Formspring.me

Have you ever been told to ‘ask me anything?’
   That question has been popping up everywhere lately, from Twitter posts to Facebook status updates to the slightly old-fashioned instant messenger status bar.  And it’s not an empty offer.
   The Web site responsible is called Formspring.me, also known as Formspring, and it’s well on its way to becoming the latest internet craze.
   Formspring is essentially an anonymous comment box.  A Formspring user will send a link to his or her account to friends and family, often with the caption ‘Ask me anything,’ and will answer anonymous questions submitted to them.
   “I’m new to Formspring, so I still get a little excited when someone asks a question,” Granite Bay High School senior David Odineal said.
   The more a Formspring user distributes the link to their account, the more questions they typically receive.  As Formspring and Facebook accounts can be easily connected, Formspring links are a common sight on Facebook walls.
   “I was curious to see what people wanted to know about me,” GBHS Loren Cherry senior, said. “A lot of the questions are things that would make more sense just to ask in person, but it’s cool to get to answer stuff without knowing who it is asking. I think it keeps me more honest, even if it does sometimes limit my answers.”�
   The questions a Formspring user receives run the gamut from pleasant and general to strange and obscure.  Most are benign and silly, but odd enough to warrant anonymity.
    Cherry has been asked if she has broken any bones, if she plays video games, and what her best physical feature is.  But she said that the strangest thing she had ever been asked was what her “worst” personality trait was.
   “I don’t know what kind of answer people expect from that, but it just threw me off,” she said.�
   Some Formspring questions, however, can cross a line.  There have been several instances of the Web site being used as an outlet for anonymous cyber-bullying.�
   This can be extreme, as in the case of Alexis Pilkington, a Long Island teen who was driven to suicide by vicious Formspring taunts.  The slander continued even after her death, present on memorial web pages.
   “We’re in a time where bullying, cyber-bullying, texting, all that stuff is doing tremendous harm to the individual who’s receiving it, but there’s such a disconnect,” GBHS psychology teacher Natalie Elkin said.
   “If I say something negative to you, and I hurt your feelings, I get to see the reaction on your face. In seeing that reaction, I know immediately how you feel, and I’m going to feel badly,” she said.
   “But because of … the internet, where you’ve got so much anonymity and such a disconnect, I send (cruel messages) to you, … but I don’t see the consequences.”
   There are also more subtle forms of bullying common throughout the Web site, such as sexually explicit or otherwise obscene questions. One example of this was a much-publicized fight at a high school, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, reportedly started on Formspring,
   But some users, like GBHS sophomore Anne Liu, haven’t yet faced that problem.
  “I presume that some of the questions might be overly personal or offensive to other people, had they been asked the question. I have only received a couple of personal questions,” Liu said. “But I don’t take offense to anything, because it’s just my friends being teenagers and doing it for fun.”
  To help filter out unwanted comments, Formspring now allows its users to ban anonymous comments, if they so choose.
   But the online anonymity of Formspring is also a part of its unique appeal, particularly to teens.
   “Teenagers, in particular, always wonder what others think of them,” Odineal said.
   “(People) asking questions can be more honest because of the anonymity. That means that people who have Formspring accounts can hope to find out what people think of them,” he said.
    In that sense, Formspring can be a positive, novel experience – just as long as its users are aware of what kinds of questions they could get, and who asks them.
   “If you decide what your boundaries are, and you are very discerning in the company that you choose to keep, it’s saying I’m not just going to be friends with anyone. I’ve got my standards. I want someone who’s going to be nice to me,” Elkin said.  “(If I only) give my link to those people, I bet (Formspring) is pretty cool.”