Online disinhibition effect

Online disinhibition is the lack of restraint one feels when communicating online in comparison to communicating in-person. Anonymity, asynchronous communication, and empathy deficit contribute to online disinhibition.
Anonymity can make a person feel safe online, like a different person, one might even take on a new persona. It can also make one feel like doing or saying anything is possible because one will most likely not be reprimanded in real life. Asynchronous communication is communication that is not happening live and it can take time for the original message to receive a response. Asynchronous communication affects online disinhibition because one can send a message out into the internet and not get an immediate reply, and log out. Therefore, one doesn't have to think about what is said. On the other hand, this also gives one time to give a more thoughtful response. Empathy deficit is the reduction of being able to identify with others' emotions. There is an empathy deficit because of lack of non-verbal feedback. Through mediated communication it is hard to know what tone and facial expressions accompany the message. So, it makes it harder to empathize with others. Both anonymity and empathy deficit make it harder to perceive others online as people with feelings because of the lack of facial interaction.

Cyberbullying is the act of trying to make another person feel embarrassed, intimidated, or bad about themselves through the internet. Online disinhibition plays a role in the act of cyberbullying. Anonymity usually leads to meaner comments towards others (cyberbullying) but it alone doesn't cause cyberbullying. Asynchronous communication allows the bully to say what they have to say and then log out like nothing happened, having to face no consequence outside of the internet. Empathy deficit is what allows the bully to post the messages in the first place, the victim is reduced to a name on a computer screen.

Racists, sexists, violent, and rude online comments aren't the direct result of anonymity. Those comments arise only when other people are also saying things like that; online users tend to keep the same tone, civility/incivility as others in online posts.

The online disinhibition effect can have an effect on one's job security and future employment opportunities. Sixteen-year-old Kimberley Swann was fired from her job due to negative comments she made about her occupation on her Facebook page, while another infamous case involved a woman, Heather Armstrong, being terminated after "lampooning" her colleagues on the Internet. These are consequences of certain Internet users believing themselves to be unchained from typical social strictures. The author of Six Causes of Online Disinhibition states that "[c]ompared with face-to-face interactions, online we feel freer to do and say what we want and, as a result, often do and say things we shouldn't".

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Wikipedia