Friday, April 6, 2012

Anonymity

Not all anonymity is born equal.

For the longest time I left my blog open to anonymous comments because I found many of them were from what appeared to be educators who wanted to speak up in an effort to challenge the status quo in favor of progressive education but fearful of reprimand.

Unfortunately, due to multiple unfortunate circumstances and grossly inappropriate comments from unhealthy individuals (cowards) who chose to use anonymity as a cloak of immunity, I can no longer afford to allow anonymous comments.

I've also found my small share of trolls on Twitter. I don't use the block function often because I'm all for disagreement and cognitive dissonance, but when name calling and personal attacks become the standard, you no longer get to clutter my inbox and timeline.

Anonymity can be used to be courageous in the face of oppressive rule but it can also be used to be an asshole.

4 comments:

  1. That's terrible! In my district we're currently wrestling with some thorny cyberbullying issues. I can't see how we as professionals can expect students to take the high ground if we can't do so ourselves. Shame on the trolls!

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  2. I have moderated and not allowed anonymous comments for awhile now. The racist remarks on national media posts are just plain sad... It is disgusting we allow attacks that would never happen face to face or even with an actual name and email.

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  3. That sucks! I can't understand why people feel they have the right to put others down. Disagreement is so important but has to be done right. It's too bad everyone can't be comfortable being themselves when they comment but they at least should be cool!

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  4. I promise that I will never be a troll, Joe.

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