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A comment on U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests. Parent comment

Re:U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests by gwright on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @05:38PM (#25663644)
I would add

3. The anonymity of online identity.

People behave very differently when they perceive they are anonymous.

Perhaps this is a version of mob psychology/dynamics where the anonymity of the collective causes people to act in ways that they normally wouldn't.

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Re:U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests by rootusrootus on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @05:52PM (#25663813)
> People behave very differently when they perceive they are anonymous.

I don't know about that. I see people on FB who are accurately identified by their real name who have no problem whatsoever expressing "F*ck your feelings" to people who are ostensibly their friends. Lack of anonymity doesn't seem to have helped.

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Re:U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests by gwright on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @05:54PM (#25663830)
I purposely used the word "perceive". I think people, even with their real names on the account, view themselves as more "anonymous" online.
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