| This article does a great job of articulating the principles of identity which I’ve been teaching to my daughter ever since she’s been old enough to understand what a Twitter account is. Even though social media is banned in our household, I’ve laid out a few ground rules that must remain sacrosanct for the sake of basic safety. 1. Your “real” identity - the one to which your “real” phone number and Social Security number are linked - is for banking, buying a house, trading stocks, paying utility bills, e-commerce, car registration, life insurance, and so on. 2. Never do or say anything online that would reveal your “real” identity in any way. There’s a surprisingly broad spectrum of activities which might reveal your identity. Don’t take selfies next to your (or my) car. Don’t take selfies next to home. Better yet, don’t take selfies at all. Don’t geotag anything. Don’t “check into” places. Don’t mention your first name. Don’t be telling anyone about your real birthday. Build an impenetrable firewall between “the internet” and your “real identity”, and keep it in good repair. 3. All identities other than the “real” one are throwaway. Use a different e-mail address, phone number, and name for each website. Never use the same pseudonym more than once. 4. Don’t tell your real-life friends anything about your “other” identities. Don’t use social media under your “real” identity. This way, the two can never be linked. 5. Don’t be afraid to periodically “pull a _why” on your pseudonymous identities. The forest of “yous” will grow thick and lush, and will need a preventive burn every now and again in order to avoid an uncontrollable conflagration later. Delete what you can; abandon what you can’t. Move on and move up. 6. If you ever feel compelled to make an exception to the rule, come talk to me before you make the decision. Chances are that I’ll be able to hear you out and make a convincing case against breaking rules 1-5. Ever since I’ve come up with these ground rules, I’ve slowly wound down my own social media presence. I have set up an alter ego under which I’m conducting my open source and other online activities. When asked why I don’t use my “real name” GitHub for anything but work, I say that this is my way of keeping things separate for the sake of sanity and safety. People nod their understanding, but they don’t really get it, and that’s okay. They can’t possibly get to know every side of me. |
Thus, I have never the illusion of being hidden online and I need to be conscious that everything I say is said on a public place and that I have to be accountable for my actions.
(ironicaly my hackernews username is the furthest from my real name but it should still take you under 5 minutes to find my full name without effort)