Anonymity arouses/activates a multiple identity: The good and bad effect of the internet anonymity

(Photo: Which part of your identities does represent your true self?)

Internet could not be explained fully by entitling it as the interactive medium of the 21st century, but it is very often recognized as the virtual hub of communication where the discussion of everything is on-going for 24-7, opened to everyone without restriction, censorship and socially constructed identities including nationality, race and sex. This unique culture of Internet is not found in any other forms of media throughout the human history, but such uniqueness is no more than a result raised by issuing the ‘anonymity’, which has not been considered as controversial until recently. Despite the fact that Internet is already known with its reputation as the Mecca of (relatively) liberal conversation, our recognition of who we are really (the term ‘really’ in a sense that whether we are confronting to someone we know their true identities) talking with is yet having a lot of controversies and fallacies. Remaining under anonymity, you are becoming a participator of conversation yet given a freedom to hide or express your true self. If you want, you can make fake identities, literally several versions of you, or simply showing them a part of your personality to fit yourself into different contexts and different windows. However, to think about this oppositely, you are having an on-line communication with someone who could possibly fake or hide their true identities and instead persuade you to believe their gender, face and personality represented through photos and manner of talking that they show in front of you. But unless you see them in a real world, you can not sure it is their true side of it.

To have a conversation with unidentified beings is nevertheless, having been the core reason for internet to sustain its uniqueness and power as the medium with the most extended version of interactivity. In one view, the anonymity is certainly becoming a catalyzer for you to express about yourself even more transparently and frankly than to your best mate and family group in a real life. To meet someone on World Wide Web is just like to meet someone who could be your best interpreter, helper and adviser of various types of sensitive issues while you do not have to worry about expose your real self, just like a confession in church. This marks us to reassure how it is meaningless to build a human relationship in the real world.

However...

What is all written above is only a good side of Internet anonymity. In fact, it is very difficult and almost impossible to use anonymity solely in a morally good manner. That is because the anonymity summons our hidden identities under such restrictions made on social and cultural contexts. These multiple identities could include your bisexuality, criminal instinct or Prometheus complex. On a web based bulletin board or chatting environment, we often see someone (those unidentified beings) intentionally speaks out abusive and aggressive languages to unspecified group of people unless the automatic filtering system puts them a restriction. Such actions are outcomes of the influence of anonymity while the sense of being unidentified to participate in the discussion causes no disadvantages or punishment to them. I have an excellent example to prove the relationship between multiple identity and anonymity;

South Korea is one of the leading countries with probably the world’s largest Internet broad-band system across its territory. Internet boom was initiated since the early 90’s, and by the end of the 20th century, more than 80% of population were actively participated as the user of Internet. Such dramatic development of the market also brought a lot of moot points in criminal aspects, and at the centre of all these there was the issue of identity and anonymity. In Korea from the year 2006, the government put a force to Internet conglomerates by enacting a law that all portal sites must reissue their systems to make its users to show their true identities (names in accordance to the National residents registration number) officially verified by a council. After a fulfilment of this law brought such a massive after blow, that the number of articles and replies with aggressive language has decreased down nearly 50% compare to the prior.

This clearly shows us the two facts. First, the issue of identity is certainly having a strong relation to how people could restrain themselves to present a particular type of personality, and second, such courtesy and respect towards our acquaintances in a real life are only artificial and fabricated.

It is assumed that the introduction of real name system on World Wide Web will certainly bring a linguistic and moral harmony and peace. But on the other hand, it could also bring down the liberty and autonomy we could have in this space. Internet as the true space of liberty and interactivity would only be possible when we as the participator of Internet must renew our concepts about the responsibility of writing and composing its materials, even though your identification is never known out to the world.