The Huffington Post and The Washington Post Serve the Same Demon
Oct 26th, 2011 | 10 responses
At least a dozen demons answer to the name Anonymous. At one time these demons had names, but they’ve lurked so long under the cloak of anonymity that their names have simply been forgotten. They abide in just about every corner of the blogosphere. Mean spirited comments attached to meaningless user names. Wickedness with a handle. Sin with a disembodied avatar. In the internet age we know more than ever about our public figures, but less than ever about the people tearing them apart.
In town hall days, a heckler could be easily identified. “Hey isn’t that Joe’s father heckling the mayor? What the hell is he doing?” Now we have instant access to the faults of our politicians, celebrities, and religious figures. The life of every public figure within a key stroke. Our ability to anonymously tear them apart, as close as the comment section.
Anonymous has always been around. In the past it manifested in a letter at the door step, a brick through the window, or a burning cross on the lawn. Anonymous used to dial the phone or scrawl on the public bathroom wall. But lately, Anonymous reigns supreme on the internet; hobnobbing with the experts, lurking at the bottom of almost every opinion page and posting. From Youtube to The Huffington Post, from the Washington Post to whatever anyone posts is fine as long as we can count the hits.
Hits is a great word to describe the world wide web proliferation of Anonymous. A model motivated by page views has made room for hidden bigots, nameless racists, trolling teenagers, and really grumpy old men with nothing better to do than light the room on fire with inflammatory, unsubstantiated vitriol.
Is it free speech we are championing? Is it conversation we are facilitating? Or are we just handing the keys of the city to those who want to watch it burn.
To be fair, it’s important to acknowledge that many angels work under the Anonymous pseudonym as well. They choose the Anonymous label to deflect praise from themselves onto the communities they are serving. They leave the signature blank so others can share in the victory. They omit their names for the sake of the larger good. Sadly, the better angels seem to be drowned out by the bitter chorus of a satanic foothold simply known as Anonymous. . . Let the devouring begin.
Doug Bursch blogs and tweets Fairlyspiritual
10 Responses to “The Huffington Post and The Washington Post Serve the Same Demon”
Very well-written, interesting and apropos post, Doug.
Just curious why you picked the Huff Post and the WaPo for your “pertinent” examples.
We have “them” everywhere — including here??
I picked huff post and the Wa post out of a hat. . . or maybe I thought a few more people might read my lowly words if I mentioned a couple more popular sites. I thought about naming the Moderate Voice. . . But I thought it would be more fun to see it pointed out in the comment section. As usual, Dorian, I appreciate your interactions.
Thanks, Doug. I thought so.
As to the Moderate Voice –and although I mentioned it — compared to so many other on-line publications and sites, we generally have a pretty classy group of anonymous commenters.
I especially liked :
“To be fair, it’s important to acknowledge that many angels work under the Anonymous pseudonym as well. They choose the Anonymous label to deflect praise from themselves onto the communities they are serving. They leave the signature blank so others can share in the victory. They omit their names for the sake of the larger good.”
I wish many of us could be more like them …
Meant to add that a lot of credit for the “classy” commenters goes to that person with that thankless job called “Moderator.”
Yah, I don’t think every anonymous interaction is either terrible or wonderful, I just think lack of relational or social accountability leads to a lack of civility. Somethings worth saying are worth standing behind with our actual name.
well lets not forget places like RCP where you dont even need to login with a username.
at least my make believe pen nsme has a reputation to uphold
I think a good rule of thumb is don’t say anything in comments sections of blogs you wouldn’t also be willing to say face to face. I suppose that would ruin the “fun” for those who revel in not being accountable. Of course some people have legitimate and sound reasons for preferring to remain anonymous, although not most. TMV is considerably more civilized than many political blogs I’ve frequented in the past.
The fun here is that I can more effectively write than I can verbally joust. More time to not stick ones foot in ones mouth and to not get too emotional from an adrenal spike, which gets me tongue tied sometimes.
Good point about written verses verbal communication (dduck). I’ve thought about this in the political world as well. Sometimes we place to much importance on the verbal debate skills, verses the written, constructive thinking skills. We’ve all met professors that were brilliant but horrible with lectures. And we’ve all come across people with great verbal skills, but little or no depth or insight.
Spot on, Doug. As an example, if I were Perry, I would have told Romney to get his f—— hand off my shoulder and/or knocked if off.