Thursday; August 18
Long before the social media movement of the 2000s we had another social phenomenon called the CB radio. During the 1970s the Citizen’s Band Radio craze a lot of people purchased a Realistic (Radio Shack brand) radio and developed an alter-ego described by their “handle” (nickname). It may seem simplistic by today’s standards, but almost fifty years ago it was a national craze that encouraged people to interact with strangers – without exposing too much of their true nature. While there is an allure to the anonymity of veiled communication, whether it is on a CB Radio or through an online post, we will still be held accountable for what we express. It is tempting to hide behind the veil of a pseudo-identity to express things people find offensive, we have to accept responsibility for the impact it has. Those “anonymous” posts in response to a newspaper article can create a negative environment or begin an adversarial conflict that escalates just because there is not face-to-face