The Telegraph posted an article earlier this morning stating that “Facebook has been accused of encouraging online bullying.” This is claimed to be a result of the Honesty Box application which enables users to post anonymous messages on each others’ walls. The application has been at the center controversy since its launch with thousands of people receiving hate messages but no way to find out who they received it from.
I asked Dan Peguine, creator of the Honesty Box application to comment on the complaints. He said, “When someone installs Honesty Box it’s their choice. They can choose to add or remove their application any time. It is against our terms of use to use Honesty Box for harassment. Additionally, we let users block people that bother them. We also keep away abusers and spammers by banning users that have been blocked by multiple users. Hence we argue that Honesty Box is safer than sketchy anonymous notes people get in their bags or on their lockers.”
The Telegraph article is clearly one-sided and also attempts to accuse Facebook, not Honesty Box of the problem. The article quotes Richard Rubin who argues on ComfortZone.com that users should be worried about the Honesty Box application. He claims that this app is the cause of cyber bullying. This is clearly different than traditional bullying in that as Dan Peguine points out, users can chose to block users that are blocking them.
What do you think? Is this a case of online bullying? Are these complaints grounded?
![[Inside Social Apps 2012]](http://www.allfacebook.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/allfacebook2/images/ISA2012_336x100_F_RegisterNow.gif)
![[AllFacebook Stats: Facebook Analytics for Your Business]](http://www.allfacebook.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/allfacebook2/images/stpro_allfacebookstats.gif)
![[How can Facebook change your business?]](http://www.allfacebook.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/allfacebook2/images/FMB_A_MAY2011_336x100_F.gif)
By putting the Honesty Box up, they asked for anonymous comments. That's what they got. There is no problem here. There is only so far that you can go to protect someone from themselves. I'm actually surprised to learn that Honesty Box has as many safeguards as it has.It also annoys me that we can't comment on the Telegraph article. All web articles should allow comments, because there's always another side of the story that journalists miss (or deliberately ignore so as to sensationalise a story). Instead hundreds or thousands of parents will read that article, and not knowing any better they will think that Facebook is condoning online bullying.
Comment by David — April 23, 2008 @ 6:42 am
Just as a point of fact, Honesty Box doesn't allow you to leave an anonymous note on someone's wall. It only allows private, anonymous notes to the user who has installed the application.Also, the allegations that Honesty Box somehow "causes" cyberbullying are utterly bogus. Cyberbullying was a problem before Honesty Box came along and it will be a problem until people can get children to stop being cruel to one another, no small feat. Technology doesn't bully people, people bully people.
Comment by Teresa Valdez Klein — April 23, 2008 @ 7:24 am
@Teresa – I always say exactly that: Honesty Box is a tool, but it's people's friends that use it. Blame your friends for being bullies, not the tool.
Comment by Dan Peguine — April 23, 2008 @ 7:33 am
By putting the Honesty Box up, they asked for anonymous comments. That's what they got. There is no problem here. There is only so far that you can go to protect someone from themselves. I'm actually surprised to learn that Honesty Box has as many safeguards as it has.
It also annoys me that we can't comment on the Telegraph article. All web articles should allow comments, because there's always another side of the story that journalists miss (or deliberately ignore so as to sensationalise a story). Instead hundreds or thousands of parents will read that article, and not knowing any better they will think that Facebook is condoning online bullying.
Comment by David — April 23, 2008 @ 7:42 am
Just as a point of fact, Honesty Box doesn't allow you to leave an anonymous note on someone's wall. It only allows private, anonymous notes to the user who has installed the application.
Also, the allegations that Honesty Box somehow "causes" cyberbullying are utterly bogus. Cyberbullying was a problem before Honesty Box came along and it will be a problem until people can get children to stop being cruel to one another, no small feat.
Technology doesn't bully people, people bully people.
Comment by Teresa Valdez Klein — April 23, 2008 @ 8:24 am
@Teresa – I always say exactly that: Honesty Box is a tool, but it’s people’s friends that use it. Blame your friends for being bullies, not the tool.
Comment by Dan Peguine — April 23, 2008 @ 11:33 am
I don't like this concept, I don't like cyberbullies, and I certainly don't like the fact Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook will not own up and accept responsibility.Maybe you feel the same way too. I am leading a campaign asking Mark Zuckerberg to remove Honesty Box from his Facebook site.Please help me by posting your comments on ReallyWorried I'll make sure your voice is heard at Facebook HQ.
Comment by Richard Rubin — April 25, 2008 @ 11:51 pm
I don't like this concept, I don't like cyberbullies, and I certainly don't like the fact Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook will not own up and accept responsibility.
Maybe you feel the same way too.
I am leading a campaign asking Mark Zuckerberg to remove Honesty Box from his Facebook site.
Please help me by posting your comments on ReallyWorried
I'll make sure your voice is heard at Facebook HQ.
Comment by Richard Rubin — April 26, 2008 @ 12:51 am
If you were to simply remove the application, there would be no problem.
Comment by Joe — April 26, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
If you were to simply remove the application, there would be no problem.
Comment by Joe — April 26, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
i have Honesty Box and i enjoy it! i can ask questions about myself and my friends can tell me stuff about me i never would have known! also you can find out who wrote the comment by making them an offer using HB points. and when someone leaves a comment you know if it's a girl or a guy by the color (pink, or blue). You can also reply to comments. i like this cuz you can talk to the person who said it and maybe even find out who they might be! also with your HB points you can rent avatars. that is fun and i like to get one that is sooo not me (like a spider web) so when i right on peoples Honesty Boxes they won't know it's me!
All in all i think Honesty Box is not a bad app and getting it is your choice!
Comment by Abby Ellis — March 27, 2009 @ 10:34 am
First off, HB does NOT post to others walls. It is it's own application, that no one but the user can see.
Second, HB can't be blamed for bullying. These people feel these things, regardless of if there is a way to say them secretively or not. These people are going to say it one way or another, this is just a way to say it with out them knowing. Which has advantages, perhaps it's a good friend, and you don't want to be mean enough to tell them they need to shower.
It's not bullying. And if anyone feels bullied, they can always block people.
Comment by Brittney — May 12, 2009 @ 8:29 am
I don't know about you, but I very often get extremely sweet and nice comments on Honesty box that make my day. Maybe you should be a better person, and if you are a good person and someone's harrassing you, take it gracefully, block them or uninstall the app. It's not like Honesty box is all evil, or its the app's fault. People are mean to people. They could send anonymous messages tonnns of other ways then facebook, the only difference is on facebook ur asking for them.
Comment by me — July 10, 2009 @ 6:55 am
I deleted HB due to hate messages, non-stop, but when I decided to add it back a month or so later, I disovered 20+ messages(all nasty) people had sent to me AFTER I deleted the application?? Some messages were taunting me because I wasn’t replying, when I DELETED it. Shouldn’t people be unable to send me anything one the application is deleted?
Comment by katie — July 24, 2009 @ 10:25 pm
yes. i have gotten harrased on face book lots of times by this. it does start bullying and it makes you feel bad about ur self.
Comment by Anoumos — October 9, 2009 @ 4:21 am
I agree, blaming honesty box is like blaming the piece of paper that a mean note is written on.
Comment by Jason — October 14, 2009 @ 7:19 pm
I agree that a person willingly installs the application, and that they should know what’s coming to them. However, Honesty Box is giving people power over others by giving them anonymity. While it was a great way for me to communicate with friends, and maybe brighten up someone’s day with a surprise compliment (and maybe even secretly flirt with a crush!), I found I was getting more negative comments than positive ones. There were no forbidden words that would be censored out, for example. I know there’s a certain ‘freedom of speech’ aspect, but I think people can express their opinions without using cusswords.
I think it’s a great idea, but it’s just giving people more power than they know what to do with, because it’s so easy for them. They have a bad day, they go on their computer, they see someone they don’t know all that well, and they take out their rage on this stranger by pouring all their insecurities out. I think Honesty Box would be better if you could pick who could write in your Honesty Box, like if it were to collaborate with Top Friends or something of the sort, and all other messages sent from people not selected had to be pre-screened for flagged words, or at least to give people the option of having their messages screened. There’s a difference between honesty and bullying, and quite frankly, the world today would only use Honesty Box for the latter.
Comment by Rosie — February 20, 2010 @ 11:58 pm