the role of the internet in communication. YouTube describes itself as a “premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience” (“Company History”). The more one stops to think about it, the more he or she realizes that the internet truly does revolve around communication. But why does this matter? What does communication through the internet have to do with people and their interaction as a whole? Bender - 2 The fact is that communication on the internet varies in many ways from other types of human collaboration. Almost all interaction with other people online can be done anonymously. Anonymity in itself is certainly not bad, nor is it always a bad thing on the internet. Parents certainly want to make sure their children aren’t giving away too much information about their real identities, but how far does this anonymity extend? To what extent should someone on the internet be able to hide behind a simple username (or less)? Does this concealment affect communication with others online? Let’s look at some examples where anonymity plays a role in how people “network.” When people think of “bad” internet usage, almost everyone can think of a few examples of fraud or identity theft. There are certainly many such cases of illegal activity on the web. People even go as far as committing cyberterrorism. Michael Quinn, in his book Ethics for the information age, defines cyberterrorism as “a politically motivated attack against the information technology resources of a government or its people in order to inflict damage, disrupt services, or generate fear” (Quinn, p.285). An example Quinn uses to illustrate cyberterrorism is the WANK worm that attacked NASA computers in October 1989. WANK, one of the first worms to have a political aim, has been described as a program that “takes advantage of poor password management, modifies .com files, creates a new account, and spreads to other systems” (“CERT Advisory CA-1989-04 WANK Worm On SPAN Network”). As one can see, anonymous criminal activity using the internet is something that has been around for quite some time. Perhaps one of the most well-known cases in which anonymity in communication resulted in something regarded as “bad” is 4chan, a heavily visited, but relatively Bender - 3 unknown imageboard website, that is, a place where users can discuss and post pictures. 4chan does not require users to register before posting either images or comments on images. The site’s idea of anonymity is so popular that from it has formed Anonymous, which Jessica Parral and James Clark of CityOnAHillPress.com describe as “a group of people banded together by the Internet” (Parral and Clark). Anonymous is more than a fixed group of people, however. Parral and Clark continue, “It is more of a blanket term than a monolithic group for members of the Internet culture.” Anonymous is described in even more detail by Chris Landers, a Baltimore City Paper writer: While it is possible to use internet nicknames on 4chan, it is generally frowned upon, so posts listing the author as "Anonymous" are the norm, especially in the site's chaotic "random" forum. Anonymous became the name for the users of the site as a whole—a sort of hive mind of popular opinion (Landers). Why would 4chan and Anonymous be considered bad examples of anonymity? In each case, there is more than meets the eye. 4chan, as mentioned above, is a heavily trafficked site. While there are many different categories on the imageboard, the most popular by far is its “/b/” board, where random images and discussions are posted. Taryn Sauthoff describes /b/ as a place where its 5.3 million users “fill the board with vile material, from pornographic images to incredibly racist and misogynistic comments” (Sauthoff). Sauthoff even goes so far as to label 4chan (in the title of her article) as “The Rude, Raunchy Underbelly of the Bender - 4 Internet.” Nick Douglas, writer for Gawker.com, says that “reading /b/ will melt your brain” (Douglas). What does the history of 4chan’s content have to do with anonymity? It is pretty clear that since users do not have to register, but can simply post any material under any alias or leave the field blank and have it automatically attributed to “Anonymous,” users will easily post a different, cruder type of material than they otherwise would. The founder of the site, known as “moot,” also keeps tight wraps on his real identity. moot, in an interview with TIME Magazine’s Lev Grossman, said, “My personal private life is very separate from my Internet life…there's a firewall in between" (Grossman). Clearly, 4chan’s founder sees the difference in interaction once people are not required to reveal their identity. But 4chan exists only in an online world, right? Does anonymity in communication really make any difference if it’s only in a virtual world? However, the group Anonymous, which sprung from 4chan, has evolved past the internet into the real world. What all has the group been accused of doing? Though it might seem harmless compared to some other pranks, Anonymous is probably most well-known for Project Chanology, the group’s protest against the Church of Scientology. Starting with the Church’s attempt to censor a Tom Cruise interview video, Anonymous has since responded (and continued to do so) in retaliation against it. Parral and Clark say that Anonymous has been responsible for “[bombarding Scientology centers with] threatening phone calls and e-mails, as well as envelopes of a white powdery substance in the mail.” The group has also been involved in multiple protests (in Bender - 5 various cities around the United States) against the Church of Scientology. Michael Sherman, writer for the Leader-Post in Regina, Saskatchewan, speaks of Anonymous “demonstrations at Scientology centres around the world at which protesters donned masks (the Guy Fawkes variety from the movie V for Vendetta)" (Sherman). Why the masks? For the sake of anonymity. This is a perfect demonstration of how not being identified with an action can change a person’s behavior. In this case, it caused people to stand up for their thoughts and act differently than they normally would. John Forrester, who spoke with protestors at a demonstration, writes that “five of six people interviewed refused to give their names, saying they feared retribution from Scientologists” (Forrester). The group Anonymous, though it deals with communication in the physical world, shows how secrecy that starts on the internet can grow to something more. But this privacy in the online world isn’t something that always spirals out of control and results in protests on the streets. Let’s take a look at a few other scenarios of anonymity online, with some of which I have personal experience. The [H]ard|Forum [sic], known simply as “the [H]” to its users, is one of the largest forums on the internet. According to the statistics on its main page, the forum had over 119,000 members as of May 7, 2009 ([H]ard|Forum). What is [H] all about and why is it so popular? The [H] is a computer hardware enthusiast site. With over thirty sub-forums (parts of the forum organized by topic) ranging from “Virtualized Computing” to “General Gaming,” thousands of new posts are submitted daily. What do thousands of people find to post about computers? While some forums keep people Bender - 6 up-to-date on the latest technologies and releases, the vast majority of threads involve people simply asking questions about their computers. These range from broad to very specific, dealing with a certain computer component or an isolated software question, and users answer them. Most of the [H]’s reason for continuous growth and the stability of the community is the fact that many knowledgeable people use the forum, helping out when possible. But what does this have to do with anonymity? [H] does require all users to register before posting any material. However, a username itself doesn’t reveal much. Beyond a person’s “tag” could be a specialist holding an IT job, an IT professor, or—in my case—a high schooler. That’s correct: I used to be a frequent poster on the [H], and still am (to some extent). I would spend multiple hours there daily, answering questions where I knew the answers and asking them when I came across problems to which I couldn’t find a solution. The [H] turned out to be a great learning tool, a place where I could learn not only by asking, but also by teaching.
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