Dr. Jordan Peterson, who in this editor’s opinion, is brilliant, caused a bit of a stir on Twitter over the past couple of days. He has decided to push the idea that anonymous users on social media are majority trolls. He calls them cowards and seems to want to separate them from the people he deems as ‘REAL’. Before we dive into the meat and potatoes, let us make it clear that this editor is usually a fan and in agreement with Dr. Peterson but we felt the need to cover this point of view.
Let us start with a few of the tweets by Dr. Peterson over the past few days.
Coward. https://t.co/jDhUSk0HHm
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) December 7, 2022
The correlation is so large that anyone posting anonymously has to ask themselves seriously: narcissist with psychopathic features, or hero? And there are damn few heroes. Not none. But they're rare. https://t.co/oK2JfYTccs
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) December 8, 2022
Most anonymous accounts are counterproductive. And I never said they should be banned. I merely said that the anonymous accounts should be separated from the real people. https://t.co/2tSMX8W8RT
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) December 8, 2022
By failing to separate the anonymous cowardly troll demons from real people in the comments section @youtube and other SM platforms are enabling sadistic Machiavellian psychopaths and narcissists
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) December 7, 2022
You're missing the point. Some anonymous accounts are heroic. Most favour Dark Tetrad personality types. The latter pose an extreme threat to social integrity. Truly. https://t.co/rgU0Q89bdJ
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) December 7, 2022
The gist of it all is that Dr. Peterson wants people to be on social media as themselves because he feels anonymity allows for more trolls. We disagree. There are plenty of people on Twitter using their real names and faces who are celebrities or politicians who say awful things and act like trolls that make normal discussion nearly impossible on most subjects.
There were many users who agreed with us and brought up FANTASTIC points.
Dear @jordanbpeterson
Political dissidents, survivors, activists, journalists and whistleblowers globally deserve an opportunity to remain anonymous online and be heard.
History has shown us why this is important. https://t.co/6oMG4mhpWQ
— Eliza (@elizableu) December 7, 2022
BOOM. Mic drop. Without being anonymous there are so many people who could not speak up or say their points of view. Without the pen name, ‘Publius’ would The Federalist Papers ever have been written? Maybe not.
Quite the elitist take.
— Carla 🧡⚡ (@HodlingCarla) December 7, 2022
You're wrong on this one man. Anon trolls are not half the problem government-goons-who-make-lists are.
— Jessica Green (@soupcanarchist) December 7, 2022
He's not a coward; he's realistic — he lives in the real world. Normal people cannot afford to be fired for their beliefs. That's the reality for the men you apparently coach …
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) December 7, 2022
Using your real name and face on social media while having conservative opinions and ideas is not so easy if you want to keep your job and feed your family. The Left will destroy a person for anything they perceive as ‘wrong think’ in the blink of an eye if they have the chance and they do not care if it is a tiny granny in Georgia or a well-known author like JK Rowling. The mob wants to shut down any and all opposition and they have proven it over and over.
It’s okay, I think, to put less value on the opinions of anonymous people since they don’t have to answer for what they say.
But the need for anonymity is obvious.
— Pete D’Abrosca (@pdabrosca) December 7, 2022
We kind of agree, but there are plenty of people not using their faces or real names on Social Media who add great points to any discussion. Yes there are trolls who are just saying nasty things for the LULZ but we can block or mute those people on most platforms.
Peterson got ratio'd, so he quote-tweeted instead of responding to get the engagement he needed to feel better about his opinion.
Calling names will always get you likes. It's sad to see Peterson debase himself like this instead of engaging in discussion.
— 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 (@txsalth2o) December 7, 2022
YUP. Again we like Dr. Peterson and usually agree with him, but in this case, we just think he has gone down the wrong path, and rather than turning around, he just kept going.
Some of us have jobs in tech we would like to keep.
— Jenny Randall (@JR4484) December 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/TimbitExtremist/status/1600595928339337216
He has a point. As we said above, everyone can not afford to risk being canceled, fired, swatted, or stalked.
Man you should’ve stayed off of Twitter
— Jon 🔬 (@JonnyMicro) December 7, 2022
We don’t agree on this one, we like that Dr. Peterson is back on Twitter, but we do think he should have stayed out of the weeds on the subject of anonymity as it can not hurt him like it can others.
Lets ask our friends in China and Iran who face potential death if their identity is doxxed how they feel about privacy.
— Ameer Rosic (@AmeerRosic) December 7, 2022
Rich, famous guy castigates anonymous nobody for not being willing to risk the ability to feed his family over expressing opinions.
— InTheRightColumn (@TheRightColumn) December 7, 2022
Eric Blair disagrees with your take
— Taliesin & Evitel (@TaliesinEvitel) December 7, 2022
For those of you who may not be aware, Eric Blair is the real name of George Orwell who wrote Animal Farm and 1984. He actually chose a pen name to protect his family from embarrassment over their time in poverty. All of this is to say, there are MANY reasons for people to be anonymous.
We love you Dr. Peterson, but on this one thing, we hope you reconsider your point of view and come back home.
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Editor’s Note:
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Feature photo of Dr. Jordan Peterson taken by Gage Skidmore
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