Why I Gave Up My Internet Anonymity

Around the time I entered college, I started writing a blog. Shortly after typing up my first few rants about school, work, and girls I came to a crossroads where I had to decide how much of myself I should expose to the world of strangers. After some careful consideration, I decided to let it all hang out. Here’s why I allowed myself to become a social experiment.

Reason #1: Inevitability

Anyone who has been surprised by the news about the NSA spying on American citizens should probably admit how naive they were to think that privacy exists in the first place. As a fiercely skeptical person who is constantly suspicious of anyone in power, I have always been balancing on the line between crazy conspiracy theorist and libertarian. The belief that the government has been reading my emails, monitoring my phone calls, and watching every move I make a la Truman Show has turned out to be one of the few conspiracies I’ve been right about.

Whether you choose to try to live anonymously or not, bear in mind that you’ll never be 100% anonymous online, ever. If anyone really wanted to dig up dirt on you, they could find it. Other people might talk about you or tag you in photos. Government or corporate websites could get hacked and spill your information out all over like oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a reality of modern life that information is currency. You can choose to give it away for free in a controlled manner like I try to do, or you can try to keep it away from others.

Google me if you like. You’ll find photos of me from my Facebook feed, my LinkedIn profile, this website, maybe a Yelp review or two, and a couple of the things I’ve written. I’m not ashamed of any of this stuff. I don’t post nude photos (you’re welcome), I don’t post information about doing anything illegal, and I’m really not all that interesting of a person. The nice thing about it that at least 80% of the results that come up are posts I released knowingly. Sure, some of the articles I wrote when I was younger were misguided but hopefully my newer ones show some form of personal growth (which I’ll talk about a little later in this article). Search algorithms generally look for more recent information anyway, and my SEO knowledge has only gotten better over the years.

Reason #2: Philosophical Belief

I have believed for a long time that the reason that things get bad on the internet is often anonymity. Cyberbullying, trolling, and hate speech run rampant in places with no sunlight. This belief is shared by companies like Google and Blizzard who work toward having people use their real names in their discussion platforms.

I believe in free speech. I believe that unpopular views should be allowed to be expressed. Hell, some of my views are quite unpopular. But I don’t believe the world should have no consequences for that speech. I think that some places on the internet SHOULD be anonymous, because I can know to avoid them (4chan, the old YouTube comments section, Reddit r/politics discussions). Much like the real world having private property and public property, sometimes it’s best to know where you’re safe to do and say certain things and when it’s inappropriate.

I also don’t believe in pushing my own beliefs on other people. I would never legislate away the freedom of the internet. I am opposed to every attempt that has made to censor and police it. Forsaking my own internet anonymity was a choice that I made, and I want everyone else to have the right and ability to make their own choice. We should come down on intelligence agencies that use our tax dollars to spy on us illegally as hard as we possibly can to defend those rights.

Reason #3: Developing Myself

Recognizing that internet anonymity is what brought out the worst in others, I decided that I should walk the walk. I started using my real name in discussion forums and in online games. I still have a few handles that I go by so my MMO characters aren’t named “Corry Frydlewicz” or anything, because that would reduce my own escapism and role-playing potential. But whenever I’ve befriended people in those games I haven’t hesitated much to tell them my real name or add them on Facebook if they wanted me to.

Some people would say that I’m opening myself up to a lot of risk, and I agree. But friendships in real life work the same way. Showing yourself to others for who you truly are can get you taken advantage of. It can get your heart broken. Your friends can steal things from you or hurt you physically. Without that risk, you can get pretty lonely though.

I feel that I act like a better person — a more authentic person — when anyone who sees what I post online can just Google me and see pretty much everything about me. It makes me pause before I hit the “Submit” button on a heated online argument and think “Is this who I am or who I want to be seen as? Will me saying this portray a part of myself that I wish wasn’t true? Would it be better if I just deleted the whole thing?”

I don’t think about if it will stop me from being president someday, or if it will show up in a background check for a job or loan. I don’t care what some judgmental robotic spy at the NSA thinks of me. I care about what real people think. I care about what I will think about myself when I look back at the things I’ve said and done years from now. And I think I’m growing over time into a better, more honest person. Maybe not entirely because of my internet persona, but it doesn’t seem to hurt.

Should You Give Up Your Internet Anonymity?

Probably. I wouldn’t suggest my lifestyle to most people because it requires a sort of super-introspective person that also happens to have mild to moderate OCD. I can say that it has been rewarding for me because of the way my brain works, but I also know that my brain works pretty … uniquely. That’s not me trying to be a hipster individualist or anything. That’s me being upfront about being crazy. Not interesting bi-curious college girl crazy either. Like, difficult to have a relationship with with crazy. Like needing to meditate and go to therapy regularly crazy. Boring crazy.

I would suggest that if you’re considering being a writer or artist, to give your real name a try in a limited way. Make a DeviantArt or YouTube or Blogger account with your real name and see how it goes. Don’t go all in right away because you really can’t take it back once you do it. I also suggest that anyone who does give up their internet anonymity stays vigilant over things like their credit reports, credit card bills, and bank statements. Identity theft is everywhere and it’s absurdly easy. You can have your identity stolen without ever using the internet of course, but posting stuff the way I do makes it much easier for them. This is where my OCD helps me out because I’m already pretty stringent with my accounts. You should also backup everything you value. No matter how basic what you say online may be, if it gets enough attention SOMEONE will be offended. And some people like to break your stuff when they get offended.

If this article offended you, I apologize. Please don’t break my stuff.