Odd that I should be starting a blog just a week after a discussion (with fellow teachers) about the anonymity of cyberspace and the ugliness it unveils. Things that were once only said (or thought!) in the privacy of a home can be broadcast to millions within seconds. Seemingly meek, gentle, or kind people may now unleash naked disgust, enmity, or rage on people they move among, hardly know, or have never met.
The question I have is whether this virtual anonymity simply reveals the ugliness or hatred, or whether it also generates it. My suspicion is both, in the way that mob behavior often both reveals evil, and also carries the weak along in its wake.
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You're comments about the anonymity and ugliness are one of the main topics I cover with my students when we talk about Internet Safety. We really try to get them to at least think about their online behavior for a minute. I also stress that although it feel anonymous everything can be traced and once posted it is impossible to "take it back." You bring up some good discussion points.
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