On the Internet, identity is relative. Knowing someone’s name or street address does not give you any insight into their personality, certainly not more than their comments do, and pushing to find out those things makes you a complete n00b.
We may all be tough behind the keyboard. Every time someone brings up that argument, I am reminded of all the people that had no voice before they found the web. And despite the difficulties in expressing oneself in social settings that ‘cyberliving’ can bring, I found it to be true that without the web, these people would not be better anyway. On the flip side, cyber-tourists are very quick to point out that X would not have said some thing or another face-to-face, but only because X can hide under their anonymous handle are they likely to talk shit all day long from the comfort of their laptops. Not by coincidence, some of these people would love to beat X senseless even if what was said had validity, simply because they do not like the points being made. So explain to me which is the more civilized venue: blog comments of broken bones?
If you let yourself be trolled, you might just deserve it. Why do you care what some random dude thinks of you, if they ‘muddy’ your name etc? What would face-to-face bring extra to the matter that you could not achieve via text? Except the beatings, of course. But the fake name is as relevant as the real one, in that sense. A troll is just a troll.
On the Internet, you are the things you say. Not your race or your body shape or whether you have a girlfriend. You can be an idiot or a very interesting person, but you are the sum of the things you say, of the achievements that you can show the world. Identity is not important because it does not bring anything to the table. I, as a reader, need not know those kinds of details about the person I read to enjoy or learn from their writing.
We exist without skin color, without nationality, without
religious bias…1
In that vein, if you have something to say, say it. If someone angers you, check your reasons and take appropriate action. But wanting to know someone’s identity as a result of something that they said on the web gives me the impression you want to beat them senseless. And that, however you want to spin it, is not becoming of an intelligent person.
That’s a ridiculous mistatement of what I said. You make it sound like I’m against Rwandan refugees or something, “had no voice before they found the web”. Let’s be clear we’re not talking about a put upon minority, we’re talking about people with internet access being jackasses online about mundane things like politics or whether or not they wanted to read about this resturant or that.
Not putting ones name to something emboldens them to say things they wouldn’t normally not because they’re afraid of someone punching them in the face, which you suggests would be the direct result of not being nameless, but simply because they don’t have to own up to how much of a jackass they’re being.
If something’s not worth putting a name to, then it’s probably not worth saying in the first place.
Now there might be legitimate reasons for wanting to remain nameless, but let’s be honest 99% of the time it’s just because someone wants to be a dick without anyone knowing that it’s them.
Jeffery Simpson’s last blog post: We’re all tough behind the keyboard
@Jeffery: I did not mean to have my piece a counter to yours, as I am neither involved nor particularly interested in what those guys are up to. It is just the first phrase in there that drew my attention, a point I thoroughly disagree with. I have heard these complaints about anonymity on the Internet from more and more people as of late. People asking others to ‘reveal’ their identities, as if there is some sudden added value to what one wrote, if a name is there besides it. I just do not see that, either way I look at it. The Bard asked the question, any my answer is ‘Nothing but a brand’.
If someone is being a troll (with implied jackassery) and their ‘victim’ is feeding them attention, I cannot think of any reason why trolling would stop. And I cannot find any sympathy for the ‘victim’ either. As for owning up, someone that is liable to be a jackass has little to no concern about being called on it; how many ‘real-life’ jackasses have you met that displayed any genuine remorse for their actions?
Of course, some people discount ideas solely based on the lack of a name attached to them. It is up to each one of us to decide what “subject matter authority” is all about.