Project Concept

My concept deals with identity on the internet and how anonymity (lack of identity) on the internet can lead to internet trolls.

Why do internet trolls troll? It’s because they can get away with it. They can be anonymous, and the internet is prefect for masking one's true identity.
Sure, there are things like social networking sites, personalized pages and avatars to help you establish an online identity, but unlike reality, having an identity is not compulsory. You can just remain anonymous and not create online identity at all,

You are not stuck with a single identity either. You can establish many different identities online, and switch personas whenever you feel like it. You can establish an identity how you see fit. But when one has multiple personas, can they truly be called identities?
An identity is “the state or fact of remaining the same one”. But since you have more than one identity, how does one identify who you truly are? They can’t. Really, having multiple identities equals having no identity.

The ease of manipulating identities’ online and anonymous nature of the internet are things a troll can take advantage of. The point of this website is to show people that, and perhaps evoke a reaction to internet trolls.



The basic concept of the site is this:

The site is like an abstract representation of the internet. The user can navigate through the site by clicking on various objects on the screen. As the user goes through the site, he/she will see abstract icons (or avatars) floating around. These are abstract representations of other people browsing the “web”. The user will be able to interact with the avatars by clicking on them.

However, as the user moves around the site, there is a chance where they might get "attacked" by an internet troll (image of a troll would pop up in your face along with some obnoxious sounds). The trolls take on the appearance of an normal avatar and hide amongst the sea of anonymous avatars, so users will not know who is a troll and who isn't, making the point that how internet identity can successfully mask one's true identity.

It might not seem like a big deal the first time it happens. But as the user progresses though the site, more and more trolls will pop up to the point where it is too obnoxious to continue browsing the site.

Most of this will be done in Flash using Actionscript.

Mockup;

This is how a typical page of the site would look like. As stated before, it will be very abstract. The object on the left is an abstract representation of a game world while the object on the right is a representation of a forum. Basically, place on the internet where you can find trolls. These can be clicked on and will lead to other pages of the site.

The top bar displays your avatar that you have chosen as you enter the website. It is meant to make the user feel that it is the avatar exploring the site, and remind them that it is your online identity that other people see, and not your real identity.

A possible interaction with avatars; you can try to discover someone's identity by rolling over and clicking on them:

http://www.swfme.com/view/1115512

A mockup done in Flash to showing the floating avatars would look like. Note that the movement of the avatars will be much more meaningful (floating around points of interest) rather than just randomly scrolling across the screen as shown here:

http://www.swfme.com/view/1288122

Other sketches;

As the user goes deeper into the site, more avatars will be present, and so will the amount of trolls.
Also, just like the internet, the site isn't really structured. The user can go anywhere he/she wants.

Note that on the first, page is where the user will be able to select his/her avatar.