Incivility in the online world is partly caused by anonymity, but anonymity has its place in the internet and needs to stay. Incivility is often described as social behavior that is lacking in respect, or good manners. A lot of people have reasons to believe that anonymity is the sole reason behind incivility online, and while it plays a huge role, anonymity has an even bigger role in the conversations happening online in the first place. Maria Konnikova, a bachelor in psychology and creative writing, writes about anonymity encouraging people to participate in discussions because their words won’t be attached to them and that if comments on internet articles were taken away, the connections we often-times make with these articles or news stories are taken away as well. Richard Bird, a freelance writer who frequently speaks about the loss of civility today, argues in his article that the ability to communicate anonymously online threatens civility severely. Bird claims that anonymity encourages incivility, like Konnikova in her article. Finally, Rich Heldenfels, a retired pop culture writer for the Akron Beacon Journal, claims that American politics has always lacked civility and isn’t a new problem at all. Heldenfels claims that media makes incivility appear to be a bigger issue than it is. In my paper, I will explain the arguments of the authors of each paper, compare them to one another, and share my thoughts and possible solutions of the problem that is online
