Internet Anonymity and People’s Attitudes, Beliefs, or Behavior
Does the anonymity enabled by the Internet diminish the likelihood that people’s attitudes, beliefs or behaviors will be silenced? Why or why not?
Resources:
*Noelle-Neumann, E. (1974). The spiral of silence: A theory of public opinion. Journal of Communication, 24, 43-51. This article is one of two that features the foundational research in which Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann proposed her now-prominent spiral of silence theory, maintaining that fear of isolation prevents people from articulating ideas and attitudes if they believe those ideas and attitudes depart from those of their interlocutors.
(https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com(dot)proxy1(dot)library(dot)jhu(dot)edu/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1974.tb00367.x)
*Fox, J. & Holt, L.F. (2018). Fear of isolation and perceived affordances: The spiral of silence on social networking sites regarding police discrimination. Mass Communication and Society, 21, 533-554. This article attempts to expand previous understandings of spiral of silence theory into socially mediated contexts. To do so, the authors conduct a study of about 400 Facebook users’ engagement in conversations on the platform about police discrimination.
(https://www-tandfonline-com(dot)proxy1(dot)library(dot)jhu(dot)edu/doi/full/10.1080/15205436.2018.1442480)
*Li, W. & Sun, Y. (2017). Re-examining the spiral of silence theory in the Chinese social context of Weibo. Intercultural Communication Studies, 26(1), 79-108. In this article, the researchers question the applicability of spiral of silence theory in computer-mediated environments by examining the controversy surrounding Weibo’s decision to ban an online talk show for openly endorsing homosexuality.
Does the anonymity enabled by the Internet diminish the likelihood that people’s attitudes, beliefs or behaviors will be silenced? Why or why not
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Internet Anonymity
People in the social sphere are judgmental of others’ opinions, lifestyles, and orientations. Sometimes, people have extreme opinions, orientations, and lifestyles that do not reflect those around them physically, online, and in other social settings. Their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are likely to be silenced as they struggle to fit into their existing circle holding on to different lifestyles, behaviors, opinions, and beliefs (Noelle‐Neumann, 1974). Online interactions happen virtually and give a person the opportunity to hide their identity and interact anonymously. Such anonymity provided by the Internet helps diminish the likelihood that people’s beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, opinions, and other social, political, and economic orientations will be silenced.
People care about their images, especially with the people they interact with regularly. This makes them filter their opinions on topical issues like politics, sexual orient...
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