The Anonymity Issue

[_Kishkumen]

Online, I try to act the way I would in real life, face-to-face encounters. I try to be honest about my expressed beliefs, experiences, and proclivities. When I find that I not being genuine, I try to remedy it. The posters I enjoy the most are those who seem to do the same.

Posting under perceived anonymity doesn’t mean others don’t know who you are.

Likewise, revealing your name doesn’t mean you’re honest. It just means that you revealed your name.

Great thoughts. In general I would say that I have striven to be fair to people. I don't think my behavior has been blameless, but I don't lose sleep over my participation. As I see it, we all have spaces in which we say things that belong within that context, but not necessarily in another context. We have personae. What is appropriate for after hours is not necessarily appropriate for the job, and so forth. The internet has compromised the barriers between these different spaces.

Greater access and speed has not only made it easier to communicate with more people more quickly, it has also made it easier for others to see what you are up to. Anonymity is, in a sense, a way of recapturing, albeit incompletely and insecurely, some of that space for speaking in that context of technological transparency. I don't condone dishonesty, but I don't think that anonymity, even when being critical of something, is necessarily dishonest. As you say, Morley, revealing one's name does not constitute honesty in and of itself either.

It seems, though, that some LDS apologists have decided that anonymous criticism is immoral, and so they have no compunction about dragging in real life information out whenever it suits their purposes. I think it has to be one of the favorite go to tactics of the people I argue with online. Of course, these people know who I am. So, it is not as though I am criticizing them behind their backs. Not so anonymous after all, you see.

[_Kishkumen]

Also the crazies such as Darrick that stalk people in real life. Yes it's a remote chance anything would happen, but why risk it?

Well, since there are no faithful Mormon crazies who would behave like Darrick, you have nothing to worry about.

Or maybe those who fear being stalked or threatened by people like Darrick should not wish their suffering on others.

[_Kishkumen]

I post anonymously because in real life my name is Daniel Peterson. Not *that* Daniel Peterson, but you know it would just be weird.

Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.

[_Bond James Bond]

IOnline, I try to act the way I would in real life, face-to-face encounters. I try to be honest about my expressed beliefs, experiences, and proclivities.

I to try to do this and say stuff I would say in real life. For people who know me they'd definitely say I pretty much am in line with Morley's above statement. I wonder if others (like say Droopy) would have the balls to say some of the stuff he posts to peoples' face. I think probably not.

[_Bond James Bond]

I post anonymously because in real life my name is Daniel Peterson. Not *that* Daniel Peterson, but you know it would just be weird.

Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.

And your secret is safe with me Mr. President.

[_Kishkumen]

And your secret is safe with me Mr. President.

It would help if you changed avatars. Just sayin'.

[_Nomomo]

First a little background ~ I was born Mormon and grew up in Springville right next to Provo. My grandparents on one side had 14 children, on the other side 8. My extended mo family is freaking huge as you can imagine and are largely active or semi-active mos and a few jack mos. One very close relative only a year older than myself is presently a bishop. I love them all.

Why on earth would I want to throw a monkeywrench into the love, relationships and feelings we hold for one another? I treat them all with greatest respect and receive the same in return.

Though a large share of them know I am no longer a member since the 80's I am very fortunate that in my extended family that not even with the most TBM of them is this any issue whatsoever. I am uncommonly lucky in that regard compared to most who have left the church.

I never mess with them about their religion and they on their part have never tried to get me to come back to the Church or look down upon me for leaving, and likewise I realize it is not my job to try to influence them in any way against the Church.

Throw a monkeywrench into that? And alienate ourselves from each other? I don't think so!

Obviously I have to post anonymously so as not to show up internet searches. I could show up in searches made by relatives even when they weren't searching my name, but other Mo topics if I were not anonymous.

Now mos who come to this board know what they are getting into and that they are mixing with ex-mos and don't have to be here if they do not wish to be exposed to the types of views and posts they are going to be seeing here.
This frees me from those boundaries that I and my mo family respectively do not cross with each other.

[Anonymous]

I post under my in real life name on many internet message boards and discussion forums. I don't here because of a few reasons: 1) seeing some legitimate crazy people in the mix, 2) the acrimony and personalized demonization of "critics" by MDD/FAIResque style apologetics. I don't need either of those two things in my life.

I'm pretty much the same person here as I am in real life, as far as I can tell. Those who know me in real life can probably judge better than I and there are plenty of them on the board because I've become friends with many people I first "met" here.

The biggest difference is that in real life I don't run into the kind of people who are the more extreme trolls on this board (whether conscious trolls, or not) and if I did I would likely not interact with them as I occasionally do here. I hope I'm getting better at not getting into anything with people who are not worth it, either emotionally or intellectually. By intellectually, I mean I don't learn anything from the exchange (and I'd bet a lot of money they don't either), and by emotionally, I mean the psychic drain of realizing that there are people in the world that cruel, insensitive, ignorant or damaged.

I admit, I've let my buttons be pushed and replied when I should have known better and I've also been suckered into responses by trolls posing as genuinely "interested" people. It's hard to avoid on this board because of its "free speech" policy, which in the long run encourages trolls of one kind or another. (I am also concerned at the way trolls/nutcases are 'enabled' here, but that's a bigger discussion for another thread that I'm in no hurry to participate in.)

[_LDSToronto]

Thanks for the thoughts, guys. Do you observe any rule of thumb in what kind of comments to steer clear of? Do you consider yourself to be engaging in defamation of others? What do you think crosses the line?

The usual - kids, family, friends, anyone who doesn't participate in the online community are off-limits. Personally, I won't use information I learn inside the community outside the community. My playing field is the online LDS community - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

H.

[_Yoda]

I have been re-reading Yahoo Bot's comments on anonymity in online religious discussions here.

I have to say that I struggle with this issue. What say you? Why do you post anonymously? What kinds of limits do you place on your own behavior as an anonymous poster?

i always used my real name when I posted on various mesage boards until I became the victim of an Internet stalker. I was very naïve and new to the whole Internet scene.

Being stalked was a very scary situation. This person hacked into my work email, knew what I was wearing on a daily basis, and threatened to abduct me. We had to get the police involved.

After that episode, I have always used a pseudonym when posting online. If Bob wants to label me as cowardice, so be it.