The feature of anonymity is unquestionably one of the most charged, controversial aspects of the Internet today. Countless user-based websites allow for anonymous posts and comments, which eliminates accountability behind statements; moreover, blogs, such as this one, make possible unbridled self-expression due to the fact that they offer the choice to remain unidentified. Needless to say, the phenomenon of anonymity has been a catalyst for many discussions on identity and responsibility on the web; however, I propose that it also bears another possibility: the creation of a new kind of “play” space, in which the users are able to focus on the “means” of interacting with others, as opposed to an end result. Here, the word “play,” which generally has positive connotations, will refer to any kind of fantasy creation. This post will examine the various uses offered on the website Craigslist.org (to which I will refer as “Craigslist”) in conjunction with the writings of Marshall McLuhan, N. Katherine Hayles, and Julie Cohen; in turn, it will argue that this “new,” online translation of old media (in this case, classified ads in newspapers) facilitates transactions and numerous kinds of interactions between people, but also goes beyond this. This essay will assert that new media’s anonymity, as demonstrated by Craigslist, establishes different identities for users, and creates a new kind of fantasy space (which will be described in further detail) in our historically teleological world in which non goal-orientated activity is not only possible, but can flourish and become a cultural norm.
Craigslist, a free online classified website on which users can post or respond to advertisements (consisting of apartment rentals, car/furniture sales, job postings, and personal ads, to name a few), was created in 1995. Beginning as an email distribution list, its shift to a web-based service in 1996 expanded the website to many North American cities, which soon grew to offer service to 700 cities in 70 countries (Craigslist Factsheet). The fact that Craigslist is online greatly facilitates interaction between individuals, especially in comparison to its “old media” predecessor, the classified ads in newspapers--which are not free. Essentially, because anybody with an email address can create or respond to a post, it alters many conventions, including economic exchange (by simplifying buying/selling interactions), and also nuances human interaction and community building. An example of this is the website’s “community” section; by virtue of the fact that this information is available online, and therefore arguably reaches more people, it gives users broader access to news, events, and group posts. This validates some of Julie Cohen’s arguments in her essay, “Cyberspace as/and space;” one of the key points in her article is that the intangible aspects of cyberspace have tangible effects (lecture); just one example of this is the fact that some people do meet and interact in “real” life as a consequence of first connecting with each other on Craigslist. Thus, Cohen argues, cyberspace is “neither separate from real space nor a simple continuation of it” (Cohen 213). The kind of real space that Craigslist’s anonymity offers, however, is very unique and somewhat unfamiliar to our society.
The posts on Craigslist are largely anonymous, and this namelessness is especially relevant to the personal ads section, which consists of a myriad of sub-categories, including “strictly platonic,” “casual connections,” “rants and raves” (which often involve racial slurs and/or other conventionally offensive remarks, with which posters would most likely not want to be associated if they were published in a newspaper or other media) and “missed connections.” Many posters, especially in the personals section, write with very little inhibition, often graphically describing their sexual fantasies, and sometimes including photographs of themselves—which usually feature their body parts, in order to remain unidentified. Moreover, because Craigslist allows its users anonymity, it can endow its users with numerous different, often contradictory identities. A person has the option to create a limitless roster of new personas for his or herself, and can adopt or downplay any characteristics he or she wants. This is demonstrative of Marshall McLuhan’s technological determinist model, in which he posits that our technologies play a critical role in shaping our behavior and identities (lecture). While the users will sometimes request contact from readers, many often are writing simply to expose their desires, thoughts, and fantasies, with no apparent fixed end point. This is a provocative notion for our culture, since our society could be arguably understood as one of instant gratification, in which technologies are there for the sake of achieving end results. If we are to accept N. Katherine Hayles’ definition of teleology, which she cites as that which “moves toward a goal meaningful to the system pursuing that goal” (Hayles 56-57), and that this accurately describes our own society, then this particular shift from old to new media upsets our society’s universal teleological conventions in its creation of real (in Cohen’s terms) but distinctive, aimless play spaces for its users.
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| User expresses disbelief at her own use of Craigslist |
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| Uninhibited self-expression |
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| Desires and Fantasies |
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| Craigslist creates a space for the "seriously perverted." |
Another important aspect of Craigslist’s (or, broadly speaking, new media's) fantasy play space is the fact that its status as an online medium is an inextricable from the space itself. This thus harks back to another of Marshall McLuhan’s key arguments: that “the medium is the message” (lecture). Many of the “personals” posts will reference the users’ disbelief that they are actually posting on Craigslist (see photo #1 above), which reveals this to be a very stigmatized act. Indeed, in the 2005 documentary film 24 Hours on Craigslist, one couple interviewed vehemently denies meeting “through a personal ad,” (twenty seconds in, Craigslist documentary clip) and insists that Craigslist was involved in their relationship in only the most innocent of ways; they seem very eager to argue that they met at a ski trip (which was posted on Craigslist). In this kind of anonymous play space, regardless of whether or not the medium is stigmatized, it still very has much a presence in the users’ interaction.
It should be noted that it would be reductive to claim that this new space has either completely positive or completely negative implications for our culture; this could greatly benefit our society for predictable reasons (it offers us the opportunity to negotiate identities, to level social hierarchies, to interact with people one would otherwise not be able to meet, et cetera); at the same time, this could be a perverted space of play on a multitude of levels—for example, Philip Markov, nicknamed “The Craigslist Killer,” was charged with robbing several women—one whom he murdered—after contacting them through their Craigslist postings in 2009 (CNN). More recently, a married New York senator, Christopher Lee, resigned from his position after he responded to a woman’s personal ad on the website; claiming to be a divorced lobbyist, he opted to send her a shirtless picture of himself, (Christopher Lee: Craigslist Faux Pas), which subverted the anonymity convention. Essentially, it is extremely difficult to determine whether this anonymous play space is beneficial or harmful, and this all the more underscores the space’s complexity and the sheer amount of interactive possibilities Craigslist has to offer by virtue of it being online—those which it would not be able to offer if it were a tangible print medium.
It should be noted that it would be reductive to claim that this new space has either completely positive or completely negative implications for our culture; this could greatly benefit our society for predictable reasons (it offers us the opportunity to negotiate identities, to level social hierarchies, to interact with people one would otherwise not be able to meet, et cetera); at the same time, this could be a perverted space of play on a multitude of levels—for example, Philip Markov, nicknamed “The Craigslist Killer,” was charged with robbing several women—one whom he murdered—after contacting them through their Craigslist postings in 2009 (CNN). More recently, a married New York senator, Christopher Lee, resigned from his position after he responded to a woman’s personal ad on the website; claiming to be a divorced lobbyist, he opted to send her a shirtless picture of himself, (Christopher Lee: Craigslist Faux Pas), which subverted the anonymity convention. Essentially, it is extremely difficult to determine whether this anonymous play space is beneficial or harmful, and this all the more underscores the space’s complexity and the sheer amount of interactive possibilities Craigslist has to offer by virtue of it being online—those which it would not be able to offer if it were a tangible print medium.
In conclusion, the shift from old to new media in the form of anonymous user-based websites, in the case of Craigslist, reveals the capability to conceive of new spaces and realities—a potential that will remain relevant for generations to come.
Works Cited
Cohen, Julie E. (2007). “Cyberspace as/and Space,” Columbia Law Review [Vol. 107:210]
http://www.columbialawreview.org/articles/index.cfm?article_id=850
N. Katherine Hayles. (1999). “Liberal Subjectivity Imperiled: Norbert Wiener and Cybernetic Anxiety.” How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, 84- 112.
McLuhan, Marshall (1964). “Media as Translators.” Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man.
"Med student held without bail in possible Craigslist killing." CNN. 21 Apr 2009: <http://articles.cnn.com/2009-04-21/justice/mass.killing.craigslist_1_philip-markoff-craigslist-julissa-brisman?_s=PM:CRIME>.
Mitchell, Christine. "Space of Cyberspace." McGill University. Montreal, QC. 07 Mar 2011. Lecture.
Mitchell, Christine. "Extensions / Remediation Determined or Determining?" McGill University. Montreal, QC. 12 Jan 2011. Lecture.
