Studio Session 1 Reflection - Anonymous

I knew little about Anonymous going into Thursday’s studio session. I had heard about things they had done from time to time, but did not know the goal of the group. What struck me most was how people became involved with the group and that there was no official requirements for membership, if you wanted to be part of it, you simply were. Get involved (and perhaps download a printable Guy Fawkes mask) and you are good to go. However, this liberal inclusivity has downfalls. There also seems to be a lot of discord amongst those involved with Anonymous: disagreement about how to handle their Operations; different (or lack of) political views; and disagreement about privacy issues, as a group that remains secretive while exposing others.

These ideas are interesting in terms of our discussion on community on the Internet, because it seems that Anonymous is united in many ways, but also deals with their own set of internal conflict, just like traditional communities. Understanding more about why and how people are involved will give insight into what the group represents. From the research during our studio session, it is clear that the hacktivist group wants to expose corruption and wrongdoing, but as a leaderless collective, will they be able to effectively unite to make a difference? Do they need more structure or does their decentralization give them an advantage?