Computers and technology change everyday, becoming more advanced and complicated. So the question comes to mind, are the things we say and do online really anonymous? Will the Internet eventually, take our personal information from Facebook, Amazon or Google and create a catalog of who we are on the Internet and what we want in life? Will we be contacted by our computer telling us what we might want to read and look at? Are we ever truly anonymous anymore?
In this day and age, it seems we want to keep our privacy, while at the same time we put our information on websites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter for all the world to see. So does it even matter anymore? We live in a generation that wants things to be simpler and easier for us, but then when Google, for instance, allows for you to be signed on to Youtube and Google with the same login information, we get angry. So people have taken to using different names and identities online. But is that so wrong?
This very issue has brought about something called the "nymwars" basically focusing on the idea that people should have the right to present themselves under any identity that they want online. Some controversy arose over the summer with Facebook and its "real-name policy" when Facebook changed famous author Salman Rushdie's profile name to Ahmed Rushdie, a name he never uses except for on his passport. After taking to Twitter with the injustice Facebook changed his name back; but is Facebook correct? Should people only be able to use their real names on the Internet?
Some people are more inclined to believe that anonymity and privacy are synonymous but some believe that it is just a means by which people can hide behind their computer and antagonize the weak. According to Randi Zuckerberg the marketing director for Facebook, putting restrictions on how anonymous people can be very well may put a stop to cyberbullying. So should we be censored and not allowed our right to privacy, or should we stay anonymous and not be held to any decency standards on the Internet? Many people believe that we should create these standards in order to keep civility in this ever-changing world, thus limiting people's right to free speech.
In my opinion there is no right answer at this point, all I know is that personally I want to keep my personal information private. But I'm not blind to the fact that not everyone uses the Internet in appropriate ways, and down the road we may need to consider limiting anonymity in order to protect the weak and the innocent. Anonymity is both a blessing and a curse.
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