Introduction

1. Effects of anonymity on aggression and hostility on 4chan internet message board: Ethical issues and practicalities from a student perspective Emma Bullard & Pelham Carter aaUniversity of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK - p.j.carter@hud.ac.uk Introduction Whilst online message boards offer an effective way to communicate issues such as aggression between individuals can still exist. Bullying for example is not confined to face to face (FtF) interactions and is increasingly common online (Bond & Carter, 2012; 2013). Additionally there are specific online behaviours such as trolling and flaming. These behaviours can be found in many online communities though some are more infamous for online hostility (see figure 1). One such community is 4chan.org, an asynchronous multi-board site originally developed for discussion of Japanese anime but has expanded to cover a range of topics (Knuttila, 2011). Theories regarding such aggressive online behaviours focus on similar factors to FtF behaviour such as anonymity. The SIDE model is often utilised (Lea & Spears, 1991). Communities like 4chan with their high message turnover and ranges of anonymity available to users provide a ready resource to investigate the suitability of such theory for online interactions. Use of such forums though is fraught with practical and ethical issues for both student researcher and supervisor. • Practical Issues • It is commonly expected for users to post utterances under the name ‘Anonymous’. • The volume of users and posts per minute/hour/day are substantial therefore allowing for posts to be missed/un recorded/lost. • The forum has no memory storage and posts are not archived making recording and observing the forum difficult as observation is time sensitive. • The board ‘Random’ or ‘/b/’ may have been easier to observe as it’s the most frequently used however it is infamous for the most use of volatile/aggressive language/behaviour. • 4chan is a relatively extreme version of a forum. • Due to the size of 4chan observation of a few sub-boards might not be representative of the site as a whole. • It is difficult to ascertain whether several ‘anon’ posts are from several users, or one user posting several times. Figure 1: Example of hostile 4chan exchange Heightened Anonymity Complete Anonymity Moderate Anonymity Pseudonym/Nick name. Information may include age/sex/location or potential real name however limited information of personal identity is expressed. 4chan encourages users to post using the username ‘Anonymous’. With a standard name of ‘Anonymous’ this represents users remaining completely anonymous with no dissemination of personal information and identity. Literature discussed regarding the forum 4chan suggested the use of a tripcode: a random generated code of letters and numbers. Tripcodes may be employed by users who want to authenticate their posts. The use of a tripcode ultimately reinforces anonymity however allows users to be identified by others. Figure 2: Levels of anonymity within 4chan Undergraduate Example: Method To investigate the possible effects of anonymity on online aggression a student observed and recorded 30 minutes activity on a 4chan sub-board (Social or /s/) every day for a week. The researcher then observed the data within the time bracket by continuously refreshing the website page and copying the posts/threads into a separate Microsoft Word document. It was necessary to refresh the website page as the forum holds such high volumes of user traffic and was important to record each turn take. This was continued for the subsequent days and time allocation until eight days had been completed. The contents of the collected posts were then categorised by user’s anonymity level (moderate, heightened, complete) and the level of any expressed hostility/aggression. Design – A between-subjects design was initially proposed with three levels of Anonymity serving as the IV (see figure 2), and two levels of Aggression serving as the DV. Participants – A systematic sampling method was used to access 4chan at different hours of the day. It was impossible to target one specific age group, sex or nationality which is apparent with internet research. 975 threads were recorded, containing a total of 3662 individual posts. Descriptive Results Of 3662 posts 998 contained some form of aggression (see table 1). Though this appeared to be a reasonable sample size 99.8% of the total posts were from completely anonymous users (see table 2). This raises the issue of the feasibility of statistical comparisons between levels of anonymity. • Ethical Issues • Utilising a covert observation technique issues of participant consent were raised, however it was discussed that 4chan users were aware that the forum was public and freely accessible to internet users. Raising in the process issues surrounding ‘lurking’ and debriefing. • Sampling across more of the 4chan boards would allow for more data and perhaps lower levels of anonymity in the sample but there are issues attached. Some boards on 4chan are dedicated to pornographic content, potentially illegal material (torrents) and despite the site’s own rules has been known to contain images of child pornography (Rushkoff, 2009). • Due to the nature of 4chan- explicit pictures/memes/images are allowed to be posted and are frequently posted. • Furthermore due to the posting of explicit images- potential harmful or illegal images may be posted therefore it was stated that these would be flagged and addressed to 4chans creator. • The researcher was unable to take part or post anything in 4chan due to the potential repercussions from other users such as trolling/flaming/psychological harm/hacking. • The research had to be conducted on a University computer due concerns surrounding safety and legality. • Though online the interactions witness still had the potential to be distressing to the researcher. Table 1: Threads, posts and observed aggression Figure 3: Observed Aggression Table 2: Observed levels of anonymity References Bond, E. and Carter, P. (2013) The e-Safer Suffolk Cybersurvey 2012-2013 Summary. Report Suffolk, UK: Suffolk County Council Bond, E. and Carter, P. (2012) The e-Safer Suffolk Cybersurvey 2011 Summary Report. Suffolk, UK: University of Suffolk Knuttila, L. (2011) User unknown: 4chan, anonymity and contingency. First Monday, 16(10). Lea, M., & Spears, R. (1991). Computer-mediated communication, de-individuation and group decision-making. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 39, 283-301 Rushkoff, D. (2009) The Web’s Dirtiest Site [Article] Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/08/11/the-webs-dirtiest-site.html .