"Anonymous" was formed in 2003 on the 4chan imageboard to represent the idea of a "global brain" or "hivemind" of people working together online and offline. "V for Vendetta"-style Guy Fawkes masks are used by us anonymous members (also known as anons) to distinguish us from other members in public. As a result, certain members of the collective may choose to cover their faces rather than wear the well-known mask as a disguise in specific situations. Some anonymous users also use voice changers and text-to-speech programs to communicate. The Guy Fawkes mask has since become popular method of hiding faces during anti-establishment protests around the world.
While some of those who support their cause call Anonymous "digital Robin Hoods" and "freedom fighters", others who oppose them have referred to us as "a cyber lynch-mob" or "cyber terrorists", when we are in actuality merely a vast and intricate network of like-minded activists, some with hacking skills, who work with common ideas and goals; We are in a decentralized multinational activist and hacktivist affinity anti-establishment 'group' and movement Stigmergy, acting independently but in co-ordination upon our desire, as an "an internet gathering" with "a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives", against the injustice of any kind, with a goal in mind to ensure that "Payback is a Bitch!".
Anonymous is the Swiss Army knife of protest, adaptable to any occasion. The movement's impact has often been superficial and mixed at best, and we need to try and make our operations more effective. One major thing that will assist our movement is co-operation (but not un-warranted submission or 'obedience'). We need to sustainably organize and not marginalize those who are helping us. Internet activism is at its most effective as an extension of real-world solidarity.
there are Anons who are attracted to the movement for moral reasons and those who are in it mainly for the laughs, or "lulz." They are known as moralfags and lulzfags, respectively. (Calling someone a "fag" in the context of Anonymous culture is essentially like calling them "dude").