Cody Gault: Anonymous Online Commenting Creates a Culture of Cowards
I just grabbed a couple excerpts, please use the link and read the whole thing. The points about proper discourse online are just fantastic. Anonymity=asshole. Present company excepted of course, but few of us would like LGF without the excellent moderation.
Added comment-For the record, If I had to blog comment openly I’d be fine with it. Heck, I do blog here semi openly, as I have my pages accredited in my name not my nic. Or my profile links to who I am easily enough.
Cody Gault
Cornell student
Posted: March 17, 2011 03:3
Anonymous Online Commenting: A Culture of Cowards
It got me thinking: Anonymous online commenting is creating a culture of cowards. Many of us lead this bizarre double life where we’re eager to document ourselves on Facebook, Twitter and blogs — to share publicly stuff that would make our parents blush — but then opt to mask our identities when we feel compelled to discuss things of real import.
And it’s eroding the quality of public discourse.
A lesson from the life of Christopher Hitchens: From the safety of anonymity, there is nothing impressive about calling Bill Clinton a sociopath, Mother Teresa a fraud, Henry Kissinger a war criminal and God a celestial Kim Jong-Il. Saying the same things under a byline is, as the kids online say, epic.
This generation has Hitchens hubris. What we need is Hitchens honor.
