scholarly journals Beyond a Dichotomous Understanding of Online Anonymity: Bridging the Macro and Micro Level

2021 ◽  
pp. 136078042110197
Author(s):  
Lina Eklund ◽  
Emma von Essen ◽  
Fatima Jonsson ◽  
Magnus Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Online Auctions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Plural Form ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Online Anonymity ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Theoretical Synthesis ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Different Levels

Anonymity on the Internet is a contentious issue; by some seen as an important freedom to be protected, while others argue for increased identification to protect groups at risk of exploitation. The debate reflects a dichotomous view of online anonymity; you are, or you are not anonymous. However, anonymity is a complex process played out on different levels and defined by various actors. While empirical studies show this, theoretical synthesis is lacking. This essay provides perspective on anonymity online by comparing two critical cases, online auctions and online gaming, we corroborate results from a 4-year interdisciplinary project with researchers from sociology, economics, and computer and system sciences. We argue that one should talk about anonymities in plural form, as online anonymity is not a state but a relational process. We put forth a conceptual model, which unpacks online anonymity as interdependent macro structures – legal, commercial, and technological – and micro/meso facets – factual, social group, and physical – to be used in future research.

scholarly journals Does online anonymity undermine the sense of personal responsibility?

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Online Bullying ◽  
Online Anonymity ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Media ◽  
Share Information ◽  
Digital Or

This article begins by exploring the media visibility of anonymity online, in particular in relation to trolls and online bullying. It then explores anonymity in the case of Chelsea Manning who leaked US military secrets but only lost anonymity sometime after her leak was made public. This discussion explores issues of responsibility and the reasons for being anonymous. The article then briefly discusses anonymity based on the discussion of the Manning case in relation to the Snowden case, where Snowden refused anonymity, and the Pentagon Papers. The article concludes by pointing out that issues of responsibility in relation to anonymity remain similar whether digital or not, but that anonymity now exists in a context in which there is greater ability to share information between many more people, faster and with radically lowered costs of publishing than before.

Impact of Anonymity on Information Sharing through Internal Psychological Processes

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ho Lee ◽  
Jaewon Choi ◽  
Kyung Kyu Kim ◽  
Ae Ri Lee
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Online Anonymity ◽  
Community Outcomes ◽  
The Impact

Many web users post their opinions and information without revealing their identities (i.e., demographics, social standing, and/or expertise); anonymity has become a common form of information exchange in online communities such as social media sites and Internet forums. In the meantime, negative social consequences have resulted from anonymous activities in online communities. Existing literature reports largely mixed results about the impact of online anonymity on online community outcomes. In an effort to clarify these mixed results, this study proposes a new operational definition of online anonymity that consists of three dimensions: unlinkability, unobservability, and pseudonymity. The data used in this study was collected from 238 online community users through a web-based survey conducted in South Korea. The results show that unlinkability, unobservability and pseudonymity positively influence self-discrepancy, which in turn positively influences the quality and quantity of information sharing.

scholarly journals Online Collectivism, Individualism and Anonymity in East Asia

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-440
Author(s):  
Kenneth Farrall
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
South Korea ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Online Anonymity ◽  
Individual Privacy ◽  
Collective Cognition ◽  
Tripartite Relationship

Anonymity on the internet has come under increasing criticism as a threat to public civility and safety. This article draws data from related academic studies, trade press and mass media to examine recent variations in the salience, use, and comparative value of anonymity, and its tripartite relationship with individuality and collectivism, across three specific cultural contexts: China, South Korea, and Japan. While online anonymity in East Asia plays a role in affiliation and in acts of collective cognition, it is also valued as an individual privacy resource. We must be especially wary about assuming social systems might be better off, more secure, without it.

Why is Twitter so popular in Japan?

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-289
Author(s):  
Mitsuko Narita Izutsu ◽  
Katsunobu Izutsu
Keyword(s):  
Information Capacity ◽  
Japanese People ◽  
Online Anonymity ◽  
Unique Character ◽  
Japanese Character ◽  
The World

Abstract Across the countries of the world, Japan can rightly claim to be a great “Twitter nation” (Akimoto 2011). Japanese people like to tweet anytime and anywhere. Although the popularity of Twitter in Japan is often associated with the large information capacity of Japanese character sets (Wagner 2013), Neubig and Duh (2013) prove that this is not necessarily the case. Our research compares two sets of data (300 tweets for each) posted by Japanese and Americans, and demonstrates that Japanese tweets contain more monologic features, or show a higher degree of monologicity, than Americans’ tweets. Also, more than 60% of the sentence-ending forms in the Japanese tweets do not encode explicit addressee orientation. The study reveals that it is not the Japanese unique character sets, but the grammatical devices for monologization that linguistically allow Japanese users to enjoy the fullest benefits of online anonymity and addressee underspecification provided by Twitter.

scholarly journals Does online anonymity boost illegal market trading?

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 578-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Aldridge
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Illegal Drugs ◽  
Illegal Market ◽  
Online Anonymity ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Law Enforcement Officials ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Drug Sellers

Anonymity allows the online trade in illegal products and services on cryptomarkets to flourish in spite of being enacted in a public location. Bolstered by the extensive media coverage of the cryptomarket trade in drugs, fraud and weapons, these platforms may function as a kind of criminal ‘gateway’, and in so doing facilitate – or indeed amplify – criminality. I argue, however, that researchers must establish – not assume – that the criminality facilitated by online anonymity will exclusively and uniformly produce more harmful outcomes. I consider here two possibilities in connection to the cryptomarket trade in illegal drugs: reduced drug market violence and reduced drug harms to users. Whether these potential ‘benefits’ are viewed as valuable will vary and depend substantially on the perspective and interests of the observer, including drug sellers, drug buyers, law enforcement officials, and academic researchers.

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