Weiye Loh's Library tagged Anonymity →  View Popular, Search in Google

these cases illustrate the dilemma faced by citizen journalists and commentators who want to critique the government more forcefully than the mainstream media does. The internet can be used either as a hiding place or as a connector. Each strategy has its pros and cons.

Those who use the internet to stay clear of the authorities, like the old Temasek Review, tend to find it difficult to cultivate sources and allies – this was a key reason why TREmeritus decided to come out of the shadows, according to Wan. In contrast, the likes of Yawning Bread and The Online Citizen have strong connections with Singapore’s civil society. Operating openly and transparently tends to make sites more credible. However, working in the open also means that they are no longer immune to the same post-publication legal constraints that restrict mainstream journalists.

Internet Anonymity Defamation Law Politics

Many believe it is easier to lie by text than by phone or in person, but emerging research indicates that’s not necessarily true.

We’ve always lied; new technologies are merely changing the ways and the reasons we lie. Witness the “butler lie,” a term coined by Cornell University researchers in 2009 to describe lies that politely initiate and terminate instant messaging conversations. (“Gotta go, boss is coming!”) Like butlers, they act as social buffers, telling others that we are at lunch when we are just avoiding them.

Lies Anonymity Technology

NewsFeed has covered the story of the 'Gay Girl in Damascus,' a blogger who has drawn significant attention for writing about her experiences living as a gay woman in Syria. But recent reports question Amina Abdullah's identity and the veracity of her posts.

NPR's Andy Carvin questioned Amina's existence in a tweet that asked if anyone had met Abdullah in person. He wrote that he decided to investigate after receiving, "a tip from an LGBT Syrian source who didn't believe Amina existed."

Anonymity Simulacrum Simulation LGBTQ Internet Discrimination Homosexuality

The knowledge that the protesters in Egypt were equipped with hand held video cams and cellphone cameras is thought to have prevented brutality in many instances. And certain nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations have deemed distributing cheap video-recorders like Flip-Cams and helping to train citizen journalists in desperate parts of the developing world a priority. Cisco donated 1 million of its Flip-Cams to NGOs around the world to do exactly that. Bill Clinton has even endorsed the idea.

Violence Camera Anonymity

Wikipedia is here to stay and that the rest of us will have to do our best to cope with it. I do think that a major improvement would be to do away with anonymity. Just look at this very blog you are reading: death threats, spam and insulting comments disappeared once I moved from open to moderated comments, but the level of discourse — usually remarkably high — occasionally dips because, I suspect, people feel secure behind their pseudonyms, just like the “Mean as custard” character cited at the beginning. If you take responsibility for what you write by signing your own name to it, you put in play one of the most important assets human beings have ever owned since the dawn of our species: your own reputation. Anyone at Wikipedia willing to experiment with this alternative model? Anyone else wishing to try it and give Wikipedia a run for their money?

Wikipedia Academic Research Anonymity

Privacy Anonymity