Anonymous netizens should clean up their act

Posted on 24th June, 2009 by

Letters: Time for moderation in the blogosphere | Technology | The Guardian

A letter from yesterday’s Guardian in response to the scandal over the unmasking of the “Night Jack” police blogger by the Times (the short version is: a policeman who ran an anonymous blog won an award, the Times found out who he was and decided to tell the world; meanwhile, his superiors disciplined him and he pulled the blog, and was named in the Times last week), in which the author pleads for people to clean up their act if they wish to continue being anonymous while online:

If bloggers and those who post comments on online forums are to be allowed to use pseudonyms, they must surely clean up their act. I rarely read such things because of the unpleasant, aggressive and boorish language that is used (even on Comment is Free - goodness knows what the Daily Mail’s forum is like). I thought at least a recent article about universities (Simon Jenkins, 12 June) would remain well-mannered. Some hope! Apart from the liberal sprinkling of statements that “this comment has been removed by a moderator”, I found comments such as “what utter shameless crap”, “you are a complete idiot” etc. Let’s face it - anonymity brings out the worst in people. Surely if someone has something to say, they should be prepared to say it politely, sign their name to it and provide a postal address? This is still a requirement of the Letters page.

He suggests having two parallel comment forums: a polite one, and an anything-goes one. Surely most serious bloggers just wouldn’t want to host an anything-goes forum anyway, but as anyone who’s ever read the comments appended to news stories on virtually every major news website can tell you, they are often filled with bile and comments like “if they don’t like it here, let them go home”, particularly when they have anything to do with Muslims or Islam. What I’d prefer is to be able to read the published articles without the comments.

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  • http://www.yahyabirt.com Yahya Birt

    Dear Yusuf,

    Salams,

    How I wish this was the case, but I fear it is whistling in the wind. Too many people like the sheer power of accusation, smear, innuendo and insult without the accountability of saying who they are or where they are coming from. In an ideal world, people should take responsibility for what they say in public — it makes for a healthier culture of public debate generally. I don’t see that the blogosphere is encouraging that, rather too much incivility in public debate tends to shut reasonable people up and leave the floor to verbal bullies. It’s obviously partly to do with a macho hyper-masculinity, as nearly all the worst offenders are men.

    In my view there are two legitimate reasons to blog anonymously:

    1. As a whistleblower in the context that you are violating terms of employment or professional codes in the public interest.
    2. As a whistleblower who faces potential retribution from violent or intolerant factions in society generallyor their own community. Ideally this second one should based on concrete assessment and not be founded on mere speculation.

    Two other reasons commonly given and there are obviously more which I don’t think are legitimate are:

    1. Avoidance of social disapproval. If you take an unpopular stance, you have to take the consequences of that. Are you really being free to say what you think when you are anonymous and have no social identity: it’s like a meaningless free pass.
    2. Skiving at work. You know you really should be getting on with things, not pratting about on Comment is Free or wherever.

    Wa s-salam, Yahya

  • parallel

    Oh shut yer whinging, cant believe the chattering classes get offended by a few weell directed words.

    Pansies ;-)

  • http://www.yahyabirt.com Yahya Birt

    Parallel, LOL! Yahya