Why Do They Troll?

     Lately, I've been thinking, is it worth it to have a political discussion about those who are unable to, or are uncooperative when it comes to mature dialogue. These trolls trench through the Internet to slather those they choose to hate with insults and false slander. Whenever I have seen trolling in action, the aggressor can be anything from misinformed to hateful, and believe me, I see it in everywhere in Internet forums to the messaging systems on Social media sites like Facebook to Tumblr. Me having such access to these sites gives me a firsthand experience in some of the online hate speech perpetuated by these terrible people and I am appalled that another human being can treat another like that. What insights these people to hate those that they disagree with?
     If I had to think of what motivates hate, I'd have to stick with that this type of hate was taught or brought upon by tradition. When I think of a person who doesn't approve of somebody's life choice, I generally think of an older person due to their era in time teaching them what is right and what is wrong; so it would seem that anything beyond their comfort zone would be something they scathe upon and would want to distance themselves by speaking ill upon the topic. Imagine that if in the years passing that a new trend arises that even our generation of people do not truly condone, wouldn't there be a great many of us to disapprove of it, and wouldn't our offspring learn from us and those who disapprove may have children that grew to find an act abhorred? It is more of a question of understanding, rather than a question of interpretation. I could see a great many of my friends not being able to see a trend as something they would approve; even though they may be as progressive when it comes to social movements as they currently are, isn't there some fetish or perversion that they would find disgusting and horrid? Most definitely.
     Understand that only a few of us would grow upon the new generation of children and understand their perspectives, so of course a great many trolls would be spawned, we just have to control how many would be crafted.

Afraid to Show Yourself?

Personally, I believe that those who use the tool of anonymity are really just afraid of what people will say about them. I understand that it is still good for people to speak up about things, even if it is done anonymously, but at the same time I feel like fully owning up to your words is just as important as deciding to speak up on certain issues.

White Elephant anonymity

Anonymity seems to affect our lives in a negative and a positive attitude. Anonymity is used more online than through the world. Anonymity can be used in the White Elephant Gift Exchange. This game is literally putting down 10-30 dollars on a gift and putting it in the middle of the rest of the gifts and having to choose one when it's your turn. There is also calls a steal, and this basically tells us that you can steal a gift or you can choose a gift. However that steal on that one gift is a limitation to up to two. After two steal on that gift, it's considered to be locked. Now these gifts should be both sex. You don't want to end up leaving with nail polish when you're a bro. Today I went to church, and I tried to stay anonymous as much as possible. I didn't want anyone knowing what my gift was. My gift was a care package of food, junk food, a drink, and some toilet paper. This might look a bit trollish but I think the dude that got it seemed ok....I feel bad. Having the anonymity going around, I was number 39 and I wanted to see what I wanted and when it was close to my number, I was indecisive. In the end, I did a steal on my church friend and I got Olaf pillow material. But someone ended up using their steal and took my gift. I ended up doing another steal but because it was locked, that person could challenge me or just give me their gift. She ended up challenging me and I ended up winning luckily. I stole BAYMAX. In conclusion, there were some okay gifts and some real good gifts and that's really just an anonymous game where you rely on luck that you get something good. Although anonymity can be very bad if used abusively, anonymity can also be used in fun games or etc. 

-Robin Hwang

-ERWC 5 

Oh man this week has been torture for me because of soccer and homework. Since this week has started I haven't been able to get good enough sleep, I've been sleeping very late maybe around 2 or 4 am or maybe not even getting sleep at all. I'm actually surprised I haven't collapsed this week due to sleep deprivation. The reason being up so late is due to the fact of homework, and trust me I was piled with a lot of work and with due dates the next day, I would start on it and there would be no end in sight. Especially what made it worse staying up late is before I would have soccer practice which would get me extremely exhausted and the only the that I would want to do when I get home is sleep and nap but I know that's not possible because I needed to do my homework. Luckily the week is over and I can finally sleep in this weekend without waking up to do homework or staying up late to do homework.

(2 Week Late Post) Nobody is Safe from Trolling

When you think of the certain type of person who is to be trolled on the Internet, you would assume that this person was probably part of some minority group, maybe even part of vulnerable or minority political groups, for instance feminists or third world freedom fighters. However, you'd be surprised that many people are attacked for more than just their beliefs, I can account from personal experience that, in fact, others have been solely targeted for their innate characteristics, excluding ethnicity, such as beauty or body positivity. Those who are also promiscuous by nature also seem to have the trolling beat stick thrown at them due to them being beyond the norm that we were either taught to be as children or the societal norm that experience from day-to-day living. People's personal choices are always being attacked on the web, and believe me, the person who was trolled can be anyone, they do not have to be an "Internet famous celebrity", they can be someone as unknown and uncharted as you or me, regular students who attend a regular high school in a decent neighborhood, and you can still be harassed by these heathens for no reason but to spite you or to get a rise out of you. I may have you asking yourselves is there a way for us to escaping this barrage of hate on social media websites, and yes there definitely is a solution to that problem. If we were to have people who monitor what messages can go through to another person's page, we could definitely lower the chance of receiving hateful or sickening messages online by a substantial factor. Companies would have to step up their game and start hiring more employees for this new job so that they can have a much more thorough search through what messages are to be deemed as trolling.

Zooming Out, Focusing In

Over the course of this week, I feel that I am seeing the bigger picture of what’s really going on in being online and anonymous. At the beginning of this unit, we’ve studied “trolling” and how it has negatively affected the online community today. My first impressions on trolling made me feel cynical towards all form of rude online comments. I was disgusted by the inhumane behavior of “trolls” when they harassed Zelda Williams and Lindy West. At the time, I narrowly defined online trolling as spreading negativity and downgrading another’s work online. I didn’t appreciate the fact that people had the power to stir up anger and hate on the internet.

 However, as we read more articles on class concerning online speech conduct and anonymity, the scope of my views on trolling has widened. The articles from the New York Time’ room for debate gave me all sorts of perspectives on online speech – not trolling. Not every article focused on online trolling, or at least they didn’t directly classify hateful speech as trolling. Vyshali Manivannan, a Ph.D. candidate in Media Studies, argues that trolling is loosely defined and only used to generalize all forms of negative speech. Also Manivannan suggests that to tackle the problem of the variances in “trolling” it requires multiple approaches. This article stood out to me because it really made sense. In addition, my views on anonymity have also evolved in the process.

Now, I view trolling as a conglomerate of communication issues between people and groups of people. There is a wide pool of scenarios in which trolling differs, and the only way to fully understand the problem is to dive into the specific situation where the problem exists. Concerning trolling with anonymity, I intially didn’t have a concrete or at least good understanding of it. But now, I don’t think that there is a direct relationship between them. We can’t blame anonymity for the reason of trolling and we can’t blame trolling for the negativity of anonymity. There are some aspects of anonymity that are useful to us, however under specific circumstances misconduct online should be monitored.

After soaking in what each article points out, I am confident in writing this paper. Our ERW class intelligible arranged this unit. To get a better understanding of a situation or problem, you would have to go through a process. Initially, you encounter what the current conflict is, then after some time you get better understanding as you step back from the problem. This phase of reflection gives you the knowledge and information you need to tackle the issue. Similarly, after encountering trolling at first, then stepping away from it by reading other articles, I feel I’ve got a good idea on what trolling is. By zooming out, I was able to focus in on the issue. 

(Week Late Post) We Need to Know When To Know Whats Acts are Forms of "Trolling"

I would have to express that, if you were to be "trolled",  know that this act should mean online harassment through cyberstalking or incites of violence or harm, not engaging conversation in a joking or sarcastically responding or commenting towards someone online. In my opinion, joke can be perceived as offensive, but they do not carry a message as damning and as terrifying as a real threat of physical violence or danger. Yet another example of "trolling" would be doxing an individual, and exploiting them by releasing their private information. This has been used on multiple people and many different groups of people, some of which include feminists and people who support GamerGate, an online movement about journalistic integrity and ethics in video game journalism which turned sour from some of these trolls spewing hatred towards others, sometimes, exclusively women and minority groups. Just imagine if any information about you was disclosed to public, anything that could harm you or cause you to become incarcerated, et cetera, wouldn't that concern you and make you worried? I have viewed Gawker Media, an online blog forum which has released private information about others in order to gain traction, resulting to them being known as a gossip news station to some. For example, the media site had released that California Senator Roy Ashburn was a closeted homosexual; he was married and had a couple children, but after hearing the news, his wife had left him and took their children along with her. In my opinion, some entities such as this can be viewed as trolls for ruining of shattering a person lifestyle. It seems that trolls are only out there to harm others, not joke and laugh along with their followers.

How Can you Tell?

For a while now we've been talking about anonymity and how it can have a positive and negative effect on others which leads to trolling. But how can you identify a troll? It might seem like a dumb question but it's honestly harder than you think. Some readers may characterize a post as trolling, while other may regard the same post as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, even if controversial. Like a pejorative term, it can be used as an ad hominem attack, suggesting a negative motivation. Regardless of the circumstances, controversial posts may attract a particularly strong response from those unfamiliar with the robust dialogue found in some online communities. Experienced participants in online forums know that the most effective way to discourage a troll is to usually ignore it, because obviously responding tends to encourage trolls to continue disruptive conversations.

Don't Hide

People speak louder behind a mask and they do this because they won’t essentially be judged directly. They feel more comfortable to say whatever they want because they are untouchable by the words that they say. It’s understandable but it’s more immature. Not many people like owning up to the truth and that creates these masks. However, this hidden attribute creates a bigger issue. I do understand anonymity can be used because fear of judgement and other purposes, but my main concern is that it is used in negative situations. Reading West’s story broke my heart and appalled me to even think that there are cruel enough people in this world to commit such hateful actions. I understand that it is a form of bullying and the bully may use this as an escape, but what I don’t understand is why they don’t realize they are causing damage.  Not many people like owning up to the truth because they're more worried about the reaction than the damage already done. If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all.

Don't Be A Troller

For the past few weeks my class has been learning about trolling and anonymity. I never really realized what trolling was until I read articles about it and discussed it in class. I think it's horrible how people can troll while being anonymous. Like how can someone be that rude and insulting to someone and hide behind a mask? There are some people who commit suicide because they are victims of trolls. People who troll may not think it's serious and think it's fun, but it could affect someones life. I just wish people can realize what they are doing and use anonymity in a correct way by asking questions or give ideas. Everyone should have their own opinion without being harassed.

The Abomination Known As Trolling

As a class, we have discussed the issue of trolling and the very negative impact it has on its receivers and believe me, I would not blame somebody for leaving social media over it. There is one thing that Zelda Williams, the daughter of famous comedian and actor Robin Williams, and I have in common, we were trolled to the point of leaving a form of social media. Williams had to deal with horrible things being sent to her, doctored photographs of her late father showing him beaten and bloody were just the tip of the iceberg for her; these trolls would attach comments such as crude joke, or very off-color language such as what tweeter King of Savage Lake had expressed that, "Look at what he [had] done to himself because of you, you fucking heartless bitch' and what tweeter Goose had also asserted that, "[you are] such a selfish piece of shit. He raised a whore I may add. Get cancer." These kinds of people thrive off of the quick witted reactions from other trolls and gladly fester on your page until you feel the need to leave the social media site. I was at that same end of the trolling beat stick, it has taken me a while to admit this because the issue itself was very personal on the matter that I had legitimately felt threatened. At one time, I had a Twitter account and I had posted and retweeted everything from music, political beliefs, to human's rights issues that we face on a daily basis. However, one day, when I was scrolling through my messages, I had saw something peculiar. Somebody had sent me a message, yet I didn't know who they were, so I opened the message and was startled to see what it contained. This was no ordinary message, it was a death threat, apparently something that I had posted had offended somebody who didn't share my beliefs; these people went onto to sending me my address, which if you wouldn't have guessed, I was frightened. My parents got wind of this as they saw me pacing around my room for hours on end, so I showed them the messages and right after that, I was directed to leaving Twitter because the threat of dying over my beliefs was outweighed by my parent's and my fear to live on. This is the main reason why I'm so passionate about the issue itself, because it had actually occurred to me, yet I was such a small voice on the internet and assuming my reach was so small, I could very well imagine this could happen to anyone across the wide-web.

Redefine Trolling

I've already spoken about this topic a tad in a comment, but I figured it could use a bit more discourse. Trolling, as it stands, is a completely ambiguous term. Looking through all of the posts all of you have made shows that every single one of us has a different definition for the word trolling. The fact that a word as silly as trolling can describe such a wide range of topics is pretty awful. Light teasing and jokes are called trolling, but so is misidentifying a criminal or sending someone death threats. In one of the Room For Debate articles we read, Manivannan touched on this subject. What would greatly help the fight against incivility on the internet is redefining trolling. Teasing, jokes, insults, antagonistization and all around mischief can still be defined by that silly word because they aren't serious offences. Harassment should be called exactly that though, harassment. By calling harassment "trolling," we give the perpetrators an out when they are caught. "Oh, I was just trolling her, it was just a joke." We can't let this happen. The word trolling illegitimizes the plight these victims of harassment went through and makes them and others much more likely to be attacked.

Dont judge an annon by its reputation

In all honesty never in my life have I ever considered really getting into detail of what the definition of "troll" really meant. To me I just thought it was someone who annoys everyone and is disliked by the community. However during this unit I began to get a more clear understanding as to what a troll is and how they run things on the internet. For me personally I get bothered when I see someone talking bad on someone else or trying to bring someone else down online while being anonymous. No one knows what the other person may or may not be going through but it isn't our business to try and ruin someone else's life just because we can't get ours together like we want to. Many people abuse and misuse the correct form of "trolling" and use it as a way to harass or bully someone else just because they know that their identity will never be known in public. People like that disgust me because It irritates me to see how heartless people can be toward others just because they feel good messing with their feelings. There is so many articles that speak on the negative sides of anonymity but it's rare to hear about the positive sides to it. Surprisingly due to all the negative in Anonymity there is also a positive outcome as well. There are  many websites that use anonymity to uplift others in special programs held for women and children of domestic violence or rape. They keep their identities a secret in order to feel some kind of security and be judged by what they say or what personal experiences they may have gone through. To me personally I totally support those kind of groups because they use anonymity for the good in the world as opposed to all the bad that people have written about. If everyone just uses anonymity the right way I don't think there will be any problem with having to taken that away.

Alexis Mora
Period 5

Views From The 5th 🙏

As of now, I think our class understands the real meaning of trolling and how anonymity is one of the main causes of it. When we first started the subject we all had our own meaning of what we thought trolling was and from what we have learned, most of what we said were true. Trolling has a wide  variety of meanings that rang from one extreme to the next. My opinion and understanding of online trolling and anonymity has grown. However they have not changed, they have only gotten stronger. The new information we were taught has allowed me to go into more detail about how I feel towards the subject.

Put it in the past!

I've always known online anonymity was something that is hard to control, but I can't say that I've always known it was done to the extent in which I learned about this section of ERW. I have always heard of the harassment that happens over the Internet, but I also can't say I have ever witnessed it. I have never imagined someone could be as cruel to another human such as Zelda Williams, who has been through so much with losing her father. It just seems inhumane. With that being said, I'm glad it's over, this has been an incredibly stressful few weeks, but it's finally over, and all we have is a half of a week left! I've never looked forward to break as much as I do right now.

Decisions

I need to make a decision on whether I want to go to a four year university or start at community college. I recently received a letter about joining the the track and field team at Cerritos College, which is very exciting. In the letter it said there was a meeting so I could get more information about it so I went to the meeting. I kind of think it might be a good opportunity for me. They said that students who go to community college first save money because they have the same classes like the four years universities. They also said that for the students who didn't get into the college of their choice if they attend community college they have a higher chance of getting into a four year after going to community college. They talked about how some of their athletes received full ride scholarships to four year universities. From everything that they talked about it seems like a great opportunity, but I'm still unsure if I want to do it. This decision could change my life. 

What I say about Anonymity

I'm learning more about anonymity and I think its really interesting. People sometimes sue sites because of not protecting their privacy when they have deleted oneself's account. Like private photos even go public instead of private. There's really no privacy anymore because there are hackers, therefore you have to be careful before you post something online and think before you attempt doing so.

I'm Lowkey Getting It Now

Throughout our unit, I've learned things about internet trolls and anonymity that I never knew before. We've covered a really big spectrum of what exactly an internet troll is. I've learned that internet rolls are not always negative. They can be people who are your admirers but want to remain anonymous. Right now I'm writing my essay that I waited until the last minute to do. Not that I was too lazy to do it but because I genuinely had no idea how to. Luckily, I have a great teammate and she explained the entire essay to me. I understand now that we have state our position on the issue and support with any of the 10 articles.

Appreciate

I see we are talking about anonymity again! We as a class have been talking about these for some time now, and we all know what it is and how bad it is.  Have we ever took a step back and look back, and notice what we would do if we didn't have anonymity.  We would always feel trapped in side.  Like we always have to say something nice,even when we don't want to be. Sometimes we have to let are true feelings out, towards somethings and people. So basically, I was saying is we should sometimes appreciate our anonymity just like the quote says.

Shine Some Light on the Subject

Shine Some Light on The Subject...

Anonymity has been the basis of our classroom discussions/assignments for the past few weeks and it has definitely been a very informative section in the school year so far. At the beginning of this section, I had an understanding of what online anonymity was based off of experience through social media, and my opinion of it was not too positive. I had seen a lot of online anonymity go horribly wrong; from trolling to un-identifiable users, they have spread nothing but negativity to innocent social-media users. Moreover, my prior experience with anonymous users was not very good, to say the least. However, when we went deeper into analyzing anonymity, I began to realize the potential positive outcomes that if can produce. I've also gained more information on what an online troll is, as well as some positive things to do with online anonymity. This lesson was very productive and informative, and it was a pleasure to learn from. 

The End of Anonymity?

If someone were to ask me about anonymity last year, I wouldn't have paid much attention to it, but reading all these articles its made me more clear to the subject and how wrong it is for people to harass others online. I think being online and anonymous just creates more problems for people since we don't know who the people are and majority of the people online just use it for the worst. In most of the articles we've read, all of them talk about the problems with anonymity. I think people turn to posting anonymous because they don't have the confidence to publicly say what they need to, so instead they go online and post anonymous. I'm sure there are some people who have had nothing but good feedback when posting online, but just think of how the people who constantly get harassed for voicing their opinions feel when they post something coming from the heart. If we could all just be nice to each other online, the anonymity would be more welcomed to people.

Shhh... It's a Secret

Christmas really is a magical time of year. I love how the holiday makes everyone more willing to give. During Christmastime, many people engage in anonymous service. For example, many of us have donated cans to Project Shepherd or donated money to other service projects. Others of us may have participated in toy drives, clothing drives, or other similar community or school run programs. My personal favorite Christmas service tradition is leaving cookies or gifts on a family's doorstep, ding-dong-ditch style, and watching as the recipient receives their anonymous gifts. Whatever the act of service, however, it is the anonymity of the act that makes it extra special. Service of any kind, of course, is a good thing; however, when people flaunt their accomplishments like a badge on their chest, their service loses some of its meaning. It's refreshing when instead of serving for praise or attention, people give because they love making others happy.
I started thinking about how this relates to online anonymity. Oftentimes, Internet users have their own opportunities to give secret service. People can send anonymous thank you emails or other messages to their friends and families. Authors have the choice to use pseudonyms in order to conceal their identities while still letting their words impact the world. Websites are available that allow people to send anonymous gifts through the mail or quietly give money to charity. And in a more general sense, anonymous Internet users gift the world with their knowledge through their blogs, articles, posts, comments, tweets, and messages.
I like thinking about anonymity in this way, as a gift to humankind. Of course, online anonymity doesn't always result in gifts. There are people who daily abuse anonymity by using it to defame and hurt others, and these individuals, who we call trolls, often wreck havoc on their victims' lives. The benefits of anonymity are thus often forgotten in the ongoing debate regarding trolls. This is where a more nuanced view of online anonymity is required in order to balance the arguments for and against anonymity. Most of us can agree that online anonymity can be both good and bad, depending on the situation. What we need to decide next is the hows of anonymity. How can we let good people continue to benefit from online anonymity while also preventing trolls from running rampant through our forums?
We've read several articles that have given us ideas of how we can achieve this balance. Which ideas have resonated with you guys the most, and what other ideas do you have regarding the subject?

Christmas

Christmas time always reminds of a room full of people laughing and having a great time. Something I enjoy doing during Christmas time is watching movies. I do this weird thing where I watch Halloween movies during Christmas and Christmas movies during Halloween, however there is one movie that I must watch no matter what, every Christmas. That movie is The Grinch. I really really love that movie, ever since I was a young girl. I love how at the end the Grinch's heart grows and he learns what love and Christmas spirit is really all about. This year I have been very excited for Christmas break to come way more than other years. This year I am the most excited because I am looking forward to spending lots of time with my family.

This past month, we've been learning a lot about anonymous trolling. I have much more knowledge now, than before. It really bothers me when people bully other people, anonymously behind a screen. If you want to be rude to someone, you should a) not do it or b) don't hide behind a screen. What do you get out of bullying someone? You should never put someone down, just to make your self feel better. I think that is what's wrong with our world. Instead of building people up and helping them grow, we shut them down and hurt them. If we all work on helping each other, we could have a much better world. Don't respond to negative comments, because your just giving them what they want to hear. You should respond by either ignoring them, or say "I'm sorry you feel that way". There really is no way to stop people from posting or saying negative things, all we can do is ignore them. Trolling is everywhere, and its not fair to the people who get bullied that they should have to delete their apps because of trolls.

Learning Lessons

Throughout my whole life I've never payed so much attention to anonymity as much as I have this passed month. Although I am around it so much, on my phone even here at school. For example, when we have homecoming ballots or we vote for ASB positions we don't know who voted for who. It's so effective because nobody's feelings get hurt with who did and didn't vote for you. In most situations I've learned that the whole anonymity thing is taken out of proportion. Everybody has the right to keep what they want a secret or not but when they automatically start to hurt someone else that's where people should draw the line.
I hope that many of us have learned a lot in this unit of Online and Anonymous. Now that we know and can acknowledge the harm it can do many of us can learn to manage it correctly. Being anonymous is a privilege we can have since our country allows us to do so and it's a great thing we need to not abuse it.

See ya Later, "Online and Anonymous"

About a month ago when our “Online and Anonymous” unit was introduced, I didn't have much knowlege of all the ugly occurring on the internet. I knew that people were bullied on social media but I didn't know to which extent. I have learned so much. When I first heard ‘trolling’, I didn't think of it as the serious word it is; I thought it was a term for joking around on the internet. I now know that ‘trolling’ is a multifaceted word that is sort of an understatement for all the malicious behavior online. We have gone back in forth between thinking that anonymity bread bed behavior and that there are positives to anonymity too.I have come to the conclusion that anonymity is something we can’t go without. It does have some terrible side effects, but I can’t imagine a world without anonymity where everyone has to be accountable for whatever they say.

          When I think back on our last month in ERW I realized how much work we’re really done. We did a few quick writes, which lead to the reading of a few articles, then a couple more, three blog posts and now a paper to finalize our thoughts on anonymity. This unit has been really interesting, but I think I’m ready to put anonymity behind me. Keep pushin’, monsoons, Winter Break is just around the corner.

Overwhelmed

I believe I can speak on behalf of most of the senior class taking ERW that this week is beyond stressful! It seems that all of a sudden a bunch of work has been piled on out of nowhere. Or is it really out of nowhere? The more I think about it, most of us have had a while to complete our vocabulary boxes, grammar packet, rhetorical précis, and even our chart for the seven articles in the notebook. So why is it that so many of us wait until the last minute to complete everything and then complain about having so much to do? When assignments are first given to us with a due date not too near in the future, it seems as if we have almost eternity to complete it. However, the next thing you know it's due in a couple days and we're thinking, "Oh shoot, I should have started a while ago."

Like many individuals say, "YOU are in charge of your happiness", I say, "WE are in charge of our stress level." It's quite too easy to slack off and procrastinate when several of us should be doing the exact opposite. Nonetheless, plenty of us students are involved with extra curricular activities and have a life of our own. We're told it's important to be well-rounded individuals at this age but all the supplemental things we do make it rather hard to keep up with all this work.

If you're feeling stressed, you're not alone! I have about a million and one things to do by Friday with so little time. You can push through all this! Now that this blog post is done, I should probably start my essay on anonymity. (Maybe you should start too if you haven't already). ツ

The last few classroom days of 2015

Online and Anonymous: The Writing Task

Online and Anonymous

The Writing Task

Gabriella Coleman writes that “we should...consider what we would lose were we to ban, or even discourage, the use of anonymity on the Internet. Debates about trolls routinely conflate anonymity with incivility but a broader look at online activities reveals that public good can come when users can hide their identity.”

Review your collected notes, your chart and annotations to see how they are relevant to the question of anonymity and democratic values.

• Do you think that anonymity is an important right in online communities, or do you think it invites harassment or worse?  In the style of “Room for Debate,” write well-developed and organized editorial of between 600-750 words in which you present your thoughts on the issue of Internet anonymity, and then utilizing the sources, your observations, and your experience, take a position that explains the extent to which you believe anonymous identities should be protected from censorship.

Draft 1	Paper copy, In class Friday, 12/11	A careful look at citation:  Using the words of others in academic writing:  A “They Say/I Say” workshop
Draft 2	Paper copy, In class Tuesday, 12/15	Revision workshop -- a close look at thesis statements, organization, syntax, and diction
Final Draft	Due on Thursday, 12/17 by 5:00 p.m.	Drafts 1 & 2 turned in Final draft:  Uploaded to Turnitin.com

Additional Requirements:

• In-text citation:  In your final paper, you must correctly (1) quote, (2) paraphrase and (3) summarize at least four of the sources provided (Workshop on 12/11/15). These are three different moves in academic writing.  
• Note that the seven articles included in “Room for Debate” include hyperlinks. The use of hyperlinks create a more dynamic text, and provide readers with additional information to deepen or enhance their understanding, Your paper will include two hyperlinks that should be purposeful and useful to your reader.  Please do not merely repeat sources already provided or rely solely on definitions or Wikipedia articles.  
• A printable version of the writing prompt is here.

Anonymity

Anonymity in my eyes is a good thing, but I think people take anonymity to a whole other level. I personally do not like others reading what I have to say because I feel like someone will judge me for my opinion. I have written some things online anonymously before, but it was not anything bad it was my views on certain issues. I have a hard time letting others read what I write. If it were up to me I would never let anyone ever read what I have to say, but unfortunately there are some things such as essays that others have to read to tell me what I need to improve on. Being anonymous allows me to write what I want without feeling judged.

1-800-anonymous

People speak the loudest when behind a mask. Probably because people won't judge that person directly if they don't know who it is. They'll just judge what was said. People don't like being judged because then they feel uncomfortable. That's why so many people do things anonymous. They feel way more comfortable when people don't know they're behind the words that were said. Some people use the the anonymous to troll and I think that is immature. I person shouldn't do that. People who are anonymous should talk about what they feel about a subject and try not to offend anyone. Being able to be anonymous can be a good thing at times and a bad thing. Just depends how people use it.

Anonymity: A Double-Edged Sword

This past week we've been looking at articles in the room for debate. Gabriella Coleman's article "Anonymity Serves Us All" stood out to me because it actually is very true. I always thought anonymity had more negative than positive effects. The internet granting anonymous status online allows for trolls to harass others and cause aggravation while they remain safe behind a screen. Since victims of cyber-harassment are unable to identify the aggressor, their hopes of retribution is lost, and the troll gets away. To me, I think that anonymity has an insidious nature due to the fact that no one knows when and where a troll comes from. Sadly, freedom of speech protects the trolls for speaking their mind, even when their intent is to cause problems. We may have the right to say, but it doesn't mean it is right to say. On another note, anonymity does empower people who keep their potential discussion topics or words against injustice to themselves to let it out. This is because many people who fear criticism do not want to be recognized by their words. With these pros and cons of anonymity are at hand and hand, the right to privacy should be preserved. Sure it may prevent some trolling, but it will sacrifice speech empowerment.

Anonymity or Fear?

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth."
                                                                                                           -Oscar Wilde
When I think of anonymity I think of phonies scared to handle responses. Anonymity is nothing but a way to hide yourself from being honest. This quote plays a great role toward society. In a more of a high school student's perspective, being fake is the most talked about trait about someone. "She called me this but won't come say it in my face." 'He told her this but he's really cheating on her with his best friend."  Not many people like owning up to the truth because they're more worried about the reaction than the damage already done. I do understand anonymity can be used because fear of judgement and other purposes, but my main concern is that it is used in negative situations. With that being said, to all the hurtful anonymous abusers, grow up, show up and own up.

Ronnie Gonzalez
per.5

The 1st round of playoffs for football we were going up against some rich boy school called Harvard West Lake. When coach bedell explained how low they thought about us; for example, calling us poor or that we're the ghetto, it's difficult to put in words how furious I was. During practice it was going as usual, going special teams then stretching, then defense but as soon as the offensive practice began it was starting to get cold and for some odd reason when ever I practice or play in the cold I am prone to getting an injury. As soon as team practice began, it's when the entire starting offensive team practices plays that we use during the game against a scout defense, I was getting ready to run a play but as soon as I ran a route I felt my hamstring pop. This wasn't the first time this has happened to me and I knew as soon as it popeed I wouldn't be able to play. I was doing my best to stretch, ice, and massage my hamstring but as a result my hamstring would hurt no matter what. Each day of practice i was very upset simply because I wasn't able to practice. When game day finally came I had the mentality that I was able to play but as soon as I got to the field to warm up my hamstring was hurting so much it was hurting to the point where I couldn't even run. As I told coach of what was going on with my hamstring I was trying to hold in my tears because I was think "what if this is my last game that I'll be able to play with my brothers. " Even all my coaches we coming to me and asking if I could play and I said no and it made me very mad that I couldn't play. My offensive coach took me to the side and said "this will possibly be your last game, are you sure you can't play" and when I told him "no" something inside me broke because I went to the bench to sit down and I was trying to hold in my tears. As the game finished I was just balling out in tears because I actually felt as if it was my fault for not playing and getting injured. Even till this day it haunts me that I wasn't able to play.

Blind Confidence

Anonymity serves a major role in the online community. The purpose of posting anonymously is to hide the identity of a person who posts online. It gives people comfort and a sense of security to post and say whatever they want because no one would know who they are. As time progressed, internet use grew increasingly popular, and its growth has then created multiple purposes of anonymity. Internet trolls exploit anonymity by harassing others. They lack concern because they feel that anonymity protects their reputation. Other people use anonymity as way to express themselves without feeling ashamed or embarrassed. These people are highly concerned of what their peers think, and thus they are caught in a dilemma – a battle of staying true to who they are or facing judgment. Their solution? Anonymity.  It gives them a middle ground; they are able to express themselves without revealing their identity.

Although the applications of anonymity may differ, internet users primarily use it as a means of self-expression by hiding their identity. Anonymity has relieved internet users of their accountability and ownership on their posts. It has granted them blind confidence; they get to post what they want, yet they are afraid claim their speech. I believe that if a person truly wants to truly express themselves or their interests, they shouldn’t hide it. Also, if someone truly wants to say something hurtful they should own up to it and not hide behind anonymity; if they don’t, it just proves that they are weaker. Not to discredit the other useful reasons of posting anonymously; however, as people we have the responsibility to own up to what we say. If we don’t, it means we didn’t really mean what we say. 

Anonymity

Anonymity, when you think about it could be a frightening thing. Everyone has an opinion and everyone should have the right to share it. Sometimes majority of the people who hear or see a persons opinion will disagree. And when this happens, beings will get defensive and rude. People could learn to disagree in a nicer way but that's not going to happen because people think its okay to tear someone down just because no one knows who they are. I believe when younger people see this they can imitate it and also think its okay when it isn't. Which starts up a whole new generation of trolls. If people weren't so scared of the infinite number of rude things a person can say about them then more people would blog or publicly express how they feel about certain situations but since commenters and haters have a brick wall protecting their identity I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. Anonymity just causes destruction.

Online and Anonymous

When thinking about anonymity I get kind of anxious, just because some people don't use being anonymous on the internet in a good way. I get that some people want to use anonymity as a way of hiding themselves so they can post without their identity being revealed but what I don't get is that some people take it to an extreme. For example, they start posting rude comments and posts about others not realizing how that affects the person. Being anonymous has its perks, more bad than good. Anonymity online is like wearing a mask, because no one actually knows who you are. I think being anonymous can be used in better ways than what people are using it for. Most people that create anonymous accounts don't have anything better to do with themselves. All the articles that we've been reading deal with online and anonymous. People don't consider others feelings, and most of those people create anonymous accounts and write mean things.

Anonymity

     "Pages are allowed to be anonymous. That is really important. People start revolutions; we need anonymity." - Sheryl Sandberg. 

      I honestly feel like a person does thing anonymously because they feel as though they can't be themselves in real society so they feel that through being anonymous they can achieve that. It's like that because of how society has become. They feel that they need to be a certain way and act a certain way and say certain things and can't really speak their mind. Yeah, some people have overcome that but in the end society still wants you to act a their way. It's no wonder they would go on somewhere and just speak their mind behind the protection of a screen.  They may act as someone else but that someone else could be a reflection of who they really are or who they want to become. Anonymity is kinda like a way of protection. Protection from the personal feeling one would get from being judged. Anonymity is like a way to rebel from all of society's customs and beliefs and really be themselves. Really show their or our true colors. People find that if they do things anonymously they have a bit more freedom and confidence in what they really want to say and NO TAKE BACKS. I feel like, if you're anonymous, you can really speak your mind and not care about who sees it or even who listens to it. 

Pros of Anonymity

Recently, in class, we have been exposed to the events that include acts of online anonymity that have been more positive, and I have enjoyed these. I feel as though anonymity in certain aspects of the Internet is important because there have been occurrences where sometimes, people may need to ask questions or learn new information, they may not be able to do it because they are afraid of what people might say. The unknown writer would not be writing it if he or she knew people would find out who they were. That's why they make sure it is unknown. I feel this "secret" is needed for people to have the confidence to say what is on their mind or how they feel.

Anonymity

I think when people are anonymous, they don't feel the pressure of having to watch what they say because people are not watching and judging their every move. It gives people a sense of comfort and it opens up to a more truthful way of thinking for them. For example when some people are talking about an issue and are not anonymous, they are scared of the feedback they may get. However, when anonymous there is a whole different platform for them to speak. They can speak on a subject that they were once afraid of being criticized for. I know that anonymity can lead to negativity, I believe that it can also lead to positive and uplifting things.

The Truth Under the mask

Anonymous people try so many things to hide who they are truly are all the time.  People don't understand why certain people do certain things on social media or on certain websites. Honestly I don't understand it either, but then i think about it. Some people are being trolls just because they have gotten treated that way their whole lives, and they want to see how it is on the other side of the fence. People shouldn't hide behind that mask just because they're scared or afraid of what people might think of them.

Now I chose this quote because it so true; like its ridiculous.The first part of the quote in my wrote is basically like, a person who is in front of you will only tell them what you want to here, not the true feelings that you want to know.  The second part of the quote means to me is that if you give a person the stage to perform on, they will eventually show you the real them. Also, if you give them a anonymous user name and password, then they will come out with the real stuff.

So this is what I think anonymity means, a person who is always being anonymous. Also hiding there true feelings and thoughts. 

Anonymity

I think there's a good and a bad side of anonymity. It gives people the opportunity to express how they feel without felling judged or attacked. Anonymity is a way to hide because we all want to feel protected at some point in our lives. Taking away the ability to be anonymous limits and restricts creativity as well. If person has an anonymous idea that they do not want to be known for, they do not have that power. However, the negative side of anonymity is in fact that it can be used to hurt others without consequences.

Pros & Cons towards Anonymity

We've been talking about trolling for a while now and to be frank with you, it's starting to bore me. I think there's an equal amount of pros and cons to each side. Each side has their own argument/standpoint. I'm just gonna list some myself. I think some pros to be anonymous is that you can literally write anything you want. You can be free and work with the people that have the same opinion as you. On the other hand, the cons may consist of people abusing the power of being anonymous. Trolling people to the extent of hurting them knowingly. In the article, "What Happened When I Confronted My Cruellest Troll" , Lindy West tells us that her trolls made her quit a social media app and really got her off guard. I think what she went through shouldn't of happened. Although people go through many rude trollers, I think we should still have anonymity because it kinda lifts something of our hearts. In conclusion, anonymity should go on, but I believe it should be essential to stop the crazy trollers that gang up on someone til the fact that the individual will drop. I think they should be arrested or something. 

Namasayin?

-Robin Hwang 

Period 5

ERW

Anonymity

Anonymity can be both good or bad. Some people use it to share their beliefs and opinions publicly, with out having to fear other people judging them. It serves as a mask that protects people from being judged or attacked. On the other hand, trolls use anonymity as well to say hateful things with out being punished. If the trolls remain anonymous then their isn't anyone to face for what they did. When trolls use anonymity as a type of "shield" against their victims, it creates frustration for the person being bullied because they don't even know who is saying mean things about them. Anonymous posts aren't always bad, but I do believe their wouldn't be so many trolls if anonymity didn't exist. 

FLETCHER posts the work for FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

Gosh, I think you know what you're supposed to be doing today, right?

1. Complete the VOCABULARY HOMEWORK in the back of your notebook (the 8 assigned by me and 8 of your choice)
2. Work on the GRAMMAR PACKET-- particularly activities 4 and 5
3. Work on the RHETORICAL PRECIS ASSIGNMENT -- Whitney Phillips and one of your choice
4. Work on the ROOM FOR DEBATE CHART in your notebook using a Chromebook
5. Work on the SUMMARY AND RESPONSE for the first three articles (the Google Doc you created), using the Chromebook

I was reading Facebook posts from former students who are currently in college...they are ALL WRITING LOTS OF PAPERS and studying for exams before the winter break.  So this pressure you may be feeling? This is the new normal.  

Have a good day and a relaxing weekend, and I'll see you for SSR on Monday!

Is the A word bad?

When I hear the word anonymous I think of someone who likes to do whatever they want and not get caught because no one will ever know who did it. I think anonymity is something that can be a good thing but is often times taken for granted when it gets placed in the wrong hands. Too often people in this generation use anonymity to harass or humiliate enemies as a sign of revenge of some sort. When in reality they themselves are too afraid to stand up and speak their mind directly to the person they are trying to hurt. Today many people are quick to bring others down or talk smack on other people online and yet in person they go mute and have no form of communication when they come in contact. I am kind of neutral because most people that make themselves anonymous is doing it out of security but then you have other people that use it to cover their insecurities an mess with other peoples feelings. Then there's the thoughtful anonymous, for example if a guy likes a girl secretly he might send her flowers to make her day but not include his name. Those anonymous I support. Then there are others that use anonymous to make others feel bad, or to express their feelings about someone else due to their low self esteem to face the person indented to hurt. I believe if you're going to be anonymous be anonymous for the right reasons not to hide who you are just to hurt someone else, because in my opinion it makes you the criminal by trying to steal someone else's peace just because you don't have any.

Alexis Mora
Period 5

A Change in Opinion

 When asked what I thought of trolls in the beginning I would have said well there's not much to it. You have the bad ones and then you have your good ones, they both differ in the ways in which they impact society, on one end you have a light-hearted prankster and on the other you have a cold-hearted cruel deviant. After reading several articles on the negative effects of anonymity I noticed I started leaning more towards anti-anonymity I began to question why we have it in the first place due to all the cons I was seeing through my readings. It seemed that the con arguments were persuading me to their side little by little. It wasn't until recently that now I could finally be able to read the pros I've wanted to see, I craved to see the pros list to truly understand the depths to which trolling differs in degrees. In my opinion it seems that the pros outweigh the cons, thanks to anonymity we can all openly discuss topics openly without fear of being judged or be too shy to ask embarrassing questions we all deeply want to know. Which I think is amazing in itself because I know that I've been in that situation several times where I couldn't say what I wanted to say out of fear of being judged and thought of as redundant. I've seen it happen all the time too, where students refuse to raise their hand in class when they don't understand a concept all due to the fact that they don't want to be ridiculed.

Online Trolls

We have been learning a lot this week about Internet Trolls. We learned that it is much easier to say mean things anonymously. I still don't understand how people can go about trying to hurt other people and ruin their self esteem. I wish everyone could just get along and treat each other the way they want to be treated. It isn't a good thing to be abusive online, because if your going to be mean to someone you might as well come from behind the screen and don't be anonymous. Some people don't take what people safe offensively but others care too much about what other people think. If you respond back to negative comments, your just giving them what they want and they will continue to be a bully towards you or whoever they are talking about. Bullies are not cool, and you shouldn't allow them to ruin your life. Everyone's perfect in their own way, remember that next time someone bullies you.

Anonymity Good or Bad?

Anonymity may reduce the accountability one perceives to have for their actions, and removes the impact these actions might otherwise have on their reputation. This can have dramatic effects, both useful and harmful to various people involved. It may be used in psychological tactics involving any respective topic to support or discredit any activity or belief. Anonymity may allow people to reveal history and feelings without fear of later embarrassment but can cause physical isolation. Anonymous forums such as 4chan or reddit often provide a soapbox for disruptive conversational behavior, a.k.a "Trolls". Although some of these behaviors are harmless there are some people who take advantage of being anonymous. Relative anonymity is often enjoyed in large crowds. When people post comments that attacks a certain group or even supports a certain group, There will always be people that have different psychological and philosophical reactions to this development.

Anonymity

In class we have been talking a lot about trolls and anonymity. In my opinion the two go hand in hand because many times trolls prefer to stay anonymous so that people will not actually know who they are and in turn call them out and hate on them. For some reason trolls hardly ever want to own up to the things they say online so they stay anonymous. I don't think accounts should be anonymous because it seems as though you have something to hide. In class today we talked about anonymity on Facebook and I feel like being anonymous on Facebook goes against what Facebook is all about. My reason for thinking this is because Facebook is a way for people to connect with friends or family, maybe meet new people, basically just get to know someone's interests and communicate, so if no one knows who you are then I don't see the point of having a Facebook page... Anonymity doesn't always mean you're hiding something but sometimes I feel as though it's unnecessary.

Anonymity

I used to have such a bad image of the concept of anonymity, a bad and harmful thing. Articles that stand out there are more about the negative sides to hiding who you are. Lately, I have been seeing these articles showing the good side to hiding your identity and it was really worth a read.  I have figured out that if you do hide who you are, it allows people to only focus on the subject you can be having a discussion on.  Many times we argue and start to point out irrelevant things because we run out of things to say and just start to get mean.  We can never stop people from being rude or mean but we can stop them from them attacking who we are as a person on looks or our background by having that hidden from others. It can help put our opinions out there in consideration to start some discussion. Here in the United States we have so much freedom to do whatever we want we normally take that for granted. If we were in a country where that wasn't allowed but you'd want to talk about it, anonymity would be essential in that sense because you wouldn't want anyone coming after you. This past week has changed the way I look at being anonymous online, it's all about how people use it.