Does “Anonymous” Mean “Irresponsible”?
Does “Anonymous” Mean “Irresponsible”?
  • Reporter Kwon Woo-jung
  • 승인 2013.09.04 15:35
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During the semester, you enter your ID and password and log into POVIS almost everyday. Then, what you first see would be a bulletin board with a number of recent posts by other members. This place is for everyone to write what he or she wants to let others know. While some faculty members put some notices for students to see, some people anonymously express their opinions about issues. Also, there are even  selling some foods or goods by posting their own ads. The problem occurs when some people utilize this anonymous function to write an aggressive comment about others. There are several recent examples.

Quality of Student Restaurant and POVIS System
This controversy started when someone anonymously posted what he thinks about student meals and the POVIS system. He claimed that the student meal is so poor in quality that it is not worth 2500 KRW, which is the current price of student meals. Also, he criticized POVIS harshly that POVIS does not perform well enough, making students uncomfortable in many cases. Of course, everyone is entitled to an opinion, and it was true that there were some the students who partially agree with what he wrote about student meals and POVIS. However, it was his way of expressing opinions that everyone was unhappy about. Using this anonymous system, he made a lot of unpleasant and disrespectful comments against staff members of the school.

MS Software License Issue
When last semester was about to end, there was an issue about MS software license. Due to the uncertainty in the notice regarding the student licence to MS software, a number of students were confused and expressed their complaints against this measure because it was the time when they needed MS software the most. However, some of them used inappropriate words and expressions on the bulletin board to show this complaint.

Pension of Private School Issue
Since this issue concerned whether students?tuitions was used or not, the problem was more serious. Some people said that they cannot believe the transparency of our school and others harshly criticized staff members. However, most of these people had two problems. First, they did not fully understand the situation. Second, again, the words they chose were too aggressive to be used in public despite the fact that they were writing anonymously. Therefore, eventually, this led to the emotional argument between students and some staff members, casting doubt on the value of the anonymous system.

Sometimes, if too excessive and aggressive, reasonable opinions can also be seen as unreasonable and only emotional demands. The more freedom we gain through this anonymous system, the more responsible we should be when expressing our opinions. Anonymity does not allow irresponsibility.