Why do people not take accountability for their actions, especially online? Richard Bernstein, writer and book critic, says “Anonymity is a tremendous aid to the...cowardly” (349). Some websites allow you to be anonymous so that you will feel more comfortable posting your comments and opinions. Without anonymity the number for people posting would most likely decrease. Anonymity is a way that some people tell secrets about other people that they would not normally say if they had to reveal their true identity.
Bernstein begins by starting off with how anonymous sources are a news reporter’s best friend. Then tells us how wrong he believe anonymity to be. “...Anybody who wants to say something nasty about somebody else’s work ought to have a
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Even if he does not like something and writes negatively his name is still on whatever that may be. Revealing your name on something you write would be a non cowardly act.
He frowns upon the allowance of anonymity within sites. He also knows there are benefits of online anonymity. Even though a lot of it may seem bad because some people abuse it does not mean it is completely horrible. Bernstein shouldn’t blame anonymity for rude and unsightly remarks when they did not appear randomly. People were offensive way before the internet, anonymity did not make them that way. Anonymity online is a good way to shed a little weight off your shoulders. Especially when something is going on and you want to get it off your chest and still keep your privacy.
Bernstein demonstrates how cowardly people are on some websites through his own experience. He has written a book and it was being sold on Amazon.com. Amazon.com is another website that allows people to post anonymously if they would like. Bernstein viewed a comment on his book that wasn’t of his liking so he complained letting them know that people should be responsible for what they say. According to him Amazon.com encourages