“Anonymous” By Eric Grubbs

Editorial note: I’d like to welcome Eric Grubbs onto the LNWF crew. Be sure to check out his website Theme Park Experience and his excellent new book Post.

As somebody who likes to read Internet message boards and comment sections, I can’t help but wonder why people think there is safety in being anonymous. Moreover, being anonymous and rude. People use the excuse of being honest, but it’s not that simple. People forget about tact; plenty don’t know what it is in the first place.

If there’s one place not to try your hand at humor, it’s in a forum where no one can really tell the tone of your voice or even know who you are. I’ve decided that the only true form of good, honest feedback is the kind that is discussed in person, between people. If you can’t own your words in person, then why say them?

Read more after the jump.

To promote my book, Post, I did an essay for Largehearted Boy where I discussed how I got into the book’s topic: post-hardcore/emo. I had seen firsthand the slow transition from underground to the mainstream, particularly the years between 1997 and 2002. But since I wasn’t at Rites of Spring’s first show or Jawbox’s recording sessions for Novelty, an anonymous person only using a first name decided to proclaim that I wasn’t “there” and my book – which chances were really good the person hadn’t read yet – was the “[w]orst book ever.”

Whoa. Harsh honesty? Nope, it’s a prime example of somebody foolishly believing that a point can be made under an anonymous profile. To me, it’s an incredibly dishonest way of being honest in representing your thoughts.

These days, with large newspapers doing blogs, it’s weird to see poorly-written, tactless attacks at the bottom of a well-written and well-researched write-up. Recently, I couldn’t help but laugh at an anonymous comment of “your retarded” following the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot’s best of 2008 list.

You could say the playing field has been leveled by comments sections. But I ask whose opinion you trust more: somebody who prints his or hers name and owns his or hers words or somebody who chooses to hide?