It is often claimed that online communication, because it offers anonymity, encourages greater openness and honesty
On the other hand, it also encourages less attractive forms of communication, including flaming, trolling, cyber bullying
Personally, I feel like these forms of online communication are an absolute joke and I have seen them lead to so much harm its indescribable.
To elaborate on my view, I am going to discuss one particular social networking site, which I’m sure many of you are familiar with : Ask.fm
Photo Credit : SpunOut.ie
Ask.fm are considered to be the first incentivized, decentralized Q&A social network.
Once it gained its popularity, it became a huge deal; everyone was innocently sharing their links bombarding my Facebook with them.
I didn’t think much of it at the start, until I started noticing the inappropriate usage of it. I had a feeling it would happen, I mean everyone gets a little braver once they’re anonymous BUT I was in for a bit of a shock. Many of my friends and I experienced extremely disturbing “Questions”.
Photo Credit : educatolerancia.com
Although my friends and I were able to laugh things off, I noticed how serious some peoples cases were. The level of bullying was so intense, and there was nothing I could do about it; you just end up feeling so useless.
Photo Credit : ThirdParent Blog
The above image shows only one example of the inappropriate usage of the site resulting in bullying.
The fact that this site still exists is absolutely outrageous!
To see more reasons as to why you should stay away from this site, visit :
If you have come across Ask.fm at any point and would like to share any experiences, feel free to leave a comment !
Kinga's Digital Self 