This article remarks on the efficiency of blogs in reporting news and other world events. The article tells how news about major events such as September 11th and the Indian Ocean tsunami was posted on blogs before it appeared on major news sites. The article goes on to tell how blogs were used to collect relief supplies and donations for disasters. This example demonstrates how Internet users throughout the country and the world are using anonymous sites, such as blogging sites, to reach out to one another during times of need. Bloggers can connect with readers and other bloggers and even send money and donations to causes without having to reveal their identities.

This article discusses how online feedback mechanisms are bringing new meaning to "word of mouth." Through online forums, businesses can reach large audiences at little cost. Furthermore, "individuals can make their personal thoughts, reactions, and opinions easily accessible to the global community of Internet users." The site relates to my project because it references several online communities and discusses how these groups of people use the Internet to communicate. The article mentions Epinions.com, Moviefone.com, and CitySearch.com. These are sites where users can evaluate movies, restaurants, bars, and other businesses. Individuals who visit these sites to read reviews are not concerned with who wrote the articles, but instead the advice that they offer. Therefore, these sites are examples of ways that Internet users are taking advantage of online anonymity to connect with others and to seek their opinions.

The Online Gamers Anonymous website offers an interesting take on anonymous online authorship. In the case of "excessive game players," it is likely that these site users are especially interested in protecting their identities. Still, this website allows suffers of excessive game playing to access information about their problems and interact with other online gamers without giving away their identities. The site offers numerous resources for gamers and their families including, chat rooms, meetings, world news, and information about other organizations that seek to help online gamers to overcome their problems. Users can also write in about their own experiences and offer their help to others.

The PostSecret Community site offers information to members of the PostSecret "community." The site offers access to information on PostSecret events and news as well as the opportunity to chat with the creator of PostSecret, Frank Warren. The site also answers questions that are likely raised by users of the PostSecret website. I choose to bookmark this site because it demonstrates the sense of community that users achieve from visiting sites that feature work from anonymous authors. Although the members of the PostSecret community remain unknown to one another, they still feel as though they are unified by the project.

Project Mortified puts a comical spin on items collected from peoples' pasts included journals, old love letters, and home movies. The "Woe & Tell" section allows users to post poems and pictures anonymously. I feel that this site is relevant to my project because it demonstrates one of the various forms of online authorship. Through the use of sites such as GetMortified.com, Internet users can become online authors without even writing anything at all, but instead by submitting something they have created in the past. Everyone has been an author at some point in their lives, and this site gives individuals the opportunity to publish their work no matter how comical, incomplete or just bad it is.

I find this video especially interesting because it suggests that Internet users are taking advantage of online anonymity by using their ambiguity to connect with others. The video explains that even if a person's identity remains unknown, other people still seek comfort in knowing that someone else is out there in the world that has had experiences and gone through struggles similar to their own. I think this site relates to my research topic because it shows how almost anyone can become an anonymous online author even if they do not consider themselves a writer. Individuals can send in items such as postcards and post sentences or just words onto a website where other people can read and connect with the material.

This site discusses the various reasons that Internet users desire to remain anonymous. One New York blogger describes his reason for remaining unknown in stating that, "it afforded him creative freedom and access to good material." The blogger, who eventually reveals his identity after being offered a book deal, explains how his experience as a writer changes once he realizes that he will be linked to his work and that he must face the reactions of readers. Another blogger from Alaska explains how anonymity allows writers to "[speak] without filters." For many different reasons, authors continue to strive to remain anonymous in the online world.

This article explains how a chain of pawn shops in Texas sued an anonymous John Doe who posted comments on an Internet message board criticizing the chain of shops. The chain thought that the John Doe may have been a former employee. Despite Doe's efforts to protect his identity, the court rejected Doe's motions. This article shows that although Internet users are often thought to have a right to anonymity, the privacy of Internet users is not enforced by law. Actions that are considered criminal offline are also considered unlawful on the Internet. Still, the rulings of cases involving online anonymity are ultimately decisions of the courts they are heard in.

This site is dedicated to helping Internet users protect their anonymity and their privacy. Anonymity.com offers an anonymity test that helps Internet users to understand what kind of information they are revealing about their identity when surfing the Internet. The anonymity test uses symbols to warn users when they are revealing information that they may not be aware of. The link anonymizer allows Internet users to link to websites without passing along information to the destination site. The site also offers the OpenID Anonymity service. This service is very similar to OpenID. However, users do not have to use a set profile, but can instead remain completely anonymous through the use of randomized user names created by Anonymity.com.

This site suggests that the idea of online anonymity is becoming more and more misleading. While Internet users may be under the pretense that their identities are anonymous, advancements in technology have made it increasingly easy for other users to discover the true identities of the seemingly anonymous. Furthermore, identities are even more easily revealed when Internet behavior becomes questionable under the law. Therefore, as stated in this article, Internet users should behave under the assumption that their personal information is accessible if needed for legal proceedings. Even though sites may offer users anonymity, this does not free users from all responsibilities.

This article questions whether online anonymity is truly possible, and if so, whether or not Internet users should be made to take responsibility for their words and or actions. Ultimately, Zack Whittaker, the article's author, states that individuals should be held responsible for their online behaviors in the same sense that they are held responsible for their actions offline. Whittaker uses the example of Rosemary Port, a woman who used Blogger.com to post insulting photographs and words of verbal abuse directed towards a female model. Under court order, Goggle, the owner of Blogger.com, was forced to reveal the identity of Rosemary Port, who is now suing Goggle for "breach of anonymity." Port clearly felt that her right to remain anonymous had been violated, but does the right to anonymity free Internet users of moral and social responsibility?

This site emphasizes OpenID's role in ensuring the protection of one's identity. The site explains president Obama's endorsement of OpenID as a means of simplifying the use of government websites. The article states that the use of OpenID on government sites will allow users to access information without revealing a great deal of personal information. This article's discussion of the president's endorsement of OpenID does not lead readers to believe that OpenID will prevent user anonymity, but instead ensure users the privacy and security of their own online identities. Furthermore, Obama aims to make government sites more accessible. If Internet users feel that their identities are protected and secure, they will likely feel more at ease and be more likely to take advantage of the information and features offered on sites.

This website explains what OpenID is and how it benefits users. Essentially, OpenID is a program that allows users to use a single online identity to log into various websites. The OpenID program saves users time by preventing them from having to create separate profiles for individual websites. Open ID also allows users to be in control of what personal details are revealed online. While the OpenID website states that the program will give users "greater control over [their] online identity," I also feel that the use of this program will discourage users from listing false information about themselves. If Internet users know that the personal details they provide will be available across an array of websites, they will be more likely to provide truthful information. For example, if an individual uses Myspace to meet new people and form online relationships, he or she may be likely to list false personal information in order to impress or attract others. However, if this individual knows that this same information will be shared among his or her professional colleagues through email accounts or other sites, he or she will be less likely to lie.

This website discusses whether or not it is still possible to remain anonymous on the Internet. Cases such as the Lori Drew Myspace trial, in which the mother of a teenage girl created a fake Myspace account in order to bully a peer of her daughter, have made it apparent that the act of creating false Internet identities is not only frowned upon, but even considered criminal behavior. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Google are already taking precautions to help eliminate anonymity. The article goes on to question whether Internet users' beliefs that they are not anonymous influence their online behaviors, even if these beliefs are not entirely true.

This site discusses the negative impact os social networking sites and how the lack of security on the websites can become problematic.

Future Foundation is a UK based company that I worked for as an intern this past summer. One of the projects I worked on was the planning and organization of a client conference. At the conference, Future Foundation speakers used Twitter as a way to facilitate discussion and recieve feedback from clients throughout their presentations. This website uses Twitter to keep clients and/or potential clients updated on the research that is being completed for the Future Foundation databases.

This website offers WVU students access to Twitter feeds relating to University news, sports, colleges, and various departments. This site also provides links to specific WVU Twitterers.

This article addresses the differences between the types of writing students do in the classroom and the writing they complete outside the classroom, including text messages, e-mails, and facebook posts. The article further explains how teachers should take advantage of students' interests in online writing to help encourage enthusiasm for classroom writing as well.

This article offers an interesting description if the evolution of text messaging and how it has become increasingly beneficial. The article also describes how the structure of text messaging has changed with the development of more advanced cell phones.