With the help of platforms such as Facebook and Instagram we are migrating our social world to that of cyber space. Expressing your opinion, bullying and even dating is often done online. With this in mind, the moral qualities we have become accustomed to in the real world are now developing differently behind these platforms.
In the past people were much more isolated, which was an essential aspect of the way norms and values were formed. If you had a conflicting opinion you would be corrected by your surroundings. The digital world has evident qualities, which create a “moral fog”. For this reason, people are becoming more anonymous; we find it easier to express our opinion, in turn making it easier to find people who agree with your opinion. This strengthens the stigmergy, a term used to describe how subsequent actions tend to reinforce and build on each other, leading to the spontaneous emergence of coherent, apparently systematic activity. It’s a form of a self-organizing social network, as a result has the potential of leading to extreme groups.
Anonymity has also created a larger platform for (cyber-) bullying. There are various forms of online bullying; for example, an “internet troll” who creates a website to help people with epilepsy, only to create it in such a way which causes epileptic people to get an epileptic attack. How is it possible that conscious people, capable enough to build a website like this, do things like this?
Of course, there are positive aspects of anonymity; it provides safety to the individual and gives people freedom of expression without experiencing the direct consequences, as no one knows who the individual is. Regardless, where do we set the bar when talking about freedom of expression? Facebook is known to sometimes delete certain groups or posts based on their subject. Which topics should, and shouldn’t we allow on a social platform?
How can we form the online world in such a way with the knowledge we have?
