Anonymity: God's gift to man

It's quarter after two in the morning, so I really need to be heading to bed. But first, I want to rant about something I read this evening. It was a post on some website about how internet, specifically sites like Facebook and Twitter, allow for greater honesty and better self-regulation. I formulated this retort, which, in my mind, was genius, but whatever. The site was acting all wonky and wouldn't let me post due to some internal server error, so here's my response:

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with this article. Honesty, while somewhat subjective, ultimately boils down to behaving in such a way that is in closest accordance to our true selves. Facebook, Twitter, and what have you force us to be ultimately dishonest, focusing on how we wish to be perceived by our social group, not who we really are. We try to look our best as it appears to others, not as it relates to who we really are. If we were who we really are, then we wouldn't need to bother thinking long and hard about what we post. As such, I consider social networking largely a waste of time.

Anonymity is the ultimate way to achieve honesty on the internet. Behind the veil of anonymity, we can share what we really think and feel without a fear of being personally judged. If someone thinks you're an asshole, who cares? One anonymous person thinking another anonymous person is an asshole is hardly consequential. Everyone has thoughts and desires that would be deemed unfit to be shared with the general public, but as anonymous users, we can share that previously taboo information. Even the trolls on 4chan are being who they really are: trolls that feed off of the discord they create. 

If you truly believe that Facebook and related services cause people to be more honest, you are likely going through life with rose-coloured glasses, thinking it's a wonderful place and everyone is great. While we try to act like we genuinely care for one another as community, it's just to keep up appearances for a society whose rules are largely disconnected from the individual. As a species, human needs and wants all begin at the level of the individual, which supersedes the community indefinitely. It's simply part of our biology. We're all ultimately self-serving and egotistical, which really shows when speaking in an anonymous community. Everyone's an asshole, you just need to dig deep enough. And that core of our being as humans, that essence of self-serving "asshole-ishness", for lack of a better term, is the closest thing to true honesty that exists in the human spirit.
Your article was well written, but I reject your premise and conclusion." 

I thought it was a pretty good response, given that I pretty much typed it all out without thinking about it too much and relied on my immediately available personal beliefs.

Oh yeah, it would probably help if I included the link to the article itself:

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/04/14/living-in-the-sharing-economy-is-the-internet-making-us-more-honest/

So anyway, off to bed.

Thanks for reading,

K