Ask, and You Shall Receive More Than You Bargained For
by Job B. de Leon on July 2, 2010
People want to feel wanted.
Using the sphere of social media, this is the reason why we tag friends in funny photos, pester them to comment on our blog entries and tweet the most inane non-events like spilling ketchup on our shorts. The consequent interaction reassures us that we are somewhat relevant on the Internet.
Formspring.me, a social questions and answers website, does away with the intermediate niceties and gets to what you really want— attention. Users register and create their own pages, inviting literally anyone to ask them anything; you don’t need an account or any kind of identification to submit a question. Initially, the user screens the questions in private, but afterwards all answered questions are made public on the user’s profile. In theory, the anonymity should make it easier to ask what you might not have the audacity to ask in real life.
Junior Deb Victa enjoys answering the questions in her Formspring inbox. “Sometimes,” she says, “telling people a little about yourself is fun,” and adds that “some of the questions could really get you thinking.”
Thea Vega, a junior, admits to asking herself questions, but in the name of therapy rather than vanity. “I ask myself questions about long exams,” she says. “I get to console myself in my answer. It’s like writing a letter to yourself.”
Others are not too keen on the way Formspring encourages others to seek out information. “If I wanted people to know, I’d tell them,” says Jonathan Chu (BS ME ’08) He lumps Formspring together with other social media, saying he uses it as an alternative chat venue and to make hirits.
Upon closer inspection of Formspring’s nuances, it stands out from previous incarnations of social media. Previously, the trend online was to revel in anonymity. Once logged on, an ordinary boy would be “ironkn1ght76”, free to say anything he wants in forums, fearing only temporary bans from sites. Now, the trend is all about establishing an identity in cyberspace that is reflective of your own. By changing our email addresses and site handles into “firstandlastname”, we assert our existence and implied importance on the internet. We become curators to the online shrines to ourselves – shrines by ourselves – placing our names and reputations on the line for the world to see.
Now, to which Internet trend does Formspring belong? Neither – it’s more like social media lovers decided to hook up and have a mutant baby. Instead of the user having sole control over managing online content (like Facebook or Twitter) for the anonymous to consume, Formspring gives the anonymous a voice, almost demanding what content should be released, allowing them to challenge individuals on the ground they control. The world isn’t just looking; it’s blowing raspberries at us.
Seasoned Formspring users know one in every handful of queries is a wintry remark. Users receive insults to their personality, sexuality, and religion from individuals empowered by the anonymity. Unfortunately for detractors, very few people seem to be perturbed. “I don’t publish those questions anymore,” says Vega. “We all have that option anyway.”
“I choose which questions to answer,” says junior Cass Manalastas. “If they’re just about putting people down, I’d rather not answer them [than] give them the satisfaction that they got me mad.”
Offensive questions are not the real challenge that the anonymous present, since users refuse to answer them anyway. While they might be just from friends having a laugh at your expense, consider the power that question had over you, and consider the possibility that it may well be a real stranger asking you this. You’re never going to know until someone claims responsibility for it. You think you control Formspring by regulating the information you put out there, but actually the power lies with the collective anonymous whom you perceive to be real. The debate whether you actually have enemies or trolls or clowns for friends is moot. In the realm of the anonymous, perception overrules reality – you’ll never know.
