Anonymity on the web

[mscriv]

the ruling principle would become
"anything you write in the internet can and will be taken out of context and used against you"

Isn't it that way already and not just with the internet.

 

[Tomorrow]

This is a very interesting subject. I'd argue that anonymity on the web is an illusion. There will always be that IP log around somewhere.

Yeah, but that log isn't available to everyone.

I used to be a lot more worried about anonymity than I am now. There are quite a few MR users who know my real name (I don't generally announce it anywhere, but then again I don't really hide it, either), all of my Facebook friends know it, and just about anyone who follows me on Twitter could figure it out (the clues are there).

I have made the point of not involving any professional contacts on any of these networks. I've always been a believer in keeping that line drawn (I use a "work" cell phone and a "personal" cell phone, etc.).

 

[Thetonyk123]

I would put my first name online. in my fact its in my name, thetony k ( k start of my last name ) 123 (first 3 numbers)

also I added the word "the".

 

[MacNut]

People hide behind user names and think because of that it is ok for them to spout their mouth off thinking nobody will care. By using your real name it will force people to think about what they post on the web and maybe not be able to troll just for the sake of getting a rise out of people. You don't just go around picking fights with people on the street so why do it online.

 

[(marc)]

This is a very interesting subject. I'd argue that anonymity on the web is an illusion. There will always be that IP log around somewhere.

Usually, the logs aren't available to everybody. Also, some sites / networks decide to not log IPs in the first place.

I hope I don't seem crazy to suggest some sort of unbreakable electronic token that is permanently tied to our identity with DNA.

Yes, you do seem crazy. I would not want to live in such a world.

 

[UlsterApple]

Usually, the logs aren't available to everybody. Also, some sites / networks decide to not log IPs in the first place.

I once read a very good quote along the lines that you should never awaken the authorities, as it is very difficult to get them to go back to sleep again.
Basically, most of our on-line life goes unnoticed. If however we DO attract attention, it is very difficult to get that attention to go elsewhere. The ISPs know who we are and where we live, they just have no reason to pay us any attention - until we make them. Then it all comes out!
Wayyyy back when Apple was younger - remember excite.com???? - I spoke to an admin in their chatrooms who told me to think of the Internet as a masked ball. You can do all sorts of things while behind the mask, but when it comes off at midnight...! A search of one of my old user names from the 1990s still turns up a lot of posts and comments on all sorts of sites that I wish were long gone...
Just treat your on-line behaviour as visible to all, then you'll keep on the straight and narrow.. if there is such a thing on-line.

 

[Yumunum]

I don't make the most respectable posts... I don't know how I'd feel about using my actual name. I really feel bad about the way I act (what feels like) most of the time.

Even if I acted better, I'm not sure how I'd feel about it. But even now, you might be able to find my name if you tried. Cuz here's the dangerous thing - the crossover between your different accounts on the web. If you use the same username twice, I now have all the information you posted on the second account. And from that second account, I might find the name of your third account with a different username. Now everything you've ever done on THAT account is available to me, and maybe I'll find your Facebook, where you live, pictures of you...

It works both ways, too. The people you know in real life can find everything you do online, just by glancing at one of your usernames, knowing a site you go on, or even easier, by just knowing your email address!

 

[Hellhammer]

I wouldn't have a problem. Quite a few people in here know my real name because of my job, and Twitter too. I troll enough in real life so no need to troll online

 

[Tsuchiya]

Well I'm up for YouTube+Facebook connectivity. If only to attempt to cull the amount of rubbish that gets posted there on a daily basis. It's hardly worth reading any of them.