Written by: Tarushi Singh
Edited by: Jaanvi Thorat
Illustration by: Tanisha Som
Sometimes, do you wonder how your life would be if all your actions were pinpointed and set down? Or how your friends would have reacted if they learned that you were the anonymous entity behind all that gossip? Or circumstances wherein your vote is not just recorded but also made public? HOW would your life have been right now? It is said that anonymity is a blessing in disguise. But would those beliefs extend to the context of provocateurs of cyberbullying? Doubtlessly, anonymity is a masked boon, but when the guise becomes the face of terror for a multitude, it transforms into crime.
A disguise is a perfect way to mask one’s real persona and establish an entirely reinvigorated façade that would stand unrecognizable to all. This ability to conceal the identity of a person or object is called Anonymity. It is practiced consistently by every individual. The form and degree of anonymity it holds, is what makes distinctions in our consciousness of its subtle existence. You would have heard of the name Agatha Christie. She is incredibly celebrated for her contribution in the domain of literature. Her works, especially the ones revolving around mystery and crime, are rather popular. But have you ever heard of Mary Westmacott? Some might have, but most you would be surprised to know that Westmacott was actually the pseudonym that Agatha Christie took up to publish romance novels. It isn’t shocking that writers conceal their identities and use pseudonyms to publish their work. This stems from the fact that they are constantly under the fear of privacy evasion, backlash, controversy, and even legal complications, which would most definitely affect the writer’s well-being, and cause great discomfort. The same happens with Artworks and Historical records, whose writers are unidentified. They are labelled as ‘Anonymous,’. Well, don’t confuse this with the decentralized hacktivist group, ‘Anonymous’, who have employed the logo of a headless man and a question mark, to represent its anonymity and leaderless structure. They are infamous for launching cyberattacks against Govt. Institutions, Church of Scientology, Government agencies, etc.
A popularly believed notion is that everything has two sides, negative and positive. The same goes for anonymity, one side provides people with a safe space to express themselves and interact freely, but on the other hand, it serves as a hideout for criminals, who engage in acts of human trafficking, fraud, cyberbullying, child pornography, data leaking, virus guided hacking, etc. For these offenders, anonymity is an exceptionally valuable tool. This tool is used generously by many in the name of charity, on donation apps, and transaction records. One can easily find random but tremendous sums of money being transferred by unknown users for charity. Similar transactions can be tracked on retail websites where notifications of buyers purchasing a certain product are displayed continuously on the feed, but the identity of the buyer remains anonymous. Only the product purchased remains known. I can’t guarantee the legitimacy of the purchases, but for promoting products and establishing a feeling of trust, it’s a good initiative.
Oddly, I’ve always been intrigued by the bizarre yet funny and creative names users have on social media platforms ,Twitter, Discord, Reddit & Instagram, to name a few. I feel that their flair of choosing amusing but absurd usernames gets upgraded with each passing year. I often wonder what goes on in their minds when they select these usernames. Many of these are substitute accounts of people . Here they usually are more carefree and relaxed ,because no one really is familiar with their real identity. Considering this , anonymity seems to be a bliss. I’m sure 50-70% of the readers will have alternative accounts , in addition to their main accounts, and I’m not complaining cause ‘Why not?’ In today’s world where certain standards are the only norm by which people are expected to live, an alias identity relieves the tension which a person carries through the days.
Social approval is something we all crave, and anonymity can be a great escape from this. However, we do need to be aware of people we come across and be acceptably considerate of them. Anonymity can, therefore ,be both ,a boon or a bane, depending on how one decides to use it.
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