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Although anonymity has long been a source of safety, especially in political and human rights situations, it has been cited largely as a source of danger where teens and social media are concerned.

Ask.fm, a social media that allows anonymous posting, figured prominently in early coverage of UK teen Hannah Smith鈥檚 suicide, and US teen Hannah Anderson was using the site to answer questions about her ordeal just two days after being rescued, the聽海角大神 Science Monitor reported.

, author of a study about cyberbullying and suicide wrote that allowing anonymity 鈥渕ay encourage cyberbullying. It is difficult to prove a cause and effect relationship, but I believe there is little justification for anonymity.鈥�

So we need to know more about the anonymity factor, but here are some things we do know already:

• About 10 percent of teens engage in anonymous self-harassment. That鈥檚 a finding in a 2011-12聽聽at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Research Center. It鈥檚 an average, because she found a higher proportion of boys (13 percent) than girls (8 percent) engaging in it. 鈥淎bout half of these 鈥渄igital self-harmers鈥� had done this only once or very infrequently; the other half reported that they had cyberbullied themselves more regularly or had one, ongoing episode which lasted at least several months.鈥�
• Anonymous cruelty offline too.聽Technology is 鈥渘ot uniquely capable of enabling anonymous bullying; school environments can do so as well,鈥澛犅爄n its review of the bullying research this year. 鈥淚n a national survey of over 1,000 12-17-year-olds, 12% who reported being bullied at school said they did not 鈥榢now鈥� their bully, as did 22% of those who report being bullied on the way to and from school.鈥�
• Anonymity not that prevalent in cyberbullying. The Berkman lit review also referred to a survey of more than 1,400 12- to 17-year-olds showing that 鈥�73% of participants who were victims of cyberbullying knew the identity of their bully.鈥� The context of what happens between people online is not really a Web site or app; it is everyday life 鈥� for young people, what鈥檚 going on socially at school.
• Anonymity decreases as kids age up.听聽found that, in 3rd grade, 72 percent of cyberbullying victims said they didn鈥檛 know who the bully was, but the percentage went down to 64 percent by 5th grade, a trend that 鈥渃ontinues through high school.鈥�

Young people aren鈥檛 using anonymity only for harm. They do their social and identity development work in social media as well as in offline life now,聽and they find safety in anonymity when they do (just as we did as teens, using other media and spaces).

It鈥檚 good for adults to know that so they can help their children and students see that, by聽, they could be inviting cruelty as well as the constructive feedback they鈥檙e probably seeking.

鈥淲hen teens are specifically taught that there are certain aspects of life that are better dealt with face to face 鈥� whether it鈥檚 asking someone out on a date or seeking help 鈥� after a traumatic experience 鈥� they are receptive to it,鈥� the聽海角大神 Science Monitor聽cites Elizabeth Englander as saying.

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