Reflective: In this Essay, the affects of anonymous social media. There are both positives and negatives to this type of social media but in my research, I found that it is more harmful than helpful. It creates cowards of us and decreases our ability to confront others face tot face. Sure, use it but the long run negatives outweigh the positives so do not get too involved.

Behind the Screen

A robber uses a mask to shield his appearance from others, but why. Clearly he does not want to be identified, but that does not answer the question. There are two possibilities. He does not want people around him to know what he is doing, or he feels safe, safe because there is a mask excuse his consequences. His mask gives him confidence to commit the crime. But what the robber does not realize is that somebody is always there to see him put it on; therefore, this shield renders useless. In today’s age of technological domination, there is a way to mask oneself by using anonymous social media. The idea takes the interactions of social media with post, comments, and likes anonymous. But because it is anonymous, the post go to everybody connected to the app (settings vary per app) not a set of friends like Facebook or Twitter. So basically it is like a group of random people yelling out whatever comes to mind while they are blindfolded. This is the dilemma with this form of social media. Anybody can say anything, but nobody will know who said it. Facebook, being the original social media site, was designed to keep in touch with friends when at different colleges. As it evolved it become less and less about keeping in touch, but rather expressing opinions or trying to get people to favorited a post as a confidence booster, and that is what anonymous social media is. It is a way to win approval by saying irrational things simply because they can. When there is no name connected to the post, anything is fair game because like the robber, the author of the post only proves themselves to be a cowered and there is no need to praise a site for turning the future into people too scared to take of the mask.
There are so many questions tied into this topic. Does anonymous social media increase confidence in communication skill? Can it hurt people? What are some benefits of it that actually make it a valuable resource? Can using the app or network really be defined as Socializing? Is it okay to speak freely when nobody knows who is speaking? All of these questions add up to real question. Should anonymous social media be accepted in today’s society? The answer is clear: no.
Charlie Claywell, the writer of an article titled Pros and Cons of Anonymous Social Media, explores each view, allowing the reader to decide for themselves whether it is good or bad. The reason being that it should not be accepted is because it can turn people into cowards with little to zero hesitation. “One of the most common criticisms from opponents is how easily a user can post a libelous or defaming remark about an individual,” Claywell says, “which often puts the victim at the disadvantage of having to prove the statement false” (Claywell). However, he does say that some sites warn users in advance that inappropriate post will be removed. But like he said, it is too easy to post on these sites. Teasing becomes easier because it usually is not bad enough to be removed and it can happen more often because people know that they will not get caught. Eventually, teasing turns into bullying because more people begin to think that it is okay. But there is a big difference in bullying anonymously online and to somebodies face. The main reason being that you cannot see their reaction to the post. Maybe the comment was meant to be a joke, but how can the receiver know that without hearing a person’s tone and expression. Also, how can the sender tell how the receiver perceived the message? The gray area produced by anonymous social media is too large for people to successfully relay and perceive thoughts clearly.
The pros that Claywell provides relate to the unbiased nature of the sites. This is true, but his points do not add real world positives, but rather a short term solution. His point about generating unbiased advice is extremely simpleminded. Yes, it is important to receive advice, but there are too things wrong with this. One is that there is no way that advice from a total stranger can be meaningful. A stranger does not know or see how one feels through a post. From a personal point of view, how can somebody genially care about somebody through an anonymous post? Yes, there a sense of sorrow, but does the person really care? Will it affect them 15 seconds later? Absolutely not. Second, is that if somebody want true, genuine, real advice, then they should ask a friend or a family member. The problem is that these sites open the door for people to use them in order to avoid difficult face to face encounters. Those face to face encounters is what will truly help where anonymous social media is a shortcut in the wrong direction. Social media is the easy way out and by not going up to somebody that person’s social skills and confidence begin to deteriorate. Short run, it is a solution, but in the long run, it is harmful to that person.
Another thing that Claywell states is that it encourages meaningful dialog. He says that, “meaningful dialog can push important issues to the forefront because a person can comment without fear of repercussion” (Claywell). From personal use, most of these apps have a character count. It seems difficult to spark and discuss meaningful topics in depth. Also in today’s society, there are always people who love destroying good conversation. Some people, by nature, enjoy voicing an irrelevant opinion. They enjoy ruining good conversations because the find humor in doing so. From seeing this first hand, it is personally aggravating and ruins the one beneficial aspect of all social media. Also, anonymous social media is fully controlled by the company. Claywell says, “These companies admit their willingness and legal obligation to work with law enforcement officials” (Claywood). This means that they have records of all post made and the right to track post back to the original location. This is a big breach in privacy not because they are able to track all post, but because they advertise it as anonymous when in the long run it is not. The pros stated are not bad in theory, but with personal experience using the app and having thought about it, the pros do not play out to be as strong as the creators hoped. Sure some post are funny and some few are beneficial, but the majority of things posted are useless, yet people spend half of their lives caring about what a person they may or may not know said via anonymous social media.
When it comes down to things, the positives of anonymous social media are put in the shadow of the negatives. Sure, the positives that Claywell discusses, argued or not, help save time or encourage socializing, but those thing are not life altering. Countless times, stories appear on the news about a teenager who was bullied to the point of suicide. A kid is defenseless against this type of bullying. He cannot fight back, he cannot go to somebody, and he cannot control what happens next. This and the fact that it is not truly anonymous. It is just a breach of privacy even if you are using the site or app appropriately. Somebody may thing that the mask shields them, but in reality he is caught putting it on. Regardless of the intended purposes of the mask, it is an invasion of privacy to unknowingly know that somebody is their watching, all the time. Both the negatives and it not truly being anonymous is why this type of social media should not be accepted in society.

Citations

Claywell, Charlie R. “Pros and Cons of Anonymous Social Media.”LoveToKnow. LoveToKnow Corp., n.d. Wed. 04 Feb. 2016.
Ramage, John D, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print.