Essay on Limiting Anonymity and Comments in Social Media

Humans are social creatures and social media can provide social interaction. However, social media has many negative effects. Minimizing comments and requiring verification are some ways to reduce these effects. Limiting anonymity and limiting comments on Social Media creates a healthier environment for the viewers and the creators.

The problem of social media is anonymity. The anonymity of social media can cause viewers to not feel accountable for what they are saying. Many people don’t think about what they are typing, so viewers tend to dehumanize people because it feels like commenting into a “void” instead of a real person. Dehumanizing people can rob the recipient of their complexity (Cunic). Consequently, the recipient can have a negative mentality and can feel less confident (“Pros”).

In addition, social media creates peer pressure. Comments are an example of subtle peer pressure as they heavily influence the way people think. Instead of forming their own opinions, they check to see the comments to form their opinions (Cunic). Therefore, viewers can tend to form a “mob mentality”(“Pros”). This can lead to conformity and unoriginal thoughts, which contributes to the overall negative environment (“Pros”). 

Verifying one’s identity and accounts will hold people accountable (Dominic). This would make people feel more responsible about what they are saying. A way to verify accounts could be to link the account to the credit card number or to a cell phone number. Facebook has already started reducing anonymity by “requiring ID verification” (Dominic). As a result, there has been less hate.

Making a small change will fix problems. One small change can have a tremendous impact (Gladwell). Instagram is already making that change and having that impact. They are “implementing bots” to identify negative comments. This had led to less negativity (Kastrenakes). Another change could be only letting followers comment on the post or creators having the ability to report comments (Kastrenakes). Since hate will be filtered out, a positive experience will be produced (Hudson). 

In reality, limiting anonymity will decrease cyberbullying. When people are not hiding behind a screen, they are less likely to leave rude comments. As a result, people will be held accountable and discouraged to leave negative comments (Dominic). Additionally, an unexpected outcome is that it reduces crime rates. Criminals will be less likely to commit crimes if they believe they will get noticed (Dominic).

Furthermore, social media will be better by limiting comments as it won’t be as negative. People will feel safer  and feel better about themselves. Since social media comments influence people subtly, people will start to think independently if the comments were restricted (Cunic). Additionally, this can help brands because brands can prevent “spam and trolls” and not have comments making fun of their product leaving a negative stigma (“Pros”). 

People will have a more positive experience on social media if anonymity and comments were limited. The impact of these changes will be immediate as people will not want to leave detrimental comments when they are held accountable and people will form their own opinions. This will lead to less cyberbullying and being independent.

Works Cited

Cuncic, Arlin. “Mental Health Effects of Reading Negative Comments Online.” Verywell Mind,www.verywellmind.com/mental-health-effects-of-reading-negative-comments-online-5090287

Dominic, Biju. “Anonymity on Social Media and Its Ugly Consequences.” Mint, 10 Feb. 2021, www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/anonymity-on-social-media-and-its-ugly-consequences-11612977615856.html.

Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company, 2019. 

Hudson, David L, Jr. “Free Speech or Censorship? Social Media Litigation Is a Hot Legal Battleground.” ABA Journal, www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/social-clashes-digital-free-speech. 

Kastrenakes, Jacob. “Instagram Now Lets You Limit Who Can Comment on Your Pics.” The Verge, The Verge, 26 Sept. 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/9/26/16366060/instagram-comment-controls-launch

“Pros & Cons of Disabling Social Media Comments.” ImageLabGraphics.com. 4LegalLeads.Com, 31 May 2020, 4legalleads.com/blog/pros-cons-of-disabling-social-media-comments/.