Talk:Anonymous Online Presence and Harassment

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I really enjoyed reading this article. I think that it is off to a great start! After changing the article organization and adding more citations, the piece will be excellent! - Julia (jhkaplan - if you have any questions!)


1. Length The draft is currently approaching 2300 words. To increase the word count, I would consider restructuring some paragraphs (more detail below). I would also recommend adding more detail and context to some of the examples (again, more detail below).


2. Structure Overall, the author does touch on all 3 major components of a good article.

The opening paragraph does summarize the issue of online anonymity by describing what the term is and how it exists on the internet. However, I would recommend removing the Reddit.com example from the introduction. While the example is important, I believe that it is too specific to be included in the introduction. Instead, I recommend giving general information on how anonymity can exist on the Internet (e.g. through pseudonyms, usernames, etc). The author does note the issues that can come out of anonymity in one sentence. I would suggest expanding on these concerns in another sentence, just to paint a clearer picture of the importance of these issues.

The body of the article does contain many subsections, allowing for easy reading. I would expand the “Reasons for Anonymity Online” by including some facts about the physiological reasons why users maintain anonymity online. I would assume that this would be pretty feasible to find. For the “Positive Examples of Anonymity,” I would change the section to something like “Benefits of Anonymity.” Then, I would title the subsections on the beneficial values instead of examples. For example, I would change the title of “Virtual Support Groups” to “Protecting Victim Identity” or an equivalent. Within the subsection, I would discuss real examples of virtual support groups. Likewise, I would also change the format of “Negative Examples of Online Anonymity.” To get closer to the word count, I would definitely expand on this section! Your examples are strong but I think there are many, many more examples of disinformation as well! I would also recommend separating the Dark Net and Criminal Activity or adding more information about the Dark Net in this section. As it stands right now, there is not much information about the Darknet. Finally, I would restate the connection between Online Harassment and anonymity. This section is well written - it is just missing the connection!

Factual statements are backed up by reliable sources. However, the author could include more specific examples instead of general statements. For example, I would recommend using a real example in the “Soliciting Honest Feedback in the Workplace” section.


3. Clarity The issues of disinformation, criminal activity, privacy, accountability, and harassment are present and explained throughout the piece. However, at points, it was difficult to connect the central point of Internet anonymity to these problems. To fix this, I recommend adding transition sentences to the beginning and end of these sub sections.


4. Objective Reporting

The author provides both benefits and drawbacks to online anonymity. The author does a fair job at citing their statements. For example, I think that the “Amazon.com heavily relies on reviews to make good purchases” statement should likely be cited. The author could also improve on citing material within the “Disinformation and Fake News” subtopic. The author could improve on citing generalized statements like “Reddit.com has been at the center of attention for controversial online activity in more than one instance.” Overall, the author does remain neutral throughout the piece, citing both the benefits and the cons of online anonymity.