Anonymity and the Forum

[Quarks 2,255]

Anonymity is one's best friend when they join an online forum. They can be who they want when they want. They do anything with disclosing their name or even their gender. They can do whatever they want, and the likelihood is that you will never meet anyone you meet here in real life. This is well seen on our tanki forum, with many people taking on different personas than who they are in real life. To many people it is a chance to start over, a way to show a part of them that they never get to show, a release from what other people think of them, a breath of reality. It can be positive in nature. @sonofchrysalis3 even said it himself, that he put up the Stratus persona as a facade, to embody what he was yet to become, but wanted to be.

 

The same could said for me, who has very few close friends, and is despised by many of his classmates for a few things that can never be undone (one might be is  arrogance, but there is a different reason for that I do not want to explore). Even though I chose one of the worst names of all time based on initials and an in school that has a very different connotation than it does here. The fact was here I could start over, and show the other parts of my personality that I usually do not show, which are, ironically, my better parts. It is a chance to start over, and unless you have real life friends in the forum, no one would be the wiser. The whole idea is to restart, a positive neogenesis if you will.

 

The other side of the equation are the people who try not to create a positive neogensis (I really like that word), but to make something the interwebs like to refer as a “troll”. What happens when somebody creates a randomized nickname or an incredibly pretentious nickname and then decides to do what any sane person would when they can do whatever. Annoy everyone in sight. No forum or website with open commenting is free of these people, and our forum is no exception. WIth a heart set on anger, the troll sets his eyes upon a new prey. The first new topic she/he can see. Either posting a “Nice”, “Good luck”, or start a pointless argument that inflames everyone who reads it.

 

Is trolling fun, yes, it can be, but all that it does is alienate you from everyone else. And why is it used? Because people do find enjoyment in suffering. It is a fact of life, and trolling can be completely anonymous.

 

This was not meant to be a harp on trolling, so I will stop here. But I beg you to think how you see yourself, and how you have used people's lack of knowledge. Do you start over as a positive recreation like me (or at least try to), or a negative persona that is not you. Or are you just you. To keep secrets, to tell everyone about yourself? The the knowledge anonymity can change who you are, and where. It can be an outlet of positivity, or come to nothing. But in the end, we will probably never meet each other in real life, and what happens here will probably not go down on any resumes, we might ever forget it. In the end, who we are is what we created, whether we become something new or not.

 

Edited May 1, 2016 by GoldRock
Changed instances of 'animosity' to 'anonymity'.

[marc.jp_44 20,837]

Ahh, I remember this Article! Nice one!

[Quarks 2,255]

Ahh, I remember this Article! Nice one!

Yep, and I am planning another guide. I haven't done one in ages.

[marc.jp_44 20,837]

Yep, and I am planning another guide. I haven't done one in ages.

Same. I've had to focus on getting Legend Kit in time for sales ...

[basenji7 1,199]

animosity is defined as "strong hostility"

I think you mean anonymity, "the condition of being anonymous"

Other than this, great article!

[GoldRock 6,165]

animosity is defined as "strong hostility"

I think you mean anonymity, "the condition of being anonymous"

Other than this, great article!

I'll edit the article to change that if you agree, Bigtimerush_bry?

[Quarks 2,255]

animosity is defined as "strong hostility"

I think you mean anonymity, "the condition of being anonymous"

Other than this, great article!

 

I'll edit the article to change that if you agree, Bigtimerush_bry?

Thanks, I can't believe I made that mistake, I always mix the two up. BTW, if it is easier, bry works as well as the full username.

 

oh, and

 

 

 

[GoldRock 6,165]

Titled edited, along with the instances in the article!

[Quarks 2,255]

Titled edited, along with the instances in the article!

Thanks. 

[snipe3000 678]

 

Um...

Captain Jean Luc Picard   Commander Will Riker     Lieutenant Warf

[Quarks 2,255]

Um...

Captain Jean Luc Picard   Commander Will Riker     Lieutenant Warf

You a Star Trek fan too?

[snipe3000 678]

You a Star Trek fan too?

Yeah. Me and my dad are watching The Next Generation right now. We are 9 episodes from the end.

[Quarks 2,255]

Yeah. Me and my dad are watching The Next Generation right now. We are 9 episodes from the end.

Nice, I love that series, though I haven't watched it in ages due to school and other activities. 

[Quarks 2,255]

Pro bump

[NERF836 202]

Hmmmm well I'm a lot weirder in real life.

[pieface101 285]

trolling... also known as schadenfreude, sadism, etc.

 

Also, I spelled that first try