Social Accountability

In my last post as well as some previous blogs i talked about gamers acting out, using the anonymity of the internet to their advantage to harass and threaten others. We have all seen how people behave on the internet, mainly because they don’t have to worry about consequences and repercussions.

“Don’t read the comments…” or “Just read the comments, they are hilarious…”- hands up who has heard someone say this about an article on the net in the last few years. As a developer i have heard these statements a fair bit. Comments on reviews and news articles, in the gaming industry in particular (but not exclusive to it), can be a source of frustration, anger, disappointment, joy and entertainment. The public being able to state their own feelings and emotions without any (or little) form of censorship or consequences can lead to comments which are frightening, painful, embarrassing and fun. Internet comments can show humanity at it’s best or worst. People can come together or tear each other apart.

The internet is brilliant. It connects people, it allows for instant communication across the globe, it gives information to people, it allows us to be more transparent, it allows us share data and it allows us to grow and evolve as human beings. Imagine a world where there is no internet. Even now, thinking back to about 25 years ago, when nobody i knew had access to the internet, i can’t really remember how that was. It feels strange even thinking about it, as if there was a mental block in my brain saying “No, the internet always existed. There was no “BEFORE”!” Sure i enjoy being away from all the digital noise for periods of time, being out of reach, but to contemplate a prolonged absence of all things internet is impossible.

But like almost everything in life, the internet also has it’s bad sides. Direct human interaction is reduced. It provides new opportunities for fraud and other forms of crime. It has made gambling easier than ever. Entertainment is provided effortlessly and often at reduced quality. “News” outlets spring up left right and center where contributors have no training, no moral compass and no requirement to vet their “news”. Fiction is often peddled as fact and once it’s on the internet it becomes fact, as long as enough people share the information.

I grew up without the internet. Which means i grew up having to interact with other human beings through other means, often face to face. People knew who i was when i talked to them. When i had an opinion on something, when i agreed or disagreed with something, and when i  voiced that opinion, i generally did so in a respectable fashion. Why did i do that? Simple: because people knew who i was and if i was anything less than respectable, there would have been consequences. I would have been socially shunned. My friends might well have distanced themselves from me. In short, if i had been a dick, people would have treated me like a dick.

This behavior actually is mirrored and adapted by the internet, at least to some degree and in social circles. If their real name is on the line, if their real identity is behind an interaction of any sort, if a certain accountability applies, people are a lot more conscious when they post. Facebook is a good example for this. Yes there is a lot of junk on facebook and at times it feels it was created purely for the sake of sharing cat pictures, but look at the content and form of comments people leave. The vast majority of comments is generally what i consider “clean” – free from excessive obscenity and free from threats. I have yet to come across a person threatening another with murder on Facebook (i am sure it exists, the sheer number of users dictate it exists, it is just a lot less frequent). The reason for that, i believe, is that your friends on Facebook would hold you accountable. They would tell you it’s not on to behave like this, they might even unfriend you. So there is a risk of consequences and the average human being stops and thinks before doing something, if there are potential consequences.

Now take something like NeoGaf, Reddit or any random internet gaming news site. People create anonymous accounts and there are no consequences. This is when the worst in human beings comes out. Things they would never say in front of friends and family, things they instinctively know are wrong to utter, come out in a fit of rage and anger. Anonymity on the internet removes a certain check-box. It removes the need to stop and think “what would my friends/family say”. It removes the need to stop and think about possible legal ramifications if a threat or comment was made in real life. People have been convicted for abusive language and death threats made in real life.

It is not enough to ask users to stop and think if they would make a certain statement in real life. Users won’t stop. The fact that they are anonymous is so ingrained, the power they feel about being able to say whatever they feel like, without the fear of consequences, is too alluring. Some sites and forums use a voting system to allow a certain user policing. Comments voted down will disappear from view for example, discouraging abusive comments. On a lot of moderated forums bans and blocks can be used, but they only work in the short term. Services like Twitter, in the name of freedom from censorship (which in theory is a good thing), continue to allow users to abuse other users, even issue death and rape threats. All you need to do is check Anita Sarkeesian’s twitter space. As far as i know, nobody abusing her in this manner has faced any kind of consequence so far.

As my generation is growing older and face to face interaction is taking more and more of a back seat, the next generation of internet users is growing up with this lack of accountability. It is natural for them to be anonymous, hide behind gamer handles and harass those they disagree with. In fact they feel entitled to this and they never ever are put in a position where they have to consider other people’s views, thoughts, beliefs and requirements. In short, people are getting more narrow minded rather than more open minded.

So what can be done about this? After debating my last blog entry with a good friend of mine, he planted a seed in my brain. A seed of a possible solution. So i can’t claim credit for the idea, i am just fleshing it out a little.

In theory it is possible to use the very systems that make the internet great to enforce a certain measure of social accountability. All the hooks and functionality are already in place, it is just a matter of someone having the balls, and the money, to bring it all together and form an underlying architecture will allow for a certain level of internet decorum. Many sites and services at the moment allow users to sign in with their Facebook details (i.e. Spotify, Songkick, Eurogamer etc.). This is currently mainly done to allow ease of use as well as to collect further marketing data and, i the long run, make money. But it is that very functionality, linking a user to an existing real life profile, which can enforce a certain level of social accountability!

Imagine if, going forward, people had no choice but had to use either a Facebook or Google+ account to sign into the vast majority of services on the internet. Twitter, news websites, gaming websites, gaming console profiles – the works. Every comment, every tweet, every reply would show who posted it. Each comment would be a public statement by the person who made it – an open public statement: “This is who i am and this is what i think!”

Additionally every single comment and interaction would be posted on the news-feed on Facebook or Google+, so that friends and family can see and read comments, statements and tweets. After all – if you post it in a public domain, why would you not want your friends, family and co-workers to know?

Imagine this in full flow. Imagine if every single comment you make online is peer reviewed by your friends and family and you are judged and evaluated on those comments. Wouldn’t that be something? This accountability would usher in a new wave of respect i feel. People would actually pause and think “should i really post this? is this how i really feel, or do i just post this because i am angry right now? what will my friends think?”. This can make all the difference.

Heavy handed policing and censorship is bad, which is why i am not totally against Twitter not taking action. The freedom to post ones opinion, regardless of what that opinion is, is important. But i think what should be removed is the ability to hide behind anonymity. If people want to post hurtful comments, if they want to rant and flame, if they want to harass and threaten others, they ought to do so when everyone knows exactly who they are. Let the internet be policed by peers. Let peer pressure work it’s wonders. I think the results would be quick and they would be permanent.

All the functionality is in place. All the hooks and systems are there. All it needs is some person or some company, or a group of companies and people, to step up and make it happen. Facebook and Google should get their heads together and work with some of the biggest names in news (gaming and otherwise). Enforce login using a verified account and get this thing rolling.

Yes, there will be people setting up fake accounts, there always are. But the more hoops you throw in the path of someone who wants to be abusive on the internet, the better. The more hassle it is for them to be abusive, the higher the chances they won’t bother.