5 ms·

The first problem I see is separating my online identity with my real identity. I really don't want anyone at my job finding out which dog I am on the internet.

The first problem I see is separating my online identity with my real identity. I really don't want anyone at my job finding out which dog I am on the internet. My coworkers and family really wouldn't appreciate my shit posting. :) The second is friends of friends can get really awkward. There are some people who are friends with me that are also friends with people who never want to see me again.

shanebellone 4y ago
That's exactly the point of small social circles. You can segment your audience as a broadcaster based on shared interests, language, and understanding. The vast majority of the Internet doesn't need to read your shit posting. However, a small group of friends might find that appealing. If no one finds that content useful, amusing, or interesting... you'd be screaming at a wall. Isn't that exactly how it should be?
- kayodelycaon 4y ago
  That's... not relevant? OP was talking about a system that requires tapping phones to connect and using friends of friends to form secondary connections. This is why I have a burner sim for online accounts requiring a phone number. (Looking at you Telegram...)
  - shanebellone 4y ago
    Whoops, my bad. I also maintain two phone numbers but for different reasons. I hate spam.
ineptech 4y ago
I mean, nothing would stop you from making a fake identity, and friending other anonymous people, and posting spicy memes. But you can do that on mastodon today, right? This is for the cases where you want to prove your identity. If most people use it that way, then the anonymous people would be little subnets that are either separate from the main graph or connected by only a few nodes. Typical users would* have dozens of people vouching for them, who each have dozens of people vouching for them, etc, which is strong evidence that they're who they say they are. * in some hypothetical future where this gets made and is wildly successful
SoftTalker 4y ago
> My coworkers and family really wouldn't appreciate my shit posting. Shit posting is one of the biggest forms of toxicity online. It would be nice if it went away by tying posts to real people. Some people don't care and would shitpost anyway, but most people only shitpost because nobody knows who they really are.
- some_furry 4y ago
  This comment rhymes with the justifications for Real Name policies. They don't work. All real name policies do is make many LGBTQ+ people feel unwelcome.
  - NigelThornberry 4y ago
- kayodelycaon 4y ago
  Facebook does tie posts to real people. It doesn’t work. People are just as toxic.
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  It would appear there is some irony in this SoftTalker.
- mattl 4y ago
  What do you define as shit posting?
  - mariusor 4y ago
    Not the person you're replying to, but I agree with them. For me shitposting is discussing in bad faith.
    - mattl 4y ago
      But what is it?
mywacaday 4y ago
I had a conversation recently about the problems of social media and the growing extremes of political viewpoints. We agreed the a good part of the problem is partially caused by the online echo chamber but mostly by the increasing physical isolation of people in the real world. In the past the majority of men would have worked in manual labor with lots of other people, women would have worked at home and spent a lot more time getting to know their neighbours, now we work in isolation on a screen and stay at home without integrating with a community on a daily basis like times past. This allows people's views to go unchallenged and reduces the middle ground we all depended upon. Previously our vees would be challenged and our standing in our community would depend on our views. To go back to your point about anonymity should we be posting stuff online that we know our physical peers would have a problem with. Anonymity has its place I'm just not sure where the line is drawn.
- kayodelycaon 4y ago
  To some degree, I agree. But I also grew up before social media. Very little has changed about the fundamental ugliness of human behavior we try to tuck into a corner. As someone who was seriously hurt by forced conformity, I’m not exactly pining for the way things used to be. It wasn’t that long ago when people were expected to drink themselves to death rather than seek help.
happyopossum 4y ago
> My coworkers and family really wouldn't appreciate my shit posting. :) Hey, here’s a thought. Maybe if there were any locally observable consequences to that behavior you’d stop and the Internet would be a better place…
- elevenoh 4y ago
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- kayodelycaon 4y ago
  The “shit posting” referring to my dark, sarcastic humor. It gets upvotes on Reddit but I try to keep it off Hacker News. :) I worry more about my parents reading about how I see my childhood or a future employer knowing I’m bipolar. And there are consequences to my behavior online. Kayodé Lycaon is my identity in the furry fandom. People know me in real life under this name. I’m published under this name. In a lot of ways, my legal identity is the pseudonym. I think of myself as Kayodé more than [legal name].

shanebellone 4y ago

That's exactly the point of small social circles. You can segment your audience as a broadcaster based on shared interests, language, and understanding. The vast majority of the Internet doesn't need to read your shit posting. However, a small group of friends might find that appealing. If no one finds that content useful, amusing, or interesting... you'd be screaming at a wall. Isn't that exactly how it should be?

kayodelycaon 4y ago
That's... not relevant? OP was talking about a system that requires tapping phones to connect and using friends of friends to form secondary connections. This is why I have a burner sim for online accounts requiring a phone number. (Looking at you Telegram...)
- shanebellone 4y ago
  Whoops, my bad. I also maintain two phone numbers but for different reasons. I hate spam.

ineptech 4y ago

I mean, nothing would stop you from making a fake identity, and friending other anonymous people, and posting spicy memes. But you can do that on mastodon today, right? This is for the cases where you want to prove your identity. If most people use it that way, then the anonymous people would be little subnets that are either separate from the main graph or connected by only a few nodes. Typical users would* have dozens of people vouching for them, who each have dozens of people vouching for them, etc, which is strong evidence that they're who they say they are. * in some hypothetical future where this gets made and is wildly successful

SoftTalker 4y ago

> My coworkers and family really wouldn't appreciate my shit posting. Shit posting is one of the biggest forms of toxicity online. It would be nice if it went away by tying posts to real people. Some people don't care and would shitpost anyway, but most people only shitpost because nobody knows who they really are.

some_furry 4y ago
This comment rhymes with the justifications for Real Name policies. They don't work. All real name policies do is make many LGBTQ+ people feel unwelcome.
- NigelThornberry 4y ago
kayodelycaon 4y ago
Facebook does tie posts to real people. It doesn’t work. People are just as toxic.
SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
It would appear there is some irony in this SoftTalker.
mattl 4y ago
What do you define as shit posting?
- mariusor 4y ago
  Not the person you're replying to, but I agree with them. For me shitposting is discussing in bad faith.
  - mattl 4y ago
    But what is it?

mywacaday 4y ago

I had a conversation recently about the problems of social media and the growing extremes of political viewpoints. We agreed the a good part of the problem is partially caused by the online echo chamber but mostly by the increasing physical isolation of people in the real world. In the past the majority of men would have worked in manual labor with lots of other people, women would have worked at home and spent a lot more time getting to know their neighbours, now we work in isolation on a screen and stay at home without integrating with a community on a daily basis like times past. This allows people's views to go unchallenged and reduces the middle ground we all depended upon. Previously our vees would be challenged and our standing in our community would depend on our views. To go back to your point about anonymity should we be posting stuff online that we know our physical peers would have a problem with. Anonymity has its place I'm just not sure where the line is drawn.

kayodelycaon 4y ago
To some degree, I agree. But I also grew up before social media. Very little has changed about the fundamental ugliness of human behavior we try to tuck into a corner. As someone who was seriously hurt by forced conformity, I’m not exactly pining for the way things used to be. It wasn’t that long ago when people were expected to drink themselves to death rather than seek help.

happyopossum 4y ago

> My coworkers and family really wouldn't appreciate my shit posting. :) Hey, here’s a thought. Maybe if there were any locally observable consequences to that behavior you’d stop and the Internet would be a better place…

elevenoh 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
kayodelycaon 4y ago
The “shit posting” referring to my dark, sarcastic humor. It gets upvotes on Reddit but I try to keep it off Hacker News. :) I worry more about my parents reading about how I see my childhood or a future employer knowing I’m bipolar. And there are consequences to my behavior online. Kayodé Lycaon is my identity in the furry fandom. People know me in real life under this name. I’m published under this name. In a lot of ways, my legal identity is the pseudonym. I think of myself as Kayodé more than [legal name].