Wisconsin Paper involved in the Debate Concerning Anonymity for On-line Writers

A Wisconsin paper got in some hot water after exposing a reader’s true identity. The reader posted comments about a small town politician, Dean Zuleger. The anonymous writer made negative comments regarding the politician, aimed at his weight along with more serious issues. When Zuleger demanded to know who wrote the comments the paper revealed the writer’s identity. This references the debate over whether or not writers and bloggers should be allowed to remain anonymous.

Obviously this correlates with individuals who use the internet as a means of carving out a new identity. Many find themselves more comfortable with the persona they create. The ever popular Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace all reflect this current trend to be who you want to be online. With the freedom of anonymity, many feel they can “speak their mind” or lash out however they want.

The on-going debate is focused on whether or not anonymity should be allowed at all or in what instances. The Wisconsin paper apologized to the writer for giving his e-mail address to the politician and re-established their privacy policy for anonymous writers. Unless court-ordered, they promise to keep anonymous writer’s identity hidden.

Personally I feel that many times as in this example the posts written and their writers definitely fall into the category of people who are striving to re-invent their reflective identity. The person who stays online all day and has time to read all kinds of blogs and articles and then leave dramatic comments on them is not truly a force to be reckoned with. Therefore, I find it amusing that a politician would be so bothered by such a ridiculous comment, that he demand to know who wrote it.

Regardless of that, I feel that if you feel your opinion or comment is important enough to be read by others you should also be taking responsibility for it. If you want everyone to know what you think about something then logically you would also want them to know who you are. I believe the problem occurs because these writers are so involved in being someone significant online, know they are not that bold or significant in real life. Therefore, they hide behind masks of gallant speeches in written form. However, they do not want anyone to see them for who they really are.

Because the people writing these comments usually aren’t extremely educated or prominent it is ridiculous for the people being attacked by them to be worried about it. At the same time the authors of the post ought to be able to say things that they wouldn’t have a problem saying in public in real life, instead of hiding behind an inflated persona online.