[eunikins]

It's sad that our personal info can be used with such malice in this day and age when we're supposed to celebrate the accessibility and transparency of information. That people still cannot be freely outspoken under their real identities because some spiteful person who disagrees with them might call up their bosses to try to get them fired (or worse). When people on the Internet cross the line and make things personal because they feel a sense of power in hiding behind their anonymous computer screen and having someone else's vulnerable and real identity in their hands.

Gwern, thanks for the humble reply and all your writings. Maybe one day we will be able to celebrate your talent as part of your identity.

[wyck]

It's not sad, it was not long ago that everyone used pseudonyms on the internet, with anonymity comes a certain amount of freedom, not just from malice but from perspective. People have a horrible sense of judgment when facing cultural identity, age, authority, etc. Anon posting tears they away so you can concentrate on the subject matter without preconceived baggage.

> Maybe one day we will be able to celebrate your talent as part of your identity

What on earth are you talking about, the content speaks for itself, that is his identity along with his name Gwern, there is nothing stopping your from having a conversation with him. There are no barriers in your way, go ahead and celebrate.

[Samuel_Michon]

“people still cannot be freely outspoken under their real identities”

Sure they can, and millions of us are. If people couldn’t be, Facebook wouldn’t exist.

”When people on the Internet cross the line”

That’s not a given. I never hide my identity and it has only worked out positive for me. There are assholes online and offline, I sure as hell won’t let any of them limit what I say or do.

[return0]

People on facebook barely ever have interesting conversation, exactly because of "what are your friends gonna think?".

Part of the reason HN is successful is pseudonymity.

[randallsquared]

Many of the most interesting HNers have accounts strongly tied to real world identities.

[kaybe]

But isn't it great that we can choose?

[return0]

Depends on one's definition of interesting. This very article is about a pseudonymous user. And you and I are too.

[eunikins]

People on facebook aren't necessarily outspoken, as they have private profiles limited to only who they decide to add as friends. And usually, people remain "friends" with those who share similar opinions (aka circle jerk) because those who disagree probably have defriended them or have had a flame war over comments which doesn't lead to anything.. Because the "hater's" identity in this situation is not anonymous either.

For most people, posting under their real identity doesn't really get them in trouble. I'm talking about posters who discuss controversial topics publicly- not only is it so easy for someone to send in anonymous hate emails, but now they can anonymously harass the poster in real life by calling up their boss or family members, after a few clicks of research on the Internet.

It makes me wonder in what form this kind of "hateful" harassment (say, one step below actual hate crimes) existed in the days without Internet.

[Samuel_Michon]

“People on facebook aren't necessarily outspoken, as they have private profiles”

I don’t hide any Facebook content from visitors who aren’t friends, because I don’t trust Facebook to keep my information private anyways. I’m sure I'm not the only one.

“I'm talking about posters who discuss controversial topics publicly”

No, you were generalizing, making it seem that everyone has to hide their real name online.

“makes me wonder in what form this kind of "hateful" harassment [...] existed in the days without Internet”

All the examples you already mentioned (snail mail, phone calls), it’s nothing new. If someone wants to make your life unpleasant, there have always been ways to do so.

[jabbernotty]

> I don’t hide any Facebook content from visitors who aren’t friends, because I don’t trust Facebook to keep my information private anyways. I’m sure I'm not the only one.

You don't trust Facebook to keep your information private, and your response is to share the content you add with the world?

That confuses me.

[Samuel_Michon]

I’ll explain: by posting it for everyone to see, I won’t be tempted to share content that I would mind being leaked. It also keeps me from gossipping and speaking ill of others, and it trains me not to do so AFK either.

[cgag]

Sounds like you're not being outspoken to me if you're censoring yourself because you know it'll be public.

[joshmlewis]

“people still cannot be freely outspoken under their real identities”

I think it's more of where you choose to be outspoken. On Facebook you can post updates on important life things, things no one cares about, or even touchy subjects without much fear of being harassed. On places like Reddit, or deeper down into 4chan, or other sites that are known for their 'lynching' it gets riskier to be so 'outspoken' with your real identity because there are larger quantities of people that you don't know that are way off from your personal network thus making the possibilites well endless.

When it's an accepted peer to peer network it's different from either a 'real' user to anonymous user or anon user to anon user. The more anonymous people are, the more brave they become but as soon as their real identity is attached, things don't get quite so serious, at least not in the main factions of social media. The Wizard in Oz is a good example of how you can hide behind a figure or 'name' but when the curtain is peeled back, it turns out you're not much better or different than anyone else.

edit: added some more to hopefully make my point more clear.

[eunikins]

Yes, people are braver under anonymity. Over the Internet there are more anonymous readers who can access a public discussion and a poster's real identity-- thus more chance that one of these anonymous readers are crazy enough to cross the line and exploit their knowledge of the poster's identity to harass them in real life.

Before the Internet it would've been a lot more difficult to read all these dissenting opinions/discussions but also harder for a person to commit harassment. My entire point is that the Internet is a double edged sword (But im sure we all know that already). That said, the pros do outweigh the cons :).