Anonymity

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Mukti Islam

Anonymity is the quality or state of being anonymous. [1] In other words not revealing your identity (who you are). [2] For example when you don't show your real identity to the people you are chatting with. Also, sometimes when people don't write their name on a suggestion box. In both these cases anonymity is used because people can hide who they are. This can be considered as a privilege but you shouldn't take advantage of the opportunity. In the present people usually keep their identity anonymous when they are commenting on a political issue. They may be concerned about political or economic retribution, harassment, or even threats to their lives.[3] In this case it is acceptable to keep your identity hidden. But if you only hide your ID to chat with people you don't know, then that may lead to many problems. I do believe anonymity is very important for people to communicate and share their opinions in the internet. It allows people to share their thoughts without being criticized. It is helping the world progress in communications in various ways.

One way Anonymity is used in a good way is by blogging. This is a process where people upload their opinions about a certain situation. Then other people get into that conversation by replying to the first person's opinion. Some of the popular blog sites are "myspace.com" "digg.com" and "xanga.com" [4] . This is where most people enjoy spending their time on because these are places where they can say anything and not get in trouble for it. Why is that? It is because some people keep their identity anonymous. There are so many types of blogging in the world today. What blog you go to depends on your personality. Some different types of blog sites are music, political, gaming, sports, audio, video, or just text[5] . These are all different types of blogs where people go to discuss their opinions on that subject. This is taking the world towards more digital actions than literal actions.

Some examples when anonymity is used to manipulate the situation is usually when people go on chat room without giving their identity. Not showing your identity is not a problem until you try to break the law. One case is when online predators go online and sexually harass minors. An historical event that associates with this situation is a 39 year-old guy was sexually harassing a 14 year-old high school student in Virginia[6]. Most of these online predators are much older than their prey. Online predator first try to be friends with they prey and then they try to get so close so their prey would feel comfortable in having sexual conversations. Sometimes they even make up dates so they can kidnap the child a[7]..


Privacy and anonymity


  1. anonymity. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved September 11, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anonymity.
  2. Bui, Paul. (2008, September 15). Anonymity. Presented at a class lecture at Washington Lee High School.
  3. anonymity. (2008). Electronic Frontier Foundation Retrieved September 11, 2008, from http://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity
  4. blogging. (2008). Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/top-10-blog-and-personal-websites-june-2008-5462/
  5. blogging . (2008). Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.mysteryautoincome.com/earn-good-income-blogs-money-blogging/
  6. online predators (2008). Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/10/71948
  7. kidnapping kids (2008). Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.protectkids.com/dangers/onlinepred.htm