2 ms·
I can't help see a uptick in this activity after labels like anonymous got MSM attention. Being an amorphous blob that barely had the fawkes mask as a symbol a
by digi_owl 10y ago
I can't help see a uptick in this activity after labels like anonymous got MSM attention.
Being an amorphous blob that barely had the fawkes mask as a symbol allowed people to feel like they had the backing of a group when spewing their vitriol.
- pjc50 10y agoI don't think it requires that mask, people are happy to do it with anonymous twitter eggs, anime avatars, or (if they feel they have enough social support) presidential campaigns. There does seem to have been a rise since I first started on the internet, but I'm not sure when I'd date it to.
- 67726e 10y agoPart of me agrees with digi_owl, I think seeing reports of 4chan trolls and those "hackers known as anonymous" probably ended up mobilizing a lot of jackasses that probably would have never gotten into that "scene". Kinda like how the media has latched onto this "killer clown" bullshit after some kid claimed he saw one and now you're seeing reports of this shit all over the country. However, if memory serves, the whole "anonymous" crap really came into it's own somewhat in lockstep with the rise of social media which itself has given a voice to a lot of people that otherwise would have just been isolated to a forum or shitty GeoCities website. So now you've got a bunch of eggs and anime avatars screaming about corrupt Hillary and fascist Trump and spewing vitriol at anything that dare cross their path. Of course everyone is getting so damned politically polar in this time-frame, we've got major news networks half-acting like gossip blogs, and now every jackass with a cellphone has a(n anonymous) voice. It's really just a confluence of shit.