Egroup Wars: Anonymity (Part I)

I will coin a term today: egroup war. Simply put, I will define it as the heated exchange of emails by various people over an egroup that was not intended to become a venue to such conflict. Have you ever been caught in an egroup war? A heated argument or perhaps a principled debate over an egroup? I have seen it happen many times. It does not look nice.

Yesterday, my brother told me about an egroup war that erupted in his high school egroup. It all started with an innocent comment which unfortunately offended a few people. What followed next was a heated exchange of emails that ended up going on for days. Even as I write this post, my brother tells me that the onslaught continues.

I think arguments over an egroup are unique compared to arguments in other venues, such as say a forum or a chat room. There are various aspects of an egroup that make it more difficult for parties to resolve a conflict.

The first aspect that makes an egroup unique is the fact that there is little anonymity in egroups. Normally, people who create egroups are people who know each other. As such, people are likely to argue over real issues and there is an incentive for people to really make and insist on their opinions. What they will not allow in the outside world, they will not allow in an egroup. Therefore, if anyone gets insulted, it is unlikely that they will let it go. If anyone’s sensibility is offended, chances are that person will react in the same forum to air out his opinion. Because of this, I honestly would not consider egroups as part of the virtual world, since people who participate in egroups do not normally assume any other identity or role.

As there is no anonymity as far as the people who argue, the same holds true for people who are not involved in the conflict. People who end up in an egroup war end up as gladiators performing not only for people who know them but also for people that they know. The whole setup serves as ready fuel to any potential fire. Knowing that a conflict can affect how one is perceived by others, people who may be friends, those who are in conflict are forced to defend themselves and their reputations, aggravating the situation.

In the Internet, we have seen that anonymity can be bad because it can run counter to accountability. It is strange therefore that in the case of an egroup war, it appears that the alternative appears to be just as bad. (To be continued)

- Elgene L. C. Feliciano