The Economist is a 170-year-old news publication that publishes articles anonymously. Part of the reason, they explain, is to maintain historical tradition and the logic that their articles are often the result of The Economist’s hive mind, rather than of a single author.
One has similar privileges on Twitter. One can remain anonymous and feed on and off a hive. Swati Chaturvedi is a journalist with over 20 years of experience and was targeted by one such anonymous troll. Speaking to The Quint, Swati says she’d had enough after being “harassed in the most disgusting, sexist way”.
Swati has filed an FIR, the troll has pulled down the offensive account and all of Twitter is applauding this mini-victory. But there were others, who caution against painting all anonymous Twitter handles with the same brush.
Anonymity a Virtue?
Anonymity on Twitter is not just for the rabid. Twitter is a useful tool for information junkies, journalists and opinion makers, and some of them want to be part of the discussion without compromising their identity.
Pierre Fitter heads Social Media for an international media and marketing firm. He says there could be six main reasons for why one would want to stay anonymous.
1. A government employee who is critical of some policies, wants to let his/her opinion known but wants to avoid a backlash.
2. Private sector bosses who may want to criticise the government without inviting retribution.
3. A political party worker who wants to send out a message to the party high command without inviting punitive action.
4. Someone who holds political leanings contrary to his/her family or immediate environment.
5. A person who holds extreme political views, knows they are unacceptable in a democratic country like ours and does not want to be held accountable a.k.a Trolls.
@CourtWitness1 has definitely watched Sunny Deol-starrer ‘Damini’, is a self-confessed bad poet and tweets about Supreme Court rulings, lawyers and judges. Speaking to The Quint, @CourtWitness1, says he tweets anonymously for primarily professional reasons.
I didn’t want people to confuse my views with that of the organisation I worked for and vice versa. Initially I also wasn’t sure how tweeting about the SC would be received by other lawyers in the SC and the judges, especially if I had critical views on them, so I thought it safe to stay anonymous.
– @CourtWitness1 to The Quint
@centerofright describes himself as a news junkie who revealed his identity when he left his previous place of work.
Point was whether anonymous or with name - nothing has changed. My tweeting style and interventions have remained the same for the last six years. Purpose was to enrich myself from others’ experiences and share my knowledge.
– Vijay or @centerofright to The Quint
@brownbrumby or the ‘Brumby (No MSG Found)’ tweets about politics and current affairs. His tweets could offend volunteers from more than one political party.
Speaking to The Quint, he says his reasons for staying anonymous is because of a sensitive work place and near ones who could face an attack on social media.
People make assumptions about religion based on what issues you support. I’ve been called Hindu Muslim Christian etc. But it’s hard for them to make assumptions about caste.
– @brownbrumby to The Quint
For some, it’s about being taken seriously despite their age, education and political leanings. @CourtWitness1 is convinced that he would not have got a wide readership if people were able to judge him on the basis of identity, age, educational background and ideological leanings.
If my political views were known, I’d expect that even my views based on the law would’ve been dismissed because I held particular political views and not on the merits of the argument.
– @CourtWitness1 to The Quint
Anonymity on Social Media, an Oxymoron?
Ruchica Tomar is a TV journalist-turned-communications consultant. She fails to see the point of being anonymous on social media in one’s individual capacity.
I’d rather let people know who I am. I’m not on Twitter because I’m a journalist, I don’t tweet on behalf of an organization. I tweet as myself. I’ve handled my own share of trolls and some of them are actually dangerous to say the least.
– Ruchica Tomar, Communications consultant to The Quint
Swati Chaturvedi didn’t take her harassment lying down. Let’s hope more women follow suit to help separate those with an agenda from those with a foul mouth.
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