What's so great about anonymity?
Today when I was doing some posting over at SitePoint, one of my roommates asked me what I was doing, and I explained briefly to him the concepts of a forum (like I have several times before), and he asked me what nickname I used. I responded that I went by the name “Lars-Christian” (which also happens to be my name), and then he asked me why I used my name, and not some cool alias instead. My instant reply to this was that I wanted recognition for what I do online.
This got me to think about all of the people out there on the web that are so keen on taking full use of the possibility of anonymity that the internet offers. What’s so great about being anonymous? I can understand it in some cases, like that of kids communicating with unknown people, and those who are dealing with “delicate” and possibly embarassing things, sure. But for bloggers, website creators and participants in “normal” communities, I just don’t see what’s so great about being anonymous.
Sure we live in a day of age where the possibility of a potential employer might Google you in order to find information about you, but why should that scare you? Are you afraid that the things you do, and the opinions you express won’t match those of a future boss? When I sign up for a community, I as good as always sign up with the name Lars-Christian. I do it because that’s my name, and I don’t have any intentions of doing something that might bring shame to my name, and because I’m nothing but ready to defend my actions and opinions should I ever be confronted with something linked to my name in the future. Because guess what, that’s how it works in the real world, so why not be ready to face the consequences of your actions online as well?
It’s not like the chances of me being confronted with something I’ve done online are worth mentioning anyways, but I feel that applying the etiquettes that are expected in the real world, to the internet, is a good starting point for gaining respect online as well. I have to admit I have not even once read through the rules of a forum that I’ve joined and participated in (and there’s quite a few), but I have never once been banned from a community. Of course I’m not trying to discourage people from reading rules, because each community tend to have their own special rules, but I’m just trying to get across a point: With some common sense, decency and a dash of politeness you’ll come a long way, even on the internet.
Somewhere up there, I kinda lost the whole point of this post, but my initial thought was that people who hide behind ultra1337 aliases and are afraid to reveal their true idenities are either up to no good, or just extremely paranoid and afraid that if they reveal their true idenitity someone will show up at their house with baseball bats. Of course I’m not saying that people should all register with their actual names, use cool aliases if you feel like it, there’s nothing wrong with that. My point is simply that there are no good reasons not to represent yourself online, just because it is possible.