“The Empire Strikes Back.” “The Dark Knight.” “The Godfather Part II.”These three movies are fantastic sequels, and are arguably even better than their originals.I’m not sure if columns can have sequels, but if they can, this will be one of them.I wrote a column six weeks ago touching on Internet anonymity and how Web-based trolls can ruin a pleasant surfing experience.I’d like to extend those thoughts today with a new Web site I recently stumbled upon called formspring.me.Formspring.me is a very simple site that allows users to sign up and “ask questions, give answers and learn more about your friends.”Users can set privacy settings on who is allowed to post: anonymous viewers, only users with an account (although there is a choice to ask anonymously or provide your user info) or only users with their screenname present.Sounds fun and harmless, right?Of course. But this is the Internet we’re talking about here — nothing is harmless.I had never signed up for the Web site until I decided to write this column (primarily because I thought if anyone had something to ask me, they should just ask it to my face), but I had a few friends who would link it on Facebook.And being the curious cat that I am, I decided to check it out.I should point out, the few people’s pages I originally looked at were all girls, which I think changes the dynamic of the Web site.The questions were pretty tame at first. Some questions about hobbies and interests, some joking questions and so on.But some of the questions started getting more risqué and personal after a while: Questions about virginity, how they are in the bedroom and how many people they’ve slept with are a few examples.Mind you, users have the ability to delete or block any questions they choose not to answer, but it just amazes me how bold people can get with their identity protected behind a keyboard.Going back to my “Internet trolls” column, these are the kinds of people who can really break someone’s self-esteem. One person’s page I went to had people absolutely bashing the poor girl, saying things (I would hope) they would never say to this particular person’s face.If you’re good enough friends with someone to ask these types of questions, then by all means do it. But you really have no right to ask it via some “honesty box” Web site if you’re not.Just because the site allows the user to choose which questions to display or not doesn’t mean they still won’t see them. Don’t be a coward behind your computer, if you have a problem with someone, have the “Lesticles” to say it to their face.By no means am I saying this Web site is bad — not at all. Just like life, there are certain people who can ruin fun things for everyone. I signed up for the site to see what it was all about and unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I didn’t get any creepy, pervy questions to report in this column. Maybe because no one cares or maybe because I’m not a girl with creepy 15-year-old stalkers.Also always remember whatever you post on the Internet will never go away if you do use the site. Just be smart with what you allow other people to know about yourself because you never know who is actually watching.But enough lecturing for one day. Today is the last day before Spring Break, so I’m sure people will have plenty of fun questions to answer when returning from their wild week.I can’t wait.
Adam Arinder is a 20-year-old communication studies junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder. 
 
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Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]