MOB MENTALITY VS. ANONYMOUS: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

Mob mentality, often described also as “herd mentality” is a term used to describe how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors. Think of it as low-key and often times subliminal peer pressure. You’re part of a group of peers with one steadfast idea, motive or opinion in common. Before you can think for yourself, you’re part of the decentralized decision making. We’ve all fallen to the whim of mob mentality on different moral and ethical levels; there is a social psychology behind how and why. The brain has a tendency to go into a sort of auto-pilot and suppress one’s personal moral compass when in large groups. Why does the brain do this?

This mentality goes back to our deepest, basest, most instinctual roots. When you are solitary or in small, familiar groups (family, friends, Tuesday yoga class, etc) your brain adheres to its “default” morality settings. In a large group setting, your brain’s subliminal desire to fit in switches from “me” to “us” or “them” and is often exacerbated by anonymity. When an individual feels their identity is concealed enough in a group to mask their specific actions as an individual, the brain subconsciously – and sometimes consciously – justifies this behavior. The innate notion that you are protected by a group with no risk of individual repercussion so easily melts away rational judgement and shifts the user into a completely different consciousness; it’s almost a conditioned reflex.

Mob Mentality has been around for ages; some pertinent historical examples are The French Revolution, Holocaust, The Salem Witch Trials and our most recent and expansive example…The Internet.

If you’ve ever been on the internet, you’ve either been initiated in or victim of mob mentality. We all witness it in varying degrees on a day-to-day basis. It’s gotten to the point where it has become such an ingrained aspect of our daily routine that our brain doesn’t even register that it’s problematic.

The internet, despite all it’s done for the world as a whole, has become a breeding ground for exacerbating mob mentality through social media, internet forums like Reddit and 4chan, and even inciting mob ideas through questionable and uninformed “news” articles. You ever scroll through Facebook and see an absurd article titled something like “Breaking News: Scientists Say Water is Bad For You!” and you see 3,462 comments of people arguing that the article has a point? Yeah, that.

Unfortunately, these articles are so prevalent and the mob behavior within the comments is so second nature that you either participate or keep scrolling. While these Facebook dumpster fires are harmless and entertaining enough, not all internet mob mentality is; in fact, it can become extremely dangerous and detrimental to people and their actual lives outside of the main-frame. How is mob mentality made worse via the internet? Two key factors play a part here: Anonymity and Dissociation.

I’d like to clarify that I am not targeting or discussing the “Anon” force nor their rallied agenda. It’s safe to say most of us are familiar with “Anon” and their combined hacking forces, and while there is some debate on if they do more harm than good, any force that uses their combined efforts to shut down well over 50 child pornography sites, hold animal abusers accountable, fight for LGBT rights, fight against racism, expose government injustice – the list of positive ethical intentions goes on – is fighting for the greater good (in my opinion). Perhaps one of the few examples of mob mentality focused on a primarily ethical high-road.

Unfortunately, where things get dicey is individual users coming together in online forums or social medias and losing all inhibition, disassociating from their “real world” as they settle down in front of a screen. Disassociation is a spectrum and can not be used as a blanket term in regards to online trolling and mob mentality. Trolling as well is on a spectrum; from harassing a friend on Facebook for sharing that “Water Is Bad For You” article all the way to bullying someone into ending their life. Trolling can be innocent enough – you’re looking for a laugh so you poke fun at something online, respond exclusively in memes and call it a night.

While it may be obvious how anonymity aids and abets trolls online, there may be a much larger psychological behavioral background at work here. Within the Dissociation spectrum is something Psychologists call “Disinhibition Effect” which is defined as “the reduction or abandonment in remote electronic communications of those social restrictions and inhibitions that would arise in normal face-to-face communication”.

Anonymity makes every difference, and unfortunately, this frees some to partake in some pretty egregious behavior. When you are, for all intents and purposes, invisible among a community, you’ll do and say whatever to find acceptance among the herd; because this acceptance is much harder to find offline. We’re all victim to the carnal desire to fit in.

On Wednesday we wear pink. Every other day we are horrendously shitty to each other.

“That anonymity works wonders for the disinhibition effect. When people have the opportunity to separate their actions from their real world and identity, they feel less vulnerable about opening up. Whatever they say or do can’t be directly linked to the rest of their lives. They don’t have to own their behavior by acknowledging it within the full context of who they “really” are. When acting out hostile feelings, the person doesn’t have to take responsibility for those actions. In fact, people might even convince themselves that those behaviors “aren’t me at all.” In psychology this is called ‘dissociation.’”

- John Suler, Psychology of the Digital Age

Where do we draw the line in the proverbial sand between casual internet trolling and harmful mob mentality? Why does the internet exacerbate this behavior so fervently? What can we do about it? Are we all just innate assholes and just needed the internet’s gift of pure, unadulterated anonymity within its communities to bring this realization to fruition?

Unfortunately, the psychology is there and within us all, and we can’t do much of anything to control behavioral disturbances on the internet; what you can do is take accountability for your actions and be excellent to each other.

Don't be a dick.

#anonymous #mobmentality #internetculture #hivemind