Anonymous is "hive mind of individuals". It does not have command structure, has no organization and has no membership. If you can be identified, you are not part of Anonymous. Anonymous works of mob mentality. Once sufficient drive for soemthign is reached, Anonymous as a movement will move to take action. This could be anything from hunting down pedophile
to taking down websites as a counter-attack or defiling facebook pages. Really, 90% of anon stuff is For Lulz. Rest 10% is hacktivism. Project Chanalogy is long time operation to take down Church Of Scientology (Please don't sue me).
Anon does not have "official" websites, however certain websites are closely connected to them, mainly 4Chan /b/ (the home of /b/astards, Habbo Raids were conducted by these guys), Something Awful and number of other Image Boards. There are also some IRC channels, but I am not familiar with those.
Guy Fawkes mask is not official symbol of anons, but is largely adopted thanks to popularity of V For Vendetta. It also serves as a good way to hide ones identity in real life events and makes group look more homogenius. If one were to have "real" anon suit, dress up in a black suit, a white shirt and a tie and make your body invisible.
edited 22nd Oct '11 12:29:14 PM by Mandemo
Is that cake frosting?
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No, really. Anonymous is nothing — it's a moniker under which a lot of different people, with wildly different agendas, do all kinds of different things.
It's not even a movement, I think, although of course there have been movements consisting of anonymous people,
The only time I had a look at /r/, I got the impression that it was mostly filled with bored, foulmouthed kids who tried much too hard to be "shocking". It was far too self-aware to be the hive of scum and villainy that it allegedly was.
edited 22nd Oct '11 12:49:26 PM by Carciofus
But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
Better way to say that Anonymous is a concept, a brand that you attach to something. Sure, it, as a concept, has no midn fo it's but what those who act under it do. Really, it's hard to give final, ultimate description of Anonymous. It's everything and nothing at the same time.
edited 22nd Oct '11 2:18:31 PM by Mandemo
A Grey Sun Veiled By Dark Clouds on a Cold Wind
Westboro Baptist Church thinks Anonymous is a monument to all their sins.
Someone should make a video game
Borne By Storms
I changed accounts.
Holy bullshit, it's Evil Versus Evil in the real world!
Eh, Anonymous has managed to be a lighter shade of dickwad, so...
edited 29th Oct '11 2:24:07 PM by USAF713
I am now known as Flyboy.
I think Anonymous really is a wonderful case study of the phenomenon that we call meme. I would almost claim that one couldn't hope for a better example of it, but there probably is one.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.