Upon watching the film, We Are Legion, there was one story in particular that stuck out in my mind. The first major hack that was explained in the movie was the story of Hal Turner v. Anonymous. I felt that I could relate to the reasons behind attacking the self-proclaimed neo-nazi radio-show host and blogger. He had done something wrong to the friends and members of Anonymous, and the online hacktivists decided that they would no longer stand by and watch their friends be bullied. Behind a computer screen the victims could remain safely in their homes, and not have to deal with the mental or physical strain of fighting. People from all over the world bombarded his website, forcing Turner to pay for hours of unnecessary bandwidth usage. As much as I appreciate Anonymous sticking it to the man and showing the higher-ups that we are capable of finding the loopholes in our society and economy, a part of me feels that the attacks are too intense. There are other ways to undermine the social norms without ruining people’s lives, whether we agree with their beliefs or not.

Anonymous did not start out with the intention to ruin the careers of popular and biased people. It was a movement that started through new new media. According to Levinson, new new media is described as a medium in which anyone can contribute and express themselves. 4chan.com incorporates different forums for bloggers to discuss whatever they want. The Anonymous/hacktivist movement started through 4chan, where people worldwide organized themselves to make a statement. They played pranks in the virtual world for the “lulz”, or for a laugh. The motive evolved from a fun and mischievous one, into the thought of actually being able to make a difference in the world. It is obvious that there are many people in this country that are unhappy with the government and economy. It can be seen daily by watching FOX news, or The Daily Show (although contrasting shows, they both scream unsatisfaction). It seems as though many of the people that participated in Anonymous attacks were trying to make a statement, and they succeeded.

It is interesting to see how new new media has influenced our culture and world. As Sherry Turkle discusses in her TED talk, entitled “Connected, but alone?”, we are constantly craving human connection. New new media sites such as 4chan.com allow us to connect with other people without having our full attention on them. Now that we are used to social media and communicating through a screen primarily, speaking face to face with a new person scares us a bit. At least with the new generation, they are growing up in a time where electronics rule their lives. Young children today cannot even imagine a world without a computer, Xbox, and smartphone. As danah boyd discusses in her NAIS conference presentation, for many people who participate in online blogging and role-playing games, the appeal is the customization and tweaking that you can do before you post your pictures or thoughts online for everyone to see and judge. It is a fresh start; a new chance to create yourself. However, the lack of a physical human connection is an issue. It scares me to think that I may only speak to other humans through the computer, but for some people this is normal. Using new new media, the members of 4chan.com were able to start a worldwide phenomenon based on their own need for human connection. What may have been a heated conversation in a forum has grown into an enormous activist movement.