Fact From Fiction: Not All Members Of Anonymous Are Created Equal

VIA GlossLip

When I began writing about Anonymous’ protests against the Church of Scientology I had NO idea what to think, expect or envision. As far as I was concerned, they were two sinister organizations battling it out, and it was good idea to stay removed.

During my coverage, I was rickrolled, memed, exposed to weird variations of intentionally misspelled words and utterly lost in this seemingly surreal world. At some point, I visited Encyclopedia Dramatica and the Something Awful forums to do some research on “Anonymous” and I genuinely thought to myself, “how is it possible I could be blogging for over six years and be so clueless about an entire subculture of people.”

In all fairness, Anonymous does have a fairly sordid past, with a strange sense of humor. Both sites listed above have a tendency to make fun of the kinds of people and things that society politely protects due to an abundance of political correctness. The SA and ED sites are not for the PC or easily offended. You’ve been warned.

This however, does not mean that all individuals who call themselves Anonymous, are in fact “Anonymous.” Even those people who are Anonymous aren’t even Anonymous. Does that make sense? It shouldn’t. For months now I have read various parties try to define who Anonymous are and who they aren’t. Most Anonymous feel there is no proper way to define the group, and many are repulsed at the idea of even trying to do so. From my perspective, this stems from the very nature of the word “anonymous.” From Merriam-Websters definition:

anonymous

1 : not named or identified 2 : of unknown authorship or origin 3 : lacking individuality, distinction, or recognizability

Still confused? That’s natural. While I am not an authority by any means, I feel as informed as anyone else in the media to make distinctions. Yes, even in a group calling itself “Anonymous” there are distinctions. And in this case, quite marked.

Glosslip has actively chosen to interact with all sorts of people calling themselves “anonymous” and from what I have observed, there are three distinct groupings of Anonymous. I will attempt to define as best I understand.

 

“Anti-Scientology” Anonymous - these are the people who were against the Church of Scientology long before Andrew Morton’s book, long before the Gawker/Tom Cruise/YouTube video incident, who in the darkest corners of the internet criticized the CoS for their oppressive efforts to censor information about the organization’s practices, crimes, abuses and policies - and of course — the CoS “copyright” data principle which they use to extract large sums of money from their adherents, and as tool in which to litigate anyone who criticizes them. Anonymous, at its very core is a rogue sort of group who dislike information being kept from the masses. This variation of the group are the ones I am most familiar with. They are serious, often quite compassionate, extremely intelligent and fairly ego-less. They have a goal and focus: dismantle the abusive and corrupt hierarchy of the Church of Scientology. By far, this is the largest percentage with their numbers growing exponentially.

The “In It For the Lulz” Anonymous - these are your fairly harmless Anonymous who enjoy being part of the movement, are generally well-informed and good-intentioned, but whose focus on the CoS movement waxes and wanes. If things get too heavy, too detailed, too “boring” or “warm and fuzzyish” they back off or attempt to interject levity with a “Rickroll” or a “long cat is loooooooooooong” or “show us your tits” sort of thing. It lightens the mood and injects some laughs, which let me tell you, when you cover the Church of Scientology, a good laugh can do wonders. This is depressing business. This group is silly, but *mostly* good-natured.

Then there’s the “bad” Anonymous. They’re bad, they know it, they don’t care. Their idea of lulz is to hurt people, scare people, harass people and in general be internet dickheads. They’re amoral (and at times immoral) they are smart, nasty and savvy as to the ways of the internets. They hack, they prank, they play practical jokes which are more often than not, mean-spirited and lack forethought. I doubt they are as evil as the media portrays them, they are probably not even as evil as they want you to think they are, but they are pains in the asses to the rest of Anonymous who are becoming really weary of being blamed for the actions of a very small percentage of the overall numbers who claim to be “Anonymous.”

Hey don’t hack me bro, just calling it like I see it. Your skillz are mad, of that there is no doubt.

The main issue right now, is a divide I see coming between those who don’t want to be associated with “the bad” but still wish to remain “Anonymous” in many ways you can’t eliminate the bad from the good due to the very nature of anonymity. ANYONE can call themselves Anonymous and do good or bad. There is an obvious answer to this problem, but no one will like it.

The latest episode is related to an attack on a forum for those suffering from Epilepsy. Several news reports are claiming internet pranksters posted images which were designed to trigger seizures in epileptics, some people were adversely affected. The news reports are claiming that the internet pranksters belonged to “Anonymous” and associated this attack with the CoS Anons. The CoS Anons were quick to denounce the attacks and deny any involvement.

This coverage of this story shows shortsighted reporting if you ask me, but hey, I don’t fully understand every aspect of this group either despite communicating with many of them.

I guess to put it in perspective, there are good and bad elements of any mass of people. Should we hold ALL Muslims responsible for the actions of a few? Certainly not. Should we assume all Scientologists are bad, because we know some who are? That would be unfair. Essentially, I would encourage the media to attempt to distinguish between those elements who wish to stage peaceful, legal and compassion-driven protests, from the handful of common-sense challenged cyber-bullies who get their kicks from being cruel.

The only thing they have in common is a desire to remain “Anonymous.”

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