Online Anonymity and Its Effect On Interactions

          Anonymity in online interaction is well-documented throughout the years. Anonymity for many is freedom from responsibility for their actions and can cause people to exhibit antisocial behavior, or in some the desire to help other people.  Allowing people to speak freely is important for societal growth if a person is not allowed to speak freely without persecution, it will be difficult to create change and help people understand another’s point of view. There are examples of people using online anonymous platforms to create awareness for their people's strife. The LGBT community has struggled to be accepted since the dawn of civilization. However, they were able to use online anonymity to spread awareness and help themselves. This is because people can speak on difficult subjects freely, providing a platform in which their point of view can be understood.

          Social interaction is affected by the way people want to be perceived, which changes a person’s actions due to a fear of isolation. This is known as the Spiral of Silence theory or SoS theory. “The Spiral of Silence (SoS) theory argues that, due to fear of social isolation, individuals typically remain silent in public when they find that their opinion deviates from the majority.” (Wu, Atkin, 2018, p. 4513) While the SoS theory is shown to appear in online debates as well, it is anonymity that prevents the Spiral of Silence. In the case of social media such as Facebook, the SoS theory occurs just as much as in person because users are known by their Facebook friends. In the case of online chat rooms and forums, individuals are shown to disclose emotions more readily when anonymous, as anonymity makes them feel less vulnerable. The degree of anonymity is also important. Many US news websites in 2014 allowed anonymous comments, however by 2019, most sites have made it mandatory for users to link their Facebook account to post or read. As well, though users may not be known by their peers on the website, it is not true anonymity and the SoS theory will affect their actions. A person’s actions are also dependent on their perception of anonymity which, “indicates that one’s perceived degree of anonymity may not entirely be the same as the level of anonymity offered by the online platform.” (Wu, Atkin, 2018, p. 4515) The level of anonymity provides more freedom for a user to interact on a platform, with the SoS phenomenon occurring at levels below true anonymity. However, the freedom anonymity provides lets people use antisocial behavior without consequences.

          Anti-social behavior on the internet is well-documented, particularly when it comes to cyberbullying. In some cases, this is due to anonymity. Cyber-bullying takes many forms, “receiving upsetting non-spam emails and instant messages, being mocked in a chat room, and having information that they did not wish to be disclosed posted on a website.” (Chui, 2014, p. 2). Being online allows users freedom that is not present in everyday society, judgment is ignored since those who see the bullying do not know who the aggressor is. Visual anonymity especially increases the belief that there are no consequences, “the reduced social cues approach argues that the decreased social ‘bandwidth’ of CMC causes a reduction in social cues, accordingly lessening the importance of social norms.” (Chui, 2014, p. 3) The belief in social norms is what makes them powerful, and anonymity removes it from the equation. There is no need for social norms without the risks that are a part of it, a bully is free to do whatever they want to whoever, as there is no risk of punishment. While there are cases of anti-social behavior due to anonymity, it is not the medium in this case, but rather the user. If more awareness is spread surrounding the dangers of anonymity that people will be able to better defend themselves against it. Not spending time on the opinions of those who do not matter as there are so many people on the internet and all of them have a negative opinion. Anonymity also affects how information is spread, without the information being linked to names and faces it can be difficult to see whether the information should be considered valid or a trick by someone with a motive.

           Information on the internet can be spread in hours, and anyone with the right forethought or influence can get a message sent across the world. A tweet by Donald Trump can be seen by millions in a matter of seconds and a person on a message board can spread false information to any who read it. The knowledge spread by Wikipedia is considered by most to be weak or false, and it is better to seek the sources behind the pages rather than using them with no critical thinking. This is because people can spread the knowledge they prefer instead of facts, with no accountability. As found in a book by Howard Rheingold, “When I go to Harlem, do I get information that’s created by residents of Harlem, or by Yahoo! In Santa Clara, or by Verizon and the Yellow Pages?” (2002, p. 207) A message is put on the internet for anyone to see, which leads to misinformation, lies, all for a motive without regard to others. This can be especially a problem when anonymity is used, because a person may never be linked to their actions. On Reddit, people are hired by companies to search the forums for any information they can use, but this isn’t the problem. Many create messages to lead people into buying their product or in the case of politics creating systems in which fellow minded people will all group together, with no critical thinking of other ideas, and hating other groups for their views. Indeed, anonymity can be a haven of damaging and offensive ideas, however, this is only an aspect of it, and many people work together to grow rather than hinder.

           Self-awareness is an important part of the human psyche for healthy interactions, and anonymity negatively impacts it. The ability to think of themselves in relation to others is what allows humans to make strides in health care and providing the world with equality. When it comes to identity as said by Kyung Ku Kim, there are two forms, public identity, and private identity. Public identity would be the aspects of a person’s personality they show in public. When a person meets another in a public setting they generally try and be polite and congenial, rather than aggressive and insulting. However, anonymity can mess with this identity formation, resulting in a person not feeling accountable as they normally would when interacting with strangers. Because of this online anonymity decreases an individual’s self-awareness. While this is only one example of a few different hypotheses provided by Kyung Ku Kim, they all are very much the same in nature. Online anonymity decreases self-awareness in individuals. Though there is another aspect of this decrease in self-awareness. Because an individual is freer of this self-awareness, they can feel freer in a world in which most have little control. A parent may be struggling to provide for their family, and online anonymity allows them a way to ask about things they can do to work harder and make more. A son stressed out after noticing their mother being depressed may ask on a Reddit forum how they can help make their parent's life easier when they feel uncomfortable going to friends and family who don’t know his mothers depressed. Learning to help those around them when they feel uncomfortable asking friends whom it may directly affect. Online anonymity may lessen self-awareness, but a lack of self-awareness allows some people to work positively and help others.

            Online anonymity has shown itself to yield both positive and negative results. A person enjoys causing pain out of a need to control, and another will help individuals who are in desperate need. Freedom is a necessary aspect of happiness but constrained by fear of appraisal. Even if some use online anonymity to cause pain, if others work towards helping, it will get better.
Should online anonymity be a right or should the internet no longer have anonymity? Why?

References:

Chui, R. (2014). A Multi-faceted Approach to Anonymity Online: Examining the Relations between             Anonymity and Antisocial Behavior. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 7(2), 1–                                13. https://doi-org.libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/10.4101/jvwr.v7i2.7073

Kim, K. K., Lee, A. R., & Lee, U.-K. (2019). Impact of anonymity on roles of personal and group                identities in online communities. Information & Management, 56(1), 109–121. https://doi-                  org.libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/10.1016/j.im.2018.07.005

Rheingold, H. (2002). Chapter 8. Always-on panopticon or cooperation amplifier? Smart mobs: The            next social revolution. New York: Basic Books

Wu, T., & Atkin, D. J. (2018). To comment or not to comment: Examining the influences of                           anonymity and social support on one’s willingness to express in online news                                         discussions. New Media & Society,20(12), 4512-4532. doi:10.1177/1461444818776629

Jack Knox Report

Jack Knox Report Daniel Szajnzinger March 27, 2019

“Thanks, Obama,” that’s the quote I forced Jack Knox to say after I heard he received a phone call from him 4 days before his election day. Jack, a self-named “award-losing” columnist has been working in newspapers since he was 19. His experience as a columnist has led to being a mostly well-respected writer of the Times Colonist for 31 years. He believes in the importance of using a combination of comedic and serious writing, although not always at the same time.

While not always concentrating on humor he follows this idea, 80% of what he writes is serious, and the other 20% is funny because too much humor only makes people take you less seriously. Jack considers himself the Homer Simpson of writers, not because he’s an idiot with too much time on his hands, but because he’s an everyman. Jack said, “When I poke fun at myself I think people will see themselves in me.” He wants to be relatable, because what’s humor if you can’t relate to it?

Jack had about 15 rules he listed off throughout the interview and while that’s way too many to add to a 500-word article, there are a few points that I’ll touch on that I believe are important to comedy writing. It is important to think about, “Who cares?” when writing. Thinking about the audience isn’t just important to comedy, focusing on who you want to write for creates a following, happy audience, and a happy audience is a small to medium sized paycheck cause you’re still a writer. Another rule is using exaggerative language. For someone to enjoy a story it is necessary to be as expressive as possible, and this type of language can really push interest, and create excellent comedic timing. Exaggerative language not only makes a person laugh, but it can also be used to show the absurdity behind a dreary subject. It can make a person think that their ideas are absurd, or in some cases show that what a politician plans (Ex. building a wall to keep the Mexicans out) is stupid as hell. Finally, and likely the most important rule, have fun, because if you’re not going to enjoy your article, who will?

I hope you liked this article, but if you’ll let me quote Jack one more time, “Sometimes all you’ve got is shit in you, so give them the best shit you’ve got.” So enjoy my shit and thanks, Obama.

Social Media: A Problem (Opinion Piece 2 Assignment)

Social Media Szajnzinger March 22, 2019

Social media today has become all inclusive, everyone uses it if one wants to be a part of society it is necessary. Many studies show that social media hurts more than it helps, Facebook, as of December 31, 2018, there are 2.32 billion monthly active users. Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users as of June 2018. Social media is pervasive and living without it for the younger generation is difficult at best and debilitating at worst. Many jobs require the use of social media, whether it’s the ability to contact coworkers or a business to advertise and spread information. However, using social media has been shown to reduce factual news knowledge, decrease time socializing with friends and family, and an increase in mental health issues, especially depression.

The absence of social media in a person’s life has been shown to have several positives. People who deactivate Facebook are more likely to spend their time with friends and family, and less time-consuming information such as news. While less consumption of news is not overtly positive, as stated in The Welfare Effects of Social Media, “Deactivation significantly reduced polarization of views on policy issues and a measure of exposure to polarizing news.” The worlds political climate is currently filled by extreme views, but without the avenue of Facebook and other social media, people are less likely to both have them and act upon these views. Hate crimes by extreme hate groups such as Neo-Nazis would lessen, and extreme anger from the far left will reduce as well. The correlation between the amount of time-consuming polarizing news is well documented by The Welfare Effects of Social Media. Reducing social media usage helps people become more attuned to their surroundings, and not obsess over their differing political views. In addition, the mental health of individuals has been shown to deteriorate in correlation with the amount of time spent on social media. However, knowledge of political issues is shown to deteriorate in comparison to before. The correlation between social media and mental health issues could also go in the other direction, in which depressed people might be heavily using them because of their issues. This is still likely to reduce as people will concentrate on other aspects of their life.

The effect of information overload on Facebook and Twitter is also an issue. In comparison to television, the news on social media is a congealing mass of unimportance. As Luke O'Neil states on Esquire, “Rapid-fire social media overload is like a series of quick concussive blows to the head, where everything is flattened into a gray gruel of information, and nothing stands out.” A variety of news articles are spread out in a Twitter feed, and a user will see all of them, which results in numbness to various negative and positive news. Rather than allowing a user to process emotions, the user just scrolls down one more page, endlessly perusing information that becomes a time consumer rather than news. Desensitization due to digital content is an issue that has been occurring for many years at this point, and the workaround is to avoid consuming news through the medium of social media.

The use of social media is still necessary for some respects, however reducing time on it and taking breaks will help people rediscover healthier parts of their life. Reducing time on social media will provide the means to have fewer polarizing views by users, a healthier mindset, and more well-adjusted reactions to the news consumed.

http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/facebook.pdf

https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/health/facebook-psychology-health.html

https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/health/a13083796/twitter-mental-health/

Tuition Assignment

Cheaper Tuition Daniel Szajnzinger February 17, 2019

Cheaper tuition is important to allow students more freedom to pursue a better education. The pursuit of higher education is becoming more difficult to afford as the years pass. Students who earn less than a regular income can hardly afford to live, Elizabeth Keith said, “in almost every single major city in Canada, the cost of living is higher than the annual income of someone earning minimum wage.” Even though the cost is increasing every year, post-secondary education is now almost a necessity to live while making rent each month. While improving the overall education level of society is important, the pursuit of knowledge to better oneself now costs in the tens of thousands over two to four years for most programs. This would make anyone wonder, should higher education be cheaper?

Cheaper or even free tuition would allow a child who lives under the poverty line, the possibility of changing their future for the better. In many European countries, tuition is completely free for undergraduates. Germany, Finland, and France are just a few, some such as Germany even offer it for international students. This cannot be all good of course, and the fact is that these countries all have higher tax rates than countries which do not have free tuition, such as Canada or the United States.

The issue of tax rates is one of the largest arguments against lowering tuition. As an example, the difference in tax rates of Canada (not including Quebec) and Germany are large. For Canada, the income tax rate is between 15% and 33% which does not have a high discrepancy between the richest and poorest. Germany, on the other hand, has a big difference between the lowest and highest, starting at 14% for low income and no tax for those under a certain amount which increases up to 45%. The tax rate on average is still high, this can be lessened by reducing tuition rather than doing away with it completely. The income tax rate for Germany is lower for the poorest end of the country but is much higher than Canada for higher tax brackets.

I believe that Canada and the United States could affordably have cheaper tuition, the best strategy would be to include higher tax brackets past what is currently in effect. Unfortunately, this will be difficult to move forward due to the politics surrounding the upper class. Some strides have been attempted to help low-income families to afford tuition, as with the Ontario Student Assistance Program. The Canadian Press from CBC wrote, “The previous Liberal government increased the number of grants and made it possible for low-income students to attend college or university free of cost,” but it is now being removed. However, given time and effort I believe that we can reduce tuition for all, but especially for those without the means of affording it.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-european-countries-afford-free-college-2017-4

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/181025/t003b-eng.htm

https://www.taxtips.ca/priortaxrates/tax-rates-2016-2017/canada.htm

https://www.oecd.org/tax/tax-policy/revenue-statistics-germany.pdf

https://www.narcity.com/life/this-is-the-life-you-can-afford-making-minimum-wage-in-these-canadian-cities

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/pc-government-tuition-fees-1.4981987

Bike Lanes One Pager Assignment

Bike Lanes Daniel Szajnzinger January 30, 2019

As a citizen of Victoria, the bike lanes has been a large issue among the people who live here. Whether or not the bike lanes is good for the city of Victoria, there are many problems with the way the plan has taken place.

The Times Colonist interviewed a number of business owners who have lost money due to the new bike path. Almost all of the businesses that were on the street where the bike path was built have lost revenues over that year. The Times Colonist found that over the first quarter of 2018, the average lost revenue is 29% versus the previous year. While this could be fine if the City had done anything to alleviate the business losses, there has been nothing done for them. In addition the bike lanes will further hurt revenues with how little parking is available now, which may result in further losses and even put the businesses in the red.

A taxi driver that also writes for the Time Colonist, Wil Richardson, has also noticed that there has been an issue for customers on Pandora Avenue. Quite a few customers have stopped ordering taxis as they block traffic while loading and unloading, which adds to the problem. This is an issue for the elderly who depend on taxis or HandyDart as they have to find ways over the big curb in their wheelchairs.

The Times Colonist has also looked into the positives of the bike lanes. The bikes lanes have proven to have many more cyclists travelling through Fort Street and Wharf Street. This is better for the environment and allows cyclists to save money by bicycle instead of spending on gas.

The bike lanes are a good idea and having them built can help the environment and provide a way for cyclists to save money. However, if the plan continues the way it has been, it is sacrificing others livelihoods, and ability to travel outside of their homes. It is best if the City of Victoria rethinks the bike lane plans, providing ways to help or avoid hurting those who are disadvantaged by the bike lanes.

Wil Richardson Times Colonist Taxi Problems

Bill Cleverly Times Colonist Business Lost Revenues

Todd Litman Times Colonist Bike Lane Positives

Camosun and Media Assignment

Camosun and Media Szajnzinger January 23, 2019

Outside of when it is required by school, or when I hear about something by a friend or acquaintance, I spend little time listening to news reports in any form. I hardly ever read the newspaper as the medium is lost on me if I were to read something like that its generally online. Outside of when my phone is dead or I am in someone else’s care I do not listen to the radio, preferring to listen to music off of my phone. I exclusively watch television online, Netflix or otherwise, which means that I see few news reports through that medium. Finally online, is where I get the few news reports I do read, whether it’s through Reddit, YouTube, or occasionally Facebook. Most important news that I might be interested in, I learn about through others, and then look them up on my own.

Public relations for Camosun College is certainly necessary to some extent. The announcements for the beer garden, and the week each semester with all the stations are good PR for the school. Providing an avenue to develop a closer relationship with the school for some students. It is also important to spread information about the school to nearby high schools and though I don’t know how it’s done having a relationship with other countries for international students. However, outside of minimal public relations it may not be important for the school to continue running. There will always be a number of students coming in as long as the school teaches programs well. The part of it where the school is on an island demands in some ways for students to simply go to their local college. This may be out of laziness or because it is simply not cost effective to do schooling elsewhere, however this is a fact that many students go to Camosun because it is the closest college to where they are born.

News Release Assignment

NEWS RELEASE

FOR RELEASE: January 17, 2019 9:00 AM

National Release Assignment

            The National Widget Company are announcing today that 200 employees will be rehired in the coming weeks. 50 of these employees are from head office in Victoria.

            “We have sent recall notices to all employees who were laid off in June,” says President Andrew Bryce, “as a family-owned company, it was heartbreaking to lay off so many loyal people so we are thrilled to be offering employment to people we consider part of the family.”

            The sales of widgets have increased steadily over the past few months, though the market for widgets has primarily been the Middle East, the NWC have found new markets in China. Widgets must be installed in every new building in the country, and the NWC are the first to approach and make a deal with the Chinese.

            President Andrew Bryce says, “the opening up of the Chinese residential market represents opportunity and a secure market on which to expand our capacity.”

            The traditional use for widgets has been in the oil business, with the incorporation into residential construction, a whole new world of widget sales is possible.

-30-

For more information contact President Andrew Bryce at: 1 (111) 111-1112

Blog Analysis Assignment

The blog post, Because Reading is Fundamental, by Jeff Attwood is about how many readers of a finish an article before commenting. The article is targeted at people age 18-40, bloggers, and journalists. The intended audiences will be mostly high school graduates up to college/university graduates. People under the age of 18 are unlikely to be interested in the statistics of who finishes reading articles. Bloggers and journalists are the primary audiences for this blog post as it directly affects how many people are interested in their blogs or articles.

Attwood introduces the piece by showing an account profile, and the important part of the profile is the post count. Showing an image is a smart way to draw in the reader as it immediately draws interest. It is also important that it reflects the article well, as his intention is how to make people interested in reading posts instead of immediately commenting. The main argument of the piece is to show that people focus on commenting on a post and not reading it, since it appears on their profile. On most websites, commenting on posts rather than reading them is rewarded. Rewarding comments is a bad strategy for people to gain interest and read since a person can immediately comment without even looking at the first word of the article. Attwood is trying to prove that enforcing reading is a better plan than using comments.

Attwood uses two pieces of research to convince readers of his message. The first piece of research is the Ars Banana Experiment done by Ars Technica in 2011. In this experiment, they wrote an article which asked part way through for readers to comment banana below. This shows that not many people read an article before commenting. The first person to write the word banana was on the third page. This is an effective example of how few people read an entire article.

 The second piece of research is the Slate Experiment by Farhad Manjoo, This bit of research has Manjoo collecting research on the number of people that finish an article. Many visitors to an article do not even scroll down the page, and 50% read around half of it. This example shows that most people will not finish an article they have started.

Attwood lists a few solutions to the problem. The first of which is to prevent pagination. Pagination is when a person reaches the bottom of a page and cannot be bothered to click to the next. One possible fix would be to automatically load the next page once the reader reaches the bottom. The second solution is to record the time spent reading. This is like displaying post count but instead measures the time read to make a person more intent on reading and caring less about commenting. The third solution is to reward reading, adding a badge after reading a long article is one example. The fourth solution is to load new content without sacrificing a person’s reading place. For the most part, the article is well written and encourages people to think about reading more than commenting.