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Anonymity, identity and responsibility Twelve-year-old Shevaun Pennington is home; the saga of her absconding with a US Marine serving powerfully to highlight the dangers of Internet chat. But in Weaving the Web (see the last newsletter), David Clough discourages alarmism: "… while the Internet provides a new environment for the activity of paedophiles and other criminals, the issues are not unique … The technology of the car led in a similar way to warnings to children not to accept lifts from strangers." Positively, Clough notes: "Many find [anonymity] a liberating experience; for the first time they find a place where people are not reacting to their spotty face … or stutter … or black skin, or wheelchair, or age, … or sexual orientation, but just on what they say." It is possible, of course, to go further and play to prejudice rather than enjoy its absence. Katharine Tarbox writes of her experience as a 13-year-old: "All the guys … describe themselves as if they are Tom Cruise's taller twin. And … you can be sure that every time you go online someone is going to ask you your breast size. I don't really see why anyone bothers to ask. Everyone lies when they answer" (quoted in The Times 15.7.03). Ethicist Clough explores the linkage between identity (knowing and being known) and responsibility: rationally, in the Jewish tradition, and in the context of Christian baptism. We should allow ourselves to be known else we be categorized wrongly, when "the promise that anonymity means an escape from prejudice will prove illusory, because it is only engaging with the other in full appreciation of their difference that will lead to mutual respect." To this end, on-line students may be asked to publish a 'mugshot' and pen-portrait of themselves. Fellow learners can thus relate more effectively to the authors of contributions to a threaded discussion or in a chatroom. How much a pen-portrait reveals is in the control of the individual, striking a balance between the benefits of some anonymity and of being known as one is. After all, in the real (cf virtual) world, self-revelation is progressive and often carefully controlled. Also, many VLEs (a Virtual Learning Environment is a software program within which eLearning courses may be run) allow learners to be grouped into classes, each of which journeys together through the learning material. With these two mechanisms one hopes appropriately to foster "… frank conversations … and a sense of fellow feeling, trust, and community."
Yours in Christ, |
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