Editorial: The power of anonymous online comments

This might come as a surprise, but writers are human beings with feelings — not just mildly… This might come as a surprise, but writers are human beings with feelings — not just mildly stalker-ish individuals that creep around looking into windows of fraternity houses.

We are more than our jealous-ex-girlfriend-like behavior. Most of us develop a thick skin against criticism, but some online comments hit below our construction-paper Batman belts. You know the types of character-defiling comments we are talking about — the ones that have nothing to do with the writing itself, but instead verbally attack the individual with extreme maliciousness that would almost never take place in a face-to-face setting.

What is it about the Internet and the online-commenting atmosphere that channels our inner Regina George and unleashes her unadulterated wrath a thousand times over?

In a CNN Opinions piece, sports writer Jeff Pearlman tracked down some of his “online haters,” only to find that speaking to them over the phone was a much more civil — and almost pleasant — experience than reading their comments online.

According to Pearlman, “Readers can easily lash out. The filter that was a pen and paper has vanished, replaced by the immediate gratification of negativity. The concern for a writer’s feelings? Ha. What feelings?”

The gratification he is talking about often comes from the power of anonymity that commenting-enabled websites give online readers. And no, it is not limited to the lack of accountability for all you say anonymously, although that plays a part. Instead, the words of an anonymous person are magnified and given power because “when someone makes themselves anonymous online, other people assume they are like them and are really persuaded by them,” Caite Lamberton, assistant professor of business administration and social media researcher, reported.

In addition, the social norms that guide our behavior offline are not as strong as when we take on an anonymous persona on the Internet — allowing people to say and do things they wouldn’t normally, in an offline setting.

In a way this serves as an outlet, but of course the consequence of such an outlet rears its maniacal head in the form of online bullying and other types of online harassment.

Can’t we find a better outlet?

Our hope with this piece would be to bring back some sort of shred of online civility — to remind Pitt students that we are all human beings, and that we should apply some of the constraints of everyday social norms to our online presences. We want to keep the opinions flowing, but with the thought and intelligence that normally accompanies a Letter to the Editor. Above all, don’t respond to pieces online with a comment about how we are obviously all inbred, but with why you disagree with us instead.