Facebook: "Anonymity on the Internet has to go away"

Facebook marketing director Randi Zuckerberg

Facebook's marketing director Randi Zuckerberg, wants to put an end to online anonymity. She believes that Internet users would act much more responsibly on the Internet if they were forced to use their real names at all times.

Zuckerberg, who also happens to be the sister of Facebook's co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, said during a presentation at a roundtable hosted Tuesday by Marie Claire magazine on cyberbullying and social media that the use of real names online could help curb bullying and harassment on the web.

I think anonymity on the Internet has to go away... People behave a lot better when they have their real names down. ... I think people hide behind anonymity and they feel like they can say whatever they want behind closed doors.

Zuckerberg didn't offer any specifics but maintained that "there's so much more we can do...We're actively tying to work with partners like Common Sense Media and our safety advisory committee."

You can read more about this story on ZDNet.

[ChrisRoberts7]

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Dear Randi Zuckerberg - Somebody posted my profile photo on Mars. Any advice? You have the whole social media etiquette down to a science.

Social media decorum, the dos and don'ts by the Dear Abby of the computer age, Randi Zuckerberg.

Chris Roberts

[trippofthedesert]

Watch how quickly people leave Facebook if this was to go into effect. What is stopping someone from having a second account with a fake name to cyber bully with? Removing our ability to remain anonymous will not solve anything and Ms Randi Zuckerberg needs to stop looking at the world through rose tinted glasses and realise it isn't that clean cut.

[sjoconnect]

What if you want to remain anonymous because you don't want a last name displayed over your 8-year old daughter's talent show video that you just posted? That is a good reason for remaining anonymous, and it has nothing to do with bullying, profanity, or any other sort of bad behavior. Google, when foisting their coercive prompt demanding you select from 6 canned reasons for not wanting to use your full name on YouTube, should at least allow you to choose 'Other' and state it in your own words. What are they so afraid of?

[mmagliaro]

True: People behave much more responsibly when they have to own up to who they are. Fair enough.
Writing a post or an on-line article, and having to say who I really am is a good idea.

And that has NOTHING to do with me identifying myself in a Facebook account to converse with my friends, and having Facebook happily hand out my real name to thousands of advertisers and corporations without my consent. The Zuckerbergs are interested in obliterating the concept of privacy so that their advertisers can directly assault you after they know exactly who you really are, and any other reasoning they give is a bald-faced lie.

[Jhihmoac]

Privacy, sheesh! Your cell phone/wi-fi enabled computer is pretty much a roving "You Are Here" sign...

[Fatesrider]

There's a difference between "you are here" and "this is who you are here."

[ludvig1-2009]

I'm sure the Red Chinese would agree with the Facebook creators.

[EiLing58]

You raise a very important point. The creators of Facebook and Google Plus (who are also pushing for an end to anonymity online), would be effectively gagging free speech, not only for those in the free world who fear exposure and attack from extremists and other crazies who disagree with their views, but also they effectively gag free speech from the billions of people most vulnerable in countries suffering under brutal repressive regimes. Their only hope for these people is to ignore Google Plus and abandon Facebook in favour of their own underground social networking sites that promise the right to protection under anonymity.

[imnho]

Privacy is foo more important to go away. If Facebook fails to respect my privacy then I will delete my account and never go on the site again. There is a lot of personnel data that would lead to economic and emotional trauma that people do not want public. How much someone is making and what yhe bank password is comes to mind.

[EiLing58]

I suspect ulterior motives by the creators of Facebook in wanting to end anonymity online. Advertisers would pay more to find out true identities for free and easy market research. The Facebook creators don't want to continue to have the responsibility of protecting people from bullying, or subject themselves to lawsuits for not protecting people. They actually don't have any valid ethical argument to promote the end of anonymity online. Before the invention of the Internet, anyone could write to the editor of a newspaper, revealing their real name and contact details, but requesting anonymity, and this was respected. Avoiding bullying was easy for a newspaper. They would vet every letter and refuse to publish any libelous or bullying letter, or simply edit out any controversial or hurtful comments. No-one should be forced to reveal their true identity, as they open themselves up to the possibility of personal attacks on social networking sites, or worse - having their contact details discovered. Then their lives could be threatened or suffer the real risk of having their identity stolen. It's far too dangerous to not allow people to remain anonymous. It would also lead to the repression of free speech as most people would be too frightened to reveal their views. It's the responsibility of the creators of social networking sites like Facebook or the Google equivalent to find ways to curb bullying, just as news websites monitor blogs sent by readers. Everyone has a right to protect themselves by ensuring they remain anonymous.

[Yes_ABWH_Fan]

Quite Correct!