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> The notion that everyone is entitled to cooperative anonymity is a message board meme, not an actual norm of society. Is the notion of "right-to-anonymity-on
by michael_j_ward 6y ago
> The notion that everyone is entitled to cooperative anonymity is a message board meme, not an actual norm of society.
Is the notion of "right-to-anonymity-on-the-internet" about as old as "the internet is a common thing in human life"? I assume it predates HN and Reddit, but unsure when it started.
> It has never been the case that journalists have honored a right to public pseudonymity.
I imagine this could be answered empirically by finding articles -and the reaction to said articles- that revealed the true identity of a similarly situated pen-name writer. But I'll take your word for it.
- tptacek 6y agoMaybe I just come from a different part of the Internet than you do --- the parts I came from involved a little bit more X.25 --- but where I came from, "doxxing" people was a sport, not a transgression. I think this norm really does come from 2000s-era message boards.
- michael_j_ward 6y agoBefore facebook, my only relevant online identity was a Starcraft handle between 2001-2005. So you're correct - definitely from different parts of the internet!