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I think the two most common reasons for anonymity are: * blogging from an oppressive regime * to isolate yourself from online mobs If you write something con

I think the two most common reasons for anonymity are: * blogging from an oppressive regime * to isolate yourself from online mobs If you write something controversial these days, sometimes it catches a wider audience and you can find yourself under a lot of attention. A minority of those poeple will not be nice, and may send death threats or worse. Your experience is a tiny fraction of what this can be like. Being anonymous takes out some of the sting. I can't think of a better illustration of the latter than https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/04/last-us-2-voice-actor-shares-horrifying-death-threats-people-dislike-character-12943471/ https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/04/last-us-2-voice-actor-shares-....

P-ala-din 6y ago
another factor is the desire to separate ideas from their author. for example, double-blind peer review.
pydry 6y ago
Also blogging from a regime that may become oppressive in 5-10 years (at which point your blogging history about how great democracy is will come back to bite you in the ass).
numpad0 6y ago
Offline mobs too. As a Japanese I completely don’t understand why most English speakers so casually disclose their identity so publicly. If you post something in your real name, your colleagues WILL find it out and your boss WILL read it and your neighbors WILL scrutinize it no matter how woke your post may read. There WILL be consequences from being pointed at to losing your job and pension. People using real names for app reviews, online comments, those are completely insane to me. Including shorthands like “John D.” Unless you are paid to do so that is.
- novok 6y ago
  Because there is also professional benefits about writing with your real name. For example the famous patio11: https://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ He also goes into detail in this podcast about the benefits of writing with your real name too: https://player.fm/series/north-star-podcast/patrick-mckenzie-internet-famous https://player.fm/series/north-star-podcast/patrick-mckenzie... Funnily enough, he also lives in japan!
a1369209993 6y ago
> [1:] blogging from an oppressive regime > [2:] to isolate yourself from online mobs If we're talking about common, I'll add: 3: to normalize anonymity so that people in groups 1 and 2 stand out less, have less peer pressure to compromise themselves, and so that attackers have to spend more resources than if they could focus their attacks on the few people they actually want to target (compare HTTPS Everywhere and other "Encrypt all the things!" efforts).

P-ala-din 6y ago

another factor is the desire to separate ideas from their author. for example, double-blind peer review.

pydry 6y ago

Also blogging from a regime that may become oppressive in 5-10 years (at which point your blogging history about how great democracy is will come back to bite you in the ass).

numpad0 6y ago

Offline mobs too. As a Japanese I completely don’t understand why most English speakers so casually disclose their identity so publicly. If you post something in your real name, your colleagues WILL find it out and your boss WILL read it and your neighbors WILL scrutinize it no matter how woke your post may read. There WILL be consequences from being pointed at to losing your job and pension. People using real names for app reviews, online comments, those are completely insane to me. Including shorthands like “John D.” Unless you are paid to do so that is.

novok 6y ago
Because there is also professional benefits about writing with your real name. For example the famous patio11: https://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ He also goes into detail in this podcast about the benefits of writing with your real name too: https://player.fm/series/north-star-podcast/patrick-mckenzie-internet-famous https://player.fm/series/north-star-podcast/patrick-mckenzie... Funnily enough, he also lives in japan!

a1369209993 6y ago

> [1:] blogging from an oppressive regime > [2:] to isolate yourself from online mobs If we're talking about common, I'll add: 3: to normalize anonymity so that people in groups 1 and 2 stand out less, have less peer pressure to compromise themselves, and so that attackers have to spend more resources than if they could focus their attacks on the few people they actually want to target (compare HTTPS Everywhere and other "Encrypt all the things!" efforts).