Analysis 4

Elizabeth Novotny

March 9, 2010

Media 280

Analysis 4 

The relationship that exists between digital media and the society that operates within it is apparent in internet trolling.  An internet troll is defined as someone who posts anonymous messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the intent of provoking other users to enter an emotional state.  Basically, an internet troll tries to get other internet users angry because he/she will ultimately remain anonymous.  A website in particular that appears to have internet trolling is Formspring (http://www.formspring.com/).

Formspring is something I came across on Facebook.  I made reference to the website on my blog a few days after we spoke about internet trolling in class.  Just to reiterate, Formspring is a social media site that enables users to ask each other anonymous questions.  It was launched on November 25, 2009 and has become an early 2010 craze, simply because the site links to the ever popular Facebook and Twitter (which, again, is how I stumbled upon it).

In reference to Langdon Winner’s Do Artifacts Have Politics?, “[w]hat matters is not technology itself, but the social and economic system in which it is embedded.”  When talking about the politics of internet trolling, it is important to take into account not the actual form of harassment, but the way in which internet trolls anonymously harass people, and how those people react to such harassment.  Since trolling allows people to anonymously harass one another, an internet troll can literally say whatever he/she wants to without any repercussions.  The question is whether the person being harassed takes what is said to him/her seriously.  It has become evident that some people do take the harassment seriously while others do not.  To use a tragic example, on March 22, 2010, 17-year-old Alexis Pilkington from West Islip, NY committed suicide after dozens of insulting comments had been posted about her on Formspring in the days leading up to her suicide.

The only way in which internet trolling can be eliminated is if websites create user log-in accounts that are in some way connected to a person in “real-life.”  If this is done, then internet trolls would not be able to remain anonymous, and then perhaps people would watch what they say and to whom they say it.  However, there are many websites that advocate this idea of internet users being able to remain anonymous.  In the case of a website such as Formspring and other sites that do not have user log-in accounts that are connected to a person in “real-life”, it is inevitable that internet trolling will continue to exist.  On the other hand, websites such as Twitter and Facebook would be against this idea of internet users being able to remain anonymous because sites like these have user accounts that are connected to a person in “real-life.”  Websites such as these take into account the values that should be considered when creating internet policy.

Formspring and other websites that lack concrete log-in accounts allow people to remain anonymous, and that ultimately gives users a sense of freedom on the internet.  Like anything else, some people take this freedom too far and harass people to a point that is beyond what they can handle.  I have seen some of the questions that people ask their friends on Formspring and, to be honest, a lot of them are personal questions that are not appropriate to ask in “real-life.”  So, you have to ask yourself, is it appropriate then to ask such a question on the internet?  The answer is no.  That is why this idea of internet users being able to remain anonymous is dangerous.  People think it is okay to say whatever they want while hiding behind their computer screens and never actually facing the people they interact with via internet.