Alex Francavilla - Week 1 - The Sanctity of Internet Anonymity
Science Olympiad has brought a lot of positives into my otherwise uneventful life. Of course, it’s allowed me to explore my interests in a myriad of different aspects of science like physics, engineering, environmental science, geology, and so much more. This has unfortunately come with the side effect of transforming me into a factoid-spewing fountain every time something vaguely related to wind turbines gets mentioned (did you know that the blades of Darrieus or “egg-beater” wind turbines have a specific resonant frequency where if the turbine spins at a close enough speed for a long enough time, the blades can actually shatter?). But most of all, and perhaps most surprisingly, it’s introduced me to a community of people that share the same nerdy interests as I do; not just within American High School, but across the country.
About a year and a half ago, I was introduced to someone, who I’ll refer to as Basil, through a Science Olympiad community Discord server. Basil and I could not be any more different: I live in the Bay Area, they live in rural Pennsylvania; I love all types of Asian food with my heart and soul, they’ve never had rice before; they’re transgender and have cool pronouns and accessories and whatnot, I’m a run-of-the-mill straight male. But we’ve shared grievances about competing in teams from otherwise irrelevant high schools that keep getting beaten at state tournaments, cried in voice calls together about not getting any medals in a recent tournament, and laughed maniacally at stupid inside jokes. We know more about each other than I care to admit, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to call us close friends.
I didn’t know their assigned gender at birth until a month ago.
This embarrassing and frankly hilarious situation, along with several other similar ones that have occurred through my ventures through the Science Olympiad community, have reminded me of the original appeal of Internet chat spaces: the promise of anonymity. From the early Internet age, chat and text systems like IRCs, 4chan, Reddit, and Tumblr served as a safe haven for vulnerable groups of people to discuss controversial ideas and polarizing opinions without fear of losing their job, facing real life harm, or worse. Even today, Basil and so many other LGBTQ+ individuals have to essentially live a “double life” to avoid ostracization from their friends, classmates, and often their own family. Many times, online communities such as Discord servers, where there are no traceable connections from their internet alter-ego back to their real-life self, are the only way for them to express their true identity in a world where they’re expected to suppress it.
So, although it might sound completely counterintuitive to obscure one’s identity to reinforce it, it happens way more often than you might think. And who knows, maybe one day Basil will tell me that Basil isn’t even their real name! Hah!
…
(...what do you mean it's not?)
Hi Alex, I loved this post!! I do agree that the anonymity of the internet is a blessing for certain groups of people. I've often heard (from parents or other adults, mostly) more on the other side of this argument—those who claim that connections made over the internet are shallow and lack true identity due to this cover; however, I think examples such as those posed in this post are perfect examples of why it may be useful. I do think this blog also brings up an interesting question regarding core attributes of one's identity; as you had called yourself a close friend of Basil despite not knowing their assigned gender, it calls into question whether that factor is truly a vital part of their identity. Despite its prominence in society, the fact that it is entirely possible to become close with somebody without knowing it shows that our identities can be entirely ours to shape, and the cover of the internet provides a safe space to do so.
ReplyDeleteHi Alex! I thought this post was such an interesting way to share a personal experience and what that experience has led to for you. Your post is a great example of the positive side of the debate about internet anonymity, as it’s very powerful that a shared interest like Science Olympiad managed to bring people together from across the country who might not have ever met otherwise. Sometimes, these online friendships are arguably more meaningful than in-person friendships because they’re not just out of convenience, because you have a class with someone or happen to sit next to them. It’s also really cool how you and Basil were able to bond despite being completely different people—maybe it really is true that opposites attract? I actually sometimes find myself wishing that I had more friends that are different from me, because I feel like you can genuinely learn so much from other people’s differences that you can’t learn as well from people who are practically the same as you.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate as someone who's had online friends before. We would get so caught up in the one thing we bonded over that we neglected other basic information that would have been shared in in-person relationships. Ultimately though, I find that other parts of someone's identity don't necessarily matter in online relationships. They inherently exist on a different plane than other kinds of relationships, and therefore have different guidelines. Just because you don't know someone's real name doesn't invalidate the authenticity of your friendship, and your blog was an excellent way to articulate that.
ReplyDeletePS. I love your meme (: