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Comment by aes256 | Hacker News Reader

The value of Internet (pseudo-)anonymity is not limited to the big, headline-grabbing incidents.

It underlies almost all the original content posted on the Internet. Simply put, if you had to attach your real life identity to everything you posted online, original content would dry up overnight.

People would no longer express their sincere opinions, they would no longer debate controversial issues. They would no longer seek help and advice for medical conditions, seek emotional support for their troubles, so on and so forth.

I wouldn't be posting in this thread right now.

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Simply put, if you had to attach your real life identity to everything you posted online, original content would dry up overnight.

Would it? People created original content long before they could post it online with an expectation of anonymity. There are a lot of people who use their real life identities online. Just as I am, right now.

I don't think it would dry up completely, but the flood of original content would turn into a slow trickle.

Once your real life identity is attached to anything you post, so many topics go off limits. You can no longer talk about your job, your education, your friends, your health, religion, politics, etc.

You can no longer talk about people behind their backs, or embellish stories for entertainment value.

You can no longer post a funny cat picture, or share a cool video, for fear of how it might change people's perception of you as a person.

The list of topics that end up off limits goes on and on.

You can no longer talk about your job, your education, your friends, your health, religion, politics, etc

You can still talk about all of those things (I do, all the time) but what you can't do is talk about those things without consequences.

I'm starting to think that the "never use your real name online" wisdom from 20 years ago has done our culture a huge disservice. The message I'm teaching my kids is "only post things online that you would be comfortable seeing on the front page of the newspaper"

Then I had to explain what a newspaper was.

What I mean by not being able to talk about them is that you can't express your honest opinions.

Most people probably think their boss is a jerk, that their colleagues are incompetent, that their company rips off their clients, so on and so forth. You can't say any of that with your name, and by extension that of your employer, attached to it.

The same applies to education. Teachers can no longer discuss teaching methods or lesson plans online, lest their pupils find out their teacher doesn't have a clue what they're teaching. Pupils can no longer criticise their schools online, or seek help with bullying.

The list of topics that people are willing to talk about pseudo-anonymously but not with their real name attached to their comments is endless.

> The message I'm teaching my kids is "only post things online that you would be comfortable seeing on the front page of the newspaper"

That's precisely the attitude I subscribe to, and it's why I don't have much sympathy for the teenagers who take photos of themselves scantily clad, put them on Facebook, only to have them end up on places like /r/jailbait.

What is it about this comment that you worry is so "controversial" or "dangerous" that you wouldn't consider posting it under your real name? (I'm not saying you should, I'm just curious.)

I was referring to posting in this thread generally, not that specific comment. Elsewhere in this thread I can be found defending /r/creepshots and questioning the harm caused by the subreddit.

I wouldn't want these opinions attached to my real life identity, not because I don't stand by them, but because people are fucking crazy.

I know there are people out there who would harass me relentlessly simply for saying /r/creepshots was harmless, no matter how much truth there is in the statement.

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