Lanier's section on trolling and anonymity raised some questions in my mind, especially when thinking back to Bellah. If internet users can easily create an anonymous, or pseudonym profile then what does this do to do ideas of connections and relationships online? For example, people are drawn to a particular blog and a group forms online, of people with shared lifestyles. But the blogger has a pseudonym, and does not share detail about their appearance. Can the people following the blog still say that they know the blogger? I think quite a few would argue that they consider the blogger a friend, not a stranger.
In American culture, name is a big deal. It's offensive to forget someone's name and we have to time out when it is polite to ask someone's name. Face-to-face interaction is also important in our culture (this idea is shifting recently) and if we have not met someone, we say that we don't know them. Or we say that we know of them.
So what does anonymity/pseudonyms do to online relationships? If such impactful groups are formed online and communication between anonymous members is occurring, there is obviously a bond being formed. At the same time, Lanier points out that this lack of identity drives people to more extreme cruelty, in online forums. Dr. Rosen stated this in hist lecture as well, that most cyberbullies are never bullies in real life.
(That is so weird to say...like online life is not real life? We should come up with a better phrase).
These online groups that Lanier speaks of seem like communities but lack the shared history. And to jump back to the 'name' idea, what about online dating sites? Most users set up a username that is not their own name. But they spill everything else about themselves (truthfulness is debatable). This could be reflective of timing, when learning someones name. These users don't give out their most valuable info right away (name), they wait until someone messages them, as if approaching them personal. Then they give their name.
This was kind of a mashup of ideas...the importance of a name, the extent of online relationships, the idea of acting differently in real life vs online life...
You stated once in class that an author has not considered some of the darker sides of the Internet, and while reading Lanier I wondered if perhaps this met that issue. As you note, he does spend some time on the issue of trolling..
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