CFP: Rochester Institute of Technology Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Keynote speaker: Karen Frost-Arnold (Philosophy, Hobart & William Smith Colleges)

Title: Trust, Accountability, and Online Anonymity

Abstract: Wikipedia vandalism, Twitter pranks, and hoax blogs are now familiar features of our online lives. A common response to these perceived abuses maintains that mechanisms of accountability are necessary to ensure the epistemic value of internet communities. Some advocate for removing anonymity from online communication. Others demand more investigations into the real-world identities behind online personas. I discuss some of the commonly overlooked pitfalls of
such online accountability and show that accountability mechanisms can damage communities’ ability to both disseminate true beliefs and weed out errors.

Sponsored by the Undergraduate Philosophy Club of RIT, Department of Philosophy,
Ezra A. Hale Chair in Applied Ethics, and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts