Then there are all of the nasty people that bully, harass, pick on, or otherwise damage other people that they don’t even know. Of course, the vast majority of cyber bullies use a username that virtually (no pun intended) guarantees anonymity. I remember the days when someone had to pick on me to my face. It sucked, but at least they had to muster up the courage to face me to do the bullying. Does that mean that I want people to bully other people? Of course not. I think bullies suck, and I have said as much more than once in my blogs. But at least face to face the bully has to brave the consequences. Online, anonymity is an almost certainty.
I am old school about many things. One of those is this: If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, then don’t say it online. Don’t hide behind the bits of digital data and think that you are somehow cooler than everyone because you said what you really thought without putting your real name to it. Anonymity doesn’t give anyone a license to be a jerk.