The Effect of Anonymity on Twitter towards its Users Based on Derek Parfit's Personal Identity Theory
Twitter is one of the most accessed social media, especially by teenagers, with a high rate of anonymity. This phenomenon raises questions regarding whether any effects arise from the usage of anonymous accounts. This study aims to find out the impact of using an anonymous Twitter account on its users from the perspective of Derek Parfit's self-identity theory. The research method used is a mixture of quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is obtained through surveys and qualitative through interviews. The survey was conducted online on a population of 50 teenagers, with the sample criteria being at least 18 years old and being an anonymous account user on Twitter. The sampling was taken randomly from the population. The interview method was carried out on the same people and sample with a smaller quantity to strengthen the survey data. The results show that using Twitter anonymously is directly proportional to being more open (oversharing). The results of this study are in accordance with Derek Parfit's self-identity theory which believes that a person will tend to be more forthcoming if they do not know each other's identity. With the finding that using anonymous accounts seems to provide an incentive to express themselves more freely, it is hoped that this research can be a source of additional studies and create a more reflective attitude for all social media users in general. This study is limited to anonymous users of social media Twitter in the adolescent age range.