Yes, you're not the only one that feels what you describe. When I first got online, I spoke more freely there than "in real life"! This was because I was just

Yes, you're not the only one that feels what you describe. When I first got online, I spoke more freely there than "in real life"! This was because I was just a moniker, just some name I chose. Nobody knew where I lived, nobody knew my age, gender, height... I could be wrong without being stupid. I could be kind without being weak. I could be right without being cruel. I perceived a PRIVMSG as guaranteed to be truly private: Nobody would possibly see it except the recipient, the o-lines or sysadmins, and the "FBI". (o-lines: IRC operators, each had a line in the IRC server's .conf file. These folks were personally known to the users, and networks where they abused their necessary power would dry up, so I figured they were safe. FBI: That's what I considered to be the top surveillance power--I knew they could tap phones (or lines in general). I figured that my gaming network wasn't among their targets. Moreover, I figured that each tap was for a specific purpose, and that each one was carefully placed so as to avoid monitoring unrelated conversations... Just out of common decency. I grew up believing that, except for a few bad apples, cops are people who care about the good of society and the FBI was composed solely of super cops.) Even if the recipient copy-n-pasted my message, nobody would accept that as proof that I'd said something. It's just text, anybody could type out a line and put my name in front. I would talk less openly in a channel when some client I didn't recognize joined... And more openly again when it left. I really believed what it says on the box: your messages are delivered where you address them, and nowhere else. Today, I don't text openly or make voice calls openly, except in anger. As foolish as it is, as embarrassed as I am, I must admit that this habit frequently bleeds over into face-to-face conversations as well. It's not that I really think anybody is listening, it's just that I'm absolutely terrified that I really am their enemy, and I've seen what they do to their enemies. It's not just that I'm strongly opposed to the means (mass surveillance) that my nation has chosen, I gotta say, I'm not thrilled about the ends, either! If all of this is being done in the name of protecting the US American way of life... I gotta ask: Are we kind?