Anonymity

Contrary to popular belief, anonymity does not make you evil.

It's more sinister than that.

People live in bubbles... They see their influence and what influences them. And they assume the world is like this...

That's where the internet comes in.

The people believe that all people are like them. That's the core component. People think that their views will be accepted and that they are part of a majority... or least they are thinking for betterment of humanity... or least the people in that bubble.

I start this post because of this quote.

YouTube comments aren’t “just the Internet.” They’re not the product of a group of otherwise nice guys who suddenly become evil when they wear a veil of anonymity. YouTube comments are actually a nightmarish glimpse into the sexist attitudes that define the fabric of our own existence in the “real world,” a world that, like YouTube, is owned and dominated by men. The most terrifying gift that the Internet has given us is that it’s shown us how men honestly perceive the world: as a place where women exist exclusively for their sexual pleasure.

In the wake of VidCon, and as more and more women start speaking up about the harassment they face online, it’s time to start realizing that our narrative of progress is deeply flawed. Things aren’t getting better for women on the Internet; they’re deteriorating and ignoring the problem amounts to being complicit in it.  

"For women on the Internet, it doesn’t get better" by Samantha Allen

You see, the anonymity doesn't make you bad... it makes you real. You start spouting your cherished beliefs because you think you are part of the mass... and particularly found a mass who does have the same interest... leading to an echo chamber...

The fact that very 'normal' people are saying this things are to the fact it's a societal problem, not a personal problem. These man are not 'evil', least not in a social sense because the society is complacent on this behavior rather than labeling as 'evil'.

So, I think that's my response to Hank. The research project probably conclude that it's not whether they’re whether they’re “otherwise nice guys” IRL, or whether they have no friends because everyone has figured out how much they suck, or whether they have a social group where it’s acceptable to be, like, a terrible person. It's a combination of all three.

(To spell it out... Since everyone has figured out how much they suck, they try to hide it by being a otherwise nice guy and probably found a group where it's acceptable to be a terrible person.)

It's a hard step to take that there's something wrong with society rather than just a person or even a group of people. That the sense of Optimism and Entitlement actual ruin us in the long run. What's wrong with Mass Killings in America? Is it guns? Is it video games? Is it 'loss of faith'? Whatever the reason, it will boil to the fundamental malfunctioning of our society... namely the 'sense of entitlement'.

We need to change the culture... not of the internet, but the world. Internet doesn't change you. It makes the world clearer, for better or worse.