Is Anonymity Good For The Social Web?

At a time when Google have been cajoling us to use our real names on YouTube and we’re seeing a marked shift in younger people abandoning established platforms like Facebook and embracing more one-on-one interaction via Snapchat et al – there’s a new social network on the scene, espousing the anonymity of user content.

Secret – an iPhone app – allows you to share text and images completely anonymously within your circle of friends and associates, using the contacts on your phone. Having trawled all of your numbers, it links you to everyone in your contacts who also have Secret installed and that’s when the anonymous sharing begins. Once a piece of content has been ‘liked’ by someone, it’s then shared among all of their Secret contacts and the network builds from there.

Though there appears to be a fair amount of buzz around Secret – most of it focused within the Silicon Valley community – it’s certainly not a new idea. There are already similar apps like Whisper, Snapchat, PostSecret, Blurtt, Yik Yak… the list goes on.

Whilst the idea of self-expression and being able to somehow cleanse the soul with impunity is a healthy one (I’m particularly drawn to PostSecret’s art-led approach to this), there’s every chance that giving users the opportunity to express themselves with little or no accountability means the flood gates to vicious personal attacks, defamation and bullying are being flung wide open to welcome all-comers. There are other considerations too; whilst user comments across these secret networks are currently anonymous, who’s to say that on an unspecified date in the near or distant future, the shroud of anonymity could be lifted, and if that happens, will these individuals be held accountable?

Having argued against anonymity – with an obvious negative bias – I do believe there are instances where giving users the opportunity to comment without using their real name can be a good thing. For many reasons some people want, or need to protect their privacy due to the nature of their occupation, being a former victim of crime, whistleblowing, or worrying about political retribution, to name but a few. In situations like this, giving these people the chance to add real value to a conversation using their right to anonymity is critical in laying the groundwork for a truly useful democratic forum within the social web.

From the first tentative steps of what we now call social media, pseudonyms and the ability to contribute anonymously have played a huge role in the creation of the current status quo online. With this in mind, it’s also nice to remember, that by building a strong sense of community online – anonymous or not – there is always a way of dealing with the few bad apples.