NGL (Not Gonna Lie) is the latest in a long line of anonymous messaging apps. This app allows users to receive anonymous messages via a link in their bio or Instagram Story. Anonymity offers several opportunities to say things you would never say under your own name or thoughts you would not want to express in public. You can also use it to tell someone you like them or not.
Given the events of the last few years, it is not surprising that there were so many "anonymous" emotions just waiting to explode.
What could go wrong?
We are in the best phase for NGL. The attention encourages more people to download the app and experiment. Experimenting with new apps is okay and can even be fun. It can create a space to express your truth. But it can also be disturbing and offensive.
NGL activates our inherent vulnerability to the opinions of others. We all seek social approval and connections with others. It is essential for our mental and physical health. But anonymity precludes real connection. The only power anonymous messages have is what you give them. Anonymous can make you feel good about yourself if you take it to heart. However, if you give them authority – they can make you feel really bad too!
If you allow the words of strangers to affect how you feel about yourself, what happens when those words are mean, critical, or hateful?
Humans have an innate negativity bias—a tendency to pay more attention to negative feedback than to positive feedback.
Neuroscience evidence shows that negative stimuli create more brain activity as early as one year of age (Hibbing et al, 2014). Thus, behaviors and attitudes tend to be influenced more by the bad than the good, be it news, experiences, or the way you see people. The young brain is particularly vulnerable to social approval, and negative feedback can lower the self-esteem of adolescents and young adults.
Anonymous insults are, unfortunately, the most common form of attack on social media with documented negative consequences.
Beyond the potential for psychological harm, these types of apps promote, albeit unintentionally, a norm of irresponsible behavior.
Burimi: Psychology Today
