As digital media has become increasingly social and evermore accessible, the democratization of the ability to publish has also led directly too the ability to do something else: hate. What’s more interesting to me than the presence of hate itself, though, is the varying degrees to which hate is accepted by the Internet population at large.
In order to gain a bit of perspective on the spread of hate online, I’ve broken it down into four major categories: Celebrity Hate, Brand Hate, Person-to-Person Hate and Anonymous Hate. This fourth post of the four-part series will address Anonymous Hate.
Anonymous Hate: Celebrated & Shared
The popularity of anonymous expression started fairly innocently with Post Secret. Since then, opportunities for internet users to covertly express how they really feel have sprung up left and right. To me, the most interesting aspect of this phenomenon is the degree to which anonymous ‘truth’ is celebrated. Soon, Post Secret, a site described as an “ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard” led to much more extreme types of online venting.
In 2009, sites like Juicy Campus (now owned by BlipDar) became a hotbed of anonymous venting that ultimately constituted cyberbullying. These sites allowed students to express hate toward each other without risking anything, and then provided them with the opportunity to talk about it ad nauseum. These services were at the center of gossip circles and their presence was celebrated and shared among community members.
Other sites, like RateMyProfessor, take a somewhat more conservative approach to providing a ratings and reviews style environment, with potentially useful information, in an anonymous context. These services have been the subject of extensive controversy and several lawsuits: there is so much reliance on opinions (even anonymous ones) expressed on line that the careers of some professionals have been wrecked.
The newest style of online hate, which has surfaced, is anonymous on both ends. Users don’t disclose who they are talking about or who they are. This kind of double blind environment is probably the context in which users have felt the most free to celebrate and share stories of hate. In fact, several sites, including Clients from Hell, have been so successful that they’ve landed major book deals based on the premise of the online property.
Has it become socially acceptable to hate anonymously, or is it just cowardly? Are double blind hate blogs, like Clients from Hell, shameless fun or a negative influences on the greater public? Mercedes, the popular sass ball from cultural phenomenon, Glee, has some very specific thoughts on the subject:
