The Anonymous Culture: The Online Disinhibition Effect

Anonymous Culture

In order to more deeply understand the motives and psychology behind the group of 'Hackers, pranksters and activists' that call themselves Anonymous, we must first understand the culture that online anonymity has created. “Before Facebook and Twitter became avenues for advertising ourselves and our careers, before Internet dating became not only acceptable but preferable to the alternatives, before so much of our social and professional lives came to be conducted on the Web, social spaces of a different kind existed online.” the people who populated the web felt more at home in communities “built around semi-anonymous, real-time, written discourse.” (Anonymity as Culture Treatise, David Auerbach)

This anonymous culture attracts a completely different kind of individual that to sites such as Facebook or MySpace. The

John Suler, in his article “The Online Disinhibition Effect” (Cyberpsychology & behaviour, 2004) explores various factors that might cause people online to ‘self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely than they would in person.’ Suler goes on to ask: 'Whether benign, toxic, or a mixture of both, what causes this online disinhibition? What elements of cyberspace lead to this weakening of the psychological barriers that block hidden feelings and needs?' The Online Disinhibition Effect attempts to explain why people appear to “loosen up, feel less restrained, and express themselves more openly” while on the internet. An internet user could experience one or all of the many factors that Suler covers, resulting in a different effect. The combination of these can lead to unexpected kindness or honesty. Suler calls this “benign disinhibition”. On the contrary to this, users can exhibit aggressive behaviour or share violent and disturbing imagery. This is called “toxic disinhibition”. The sheer contrast of behaviour that can be seen online is evident of the varying factors that affect the internet user's