Saturday, July 30, 2011

We are anonymous! Or not?

Following Google's decision to use real names for g+ I saw the real name and anonymity debate spark up. Real name people argued that you are a coward for not using your own name while anonymity folks gently ignored them and created Biggus Dickus the third on g+.

To me the anti-anonymity crowd are either naive or evil. Evil because ultimately they want us using our own names so that the secret police and telemarketers can get to us faster. Naive because they do not realize that we all live in a totalitarian regime. Sure the secret Mountie police wont knock on my door for posting "Cartman like" jokes on my facebook to my army buddies but the Nazi judgmental recruiter who looks at my web presence evaluating me for a job might not appreciate the humor of Biggus Dickus the third. (Not only that, now I called her a Nazi. This will be an interesting interview.)

You see it is not that we are paranoid it is that we cannot be sure that every potential client, employer, CIA agent out there can appreciate irony. But this is not about dick jokes, rest assured. It is also that my loud Pastafarianism may really agitate my ultra-religious relatives, my call to arms to protest the G8 doesn't go well with my firm's CEO, my militant Islamism may land me in some cell somewhere away from toilet paper and lawyers. Anonymity protects forum trolls and flamers as much as it protects unpopular ideas and fosters revolutions.

Instead of fighting privacy I expect Google to understand the need for my SpiderMan33 persona and my Stratouklos nickname and Stratos and Mr Xakoustos they are all me, in different contexts. SpiderMan33 may admit that he spent half the day reading comics, Stratouklos shares dick jokes, Stratos posted some nice photos and Mr Xakoustos was working on a project. They all happen, they are all different and I do not need my comic buddies/mates/strangers/boss to know of each other's existence. Oh and while you are at it, Google please make my avatar change depending on who I post to so I don't have to juggle four Google accounts. Thanks!

Sincerely,

DickMan41 aka Helen from accounting.

Till next time,
Stratos out.

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