Have you ever had the urge to just yell at someone? Or maybe you’re deeply in love but won’t ever confess your feelings because you don’t want to get rejected. What if, you could say everything you ever wanted without fearing consequences. You could call that musclehead an idiot or tell a girl that she is beautiful without having the musclehead beat you up or the girl possibly laugh at you. Wouldn’t it be fun to just let go, and say what you want to say? A lot of people want to be individuals, to be remembered. But wouldn’t it be easier to be a nobody, an anonymous person?


Consequences hold people back from saying and doing things that they want to. For instance, I’ve always wanted to tell a teacher to shut up, but I don’t want to get kicked out of school. I’m not saying consequences are a bad thing, but a lot of times they hold us back from doing things we want to do. Anonymity gets rid of consequences. An anonymous person is untraceable, and no one can be held accountable for what an anonymous person says or does. A lot of people want to be individuals in society, but the real power of social expression lies in anonymity. What I mean is that when you have no identity, you can say and do what you want. There are no repercussions for someone who is anonymous. On the other hand, people with a well-established identity have to be wary of consequences.

A really good example of this is in social media. On websites like reddit and twitter, it can be difficult to trace someone’s account to who they are in real life. Harsh, nasty, and obscene language can often be found in the comment section of websites. People who are insecure, soft-spoken, or socially suppressed can unleash their bitterness on web pages without anyone knowing. From firsthand experience, I know how easy it is to say nasty stuff on the internet, stuff I would never say in person, because no one knows its me.

Forging one’s own identity is an important part of life. It’s what we teens spend most of our time doing, and what we often compete with one another for. What many fail to realize is that by becoming an individual, a person may be subjected to expectations. No longer can a person say what he or she want to say; his or her own identity chains them. Anonymity is where true power of expression lies. A person with noA identity or expectations is allowed to say or do what he or she wants. Anonymity gives a person much more power than individuality does, and that power has to be carefully handled. It is often abused and mistreated by people, including myself. Spiderman might say, “With great anonymity comes great responsibility.”