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Cultural motivation behind anonymous posting?
We've noticed a significant escalation in "anonymous" posters in this category within the past year. Personally, I believe Yahoo does a disservice to their customers and site participants by allowing people to conceal their identities. Yes, I know we use screen names and avatars, so we are not actually "identifiable", but at least we become recognizable and establish a history within the site by which others learn whether we have some credentials and reliability.
Allowing people to post anonymously always fosters incivility and trolling. I think YA does a disservice to participants by enabling it. Many forums on which I participate forbid it for that reason. There is a cultural factor in permitting people to avoid accountability to the group for their behavior. I equate anonymous posting here to Ku Klux Klan members hiding under their hoods.
So my question is, how many people are less likely to take seriously anyone who posts anonymously? And for those who do post anonymously, what is your motivation, and do you realize that you are showing disrespect to the community by doing so?
(I apologize for having my question "serialized" rather than in one text block. Am using a tablet that would not let me post in standard fashion.)
8 Answers
- Gray BoldLv 76 years agoFavorite Answer
I agree, there are a few annoying trolls on Yahoo Answers that are more interested in stirring the pot than being part of the community. Weeding out the bad seeds would probably take a lot of resources. These guys can just reinvent themselves under a new avatar. In answer to your question, I don't think the problem is cultural, it is probably more psychological. Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive attention-seeking emotions. People with HPD have a high need for attention, make loud and inappropriate appearances, exaggerate their behaviors and emotions, and crave stimulation.
- NaciremaLv 76 years ago
Trolling knows no cultural boundaries lol.
YA grants users too much freedom, which ends up getting abused at the expense of the online community. Anonymity grants users so much power to post hate speech and not suffer any consequences. I think YA should implement a question limit for the anonymous feature, maybe that'll discourage some trolls from posting.
I really wonder what effect this trollpocalypse has on newcomers or people who just stop by every now and then.
- new_bumble_beeLv 75 years ago
I kind of agree 👍 with you - trolls are annoying but where would us yahoo answers users 👥 be without them even though they often cheat and even copy other yahoo answers users 👥 answers or read 📖 the persons answer and do some editing and better the other person's answers by elaborating - anyway long story short the trolls make themselves look bad so the joke more is on them then on other yahoo answers users 👥 like us
- Anonymous6 years ago
You are terrible person and i reported you...the way you answering the questions and try to insult someone......i don't meet such a rude and mean person in my life..............
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- AnonymousLv 66 years ago
maybe because there are azzholes like you who post aggressive answers and people as a protective matter hide their identity, why wouldnt they when the world is full of immature disrespectful cunts like u.
- Anonymous6 years ago
What u mean?
