Late-1990s online anonymity created both creative freedom and cruelty

Evidence

Web 2.0’s defining feature—its accessibility—was both its greatest strength and most dangerous flaw. In particular, the ease of anonymity and pseudonymity encouraged equal amounts of creativity and cruelty. (When Stewart Brand once held an experimental anonymous online conference, things became so chaotic he forever forbade unsigned posting on WELL.) The unwitting stars of internet humor, such as Mark Allen Hicks (dubbed “Afro Ninja” after a failed audition tape) and Ghyslain Raza (the “Star Wars Kid”), faced relentless public ridicule. Hicks tried to reclaim his narrative by leaning into his accidental fame but admitted, “If I had a choice to do it all over again…I would pass.” Raza endured so much bullying that he was forced to leave school. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 179

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: does the anonymity-cruelty tradeoff Marx sketches here feed his later claim about flattened, de-identified culture?