I honestly believe most of them are a bunch of really smart hackers who get off on knowing that they have the skills they do. I don't think they are part of the Chinese government or a terrorist group or anything. I had a buddy that was a huge computer hacker nerd like that and I was absolutely blown away by how much stuff he was able to do when we were younger. I don't think he is as good as those anonymous people though. I know a bit about computers but not that much I know the proper firewall/virus scanner combos and whatnot and that fool would still routinely remotely take control of my computer and talk to me via microsoft word. It used to freak me out.
No pity for the majority.. I think of Anonymous as a collection of undercover government agents, genuine hacker activists, and scared youths who want to appear fearsome.
Anonymous is anarchy. They are a collection of people with no government or hierarchy. Some may claim to speak and act on behalf of anonymous but I do not believe them to be legion.
Billy Bob Jean, Hank Boggin, Mary Sue Johnson, Bertha Smith, Jacqita Rose Salizar, Condaleeza Aliyah, Tyrone Deshawn, Jose Carlos, Mei Luv Ulongdong. Not so anonymous anymore are you (*)(*)(*)(*)ers. HAHAHAHAHHAHA!
A bunch of narcissistic vandals and egotists who try to paint themselves a veneer of 'social activism' as a PR ploy to 'legitimize' what is essentially just a self-centered ego trip. Probably many of them believe their own BS, no doubt, and maybe one day some will grow up and become real activists, but currently it's obvious they're more influenced by superficial PCness than real activism. While some of the more gullible and clueless think people like Snowden are 'heroes', many others know that he isn't, and got people killed unnecessarily in real life, and tipped off some very very bad people who will go on to kill thousands, if not hundreds of thousands and millions.
It's not a defined group of persons, but a cultural phenomenon. Everybody can be part of "Anonymous" for a while, just to share an attack or an other odd activity on the net. It's like to be hippie. You can be hippie for a while and then go back to your normal life. At the end the cultural phenomenon of Anonymous has got the same social impact of the hippie movement, but it's more lonely [I would say misanthropic]. So, in my opinion: Anonymous is the hippie movement of the net.
Were they the ones who hacked all of those celebrities nude pictures and linked them all over the internet a few weeks ago? Or was that somebody else?
Perhaps just destructive young people, who are bored and need to tear up a steel ball with a feather. Do they really have anything to offer humanity, that is positive? I am asking, for I don't know. I just equate them with those childish masks they wear.