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> If you defiantly refuse to say who you are, it can make people angry that you’re upsetting social reciprocity. Citation needed. This entire post/idea seems

> If you defiantly refuse to say who you are, it can make people angry that you’re upsetting social reciprocity. Citation needed. This entire post/idea seems to be based on "you can't just make up an obviously anonymous avatar/username anymore (like BakedPotato138)" and I frankly don't see why not. It's been working fine for decades. The only people who are upset over this are authorities and corporations. And in those cases, making up a fake person is quite possibly criminal fraud.

rco8786 4y ago
Wait what, the entire post is literally "just go make up an avatar/username". > If you don’t want any attention, just pick a very common name like Mary Kim or Adam Johnson. > Use an AI face generator to create a completely believable face to match your new name. Download it once and use it everywhere. Run it through face aging software to use this same persona for the rest of your life. > Pick a city and say it’s your location, to avoid that question too. > For email, Mailbox.org is great, and doesn’t care who you are. > Create social media profiles with your new name, email, city, and face. > Nobody will wonder who you are if you answer that question. Instead of block and battle, deflect and settle. That’s better anonymity.
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  The entire post is about making up a deceptive human username and AI generated human photo. What I'm talking about is making a name like rco8786 and using the avatar of whatever... a delicious ham sandwich. There is nothing novel about making up an avatar. The point of the article is "trick people by making it a believable one so they'll think that's you, and not just an avatar." Ie. there's an incredibly important social signal in having a name that's obviously not your actual name.
  - SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
    He isn’t saying you can’t do that, he’s saying if you do, people will wonder, which is risky. If you give them answers, even false ones, they’re less likely to wonder. It’s just tapping into the natural human curiosity, and you want to avoid that kind of attention to maximize your chance of staying anonymous.
kerkeslager 4y ago
> > If you defiantly refuse to say who you are, it can make people angry that you’re upsetting social reciprocity. > Citation needed. Look around. In this thread there are people who are upset. > This entire post/idea seems to be based on "you can't just make up an obviously anonymous avatar/username anymore (like BakedPotato138)" and I frankly don't see why not. It's been working fine for decades. I have had a few obviously anonymous avatars/usernames over the years (this isn't one of them--it's actually my real last name). There have been a few attempts to doxx me during that time. > The only people who are upset over this are authorities and corporations. Authorities and corporations aren't people (which is important because people have rights). But that's an aside really. The bigger point is that authorities and corporations are made up of people, and those people, are often acting on behalf of their authority/corporation. In the worst case, they're true believers that what their authority/corporation is doing is right (i.e., all the people who defend invasions of privacy by corporations on hacker news). > And in those cases, making up a fake person is quite possibly criminal fraud. Not always. For example, with Facebook's shadow profiles, they won't even admit they exist most of the time, so they certainly aren't going to prove they exist by attempting to prosecute someone who feeds them fake data.
- O__________O 4y ago
  > Authorities and corporations aren't people (which is important because people have rights). Depends on the jurisdiction; for example, in the US, see “How the 14th Amendment Made Corporations Into People” for a brief explanation: https://www.history.com/.amp/news/14th-amendment-corporate-personhood-made-corporations-into-people https://www.history.com/.amp/news/14th-amendment-corporate-p...
  - kerkeslager 4y ago
    Authorities and corporations aren't people and don't have rights. In places where the law says that authorities and corporations are people with rights, the law is wrong. I do understand that it's worth knowing the law because authorities have the power to enforce it. But I think it's important to be clear that corporations and governments are not people and do not have rights, no matter what the law says. In context, this conversation is about ethics, and corporate personhood is a prime example of where laws and ethics diverge drastically.
nonbirithm 4y ago
I have lost many potential friends because I chose not to give my real name. It gives me some anxiety thinking about whom I've lost, but it's a normal thing to respect other people's boundaries, and my boundary is that I don't feel comfortable with giving my real name to people I haven't met in person. And I have ethical reservations to go as far as lying to make up a real name just to keep a friendship founded entirely on something I'm not comfortable with. It almost makes it seem like it's wrong to keep the social boundaries I have and that I'm doing harm to myself by withholding new human relationships just because of my discomfort. But I know that if those people are generally going to carry those standards then I can't change them, and it's my choice to disagree.
- O__________O 4y ago
  I tend to be super social, and agree, there’s frequently people that either clearly state not being identifiable is a deal breaker or just fade away. One’s that are the worst though are people that after you have set boundaries assume that they’re special and your boundaries don’t apply to them; frequently they share information that wasn’t requested, then demand because they did you must too. If someone’s not able to respect your boundaries, just politely communicate it’s not good for and wish them well. There’s 8 billion people on Earth, wouldn’t worry about it, at least I don’t, but clearly limits population of people that are interested in having meaningful relationships.

rco8786 4y ago

Wait what, the entire post is literally "just go make up an avatar/username". > If you don’t want any attention, just pick a very common name like Mary Kim or Adam Johnson. > Use an AI face generator to create a completely believable face to match your new name. Download it once and use it everywhere. Run it through face aging software to use this same persona for the rest of your life. > Pick a city and say it’s your location, to avoid that question too. > For email, Mailbox.org is great, and doesn’t care who you are. > Create social media profiles with your new name, email, city, and face. > Nobody will wonder who you are if you answer that question. Instead of block and battle, deflect and settle. That’s better anonymity.

Waterluvian 4y ago
The entire post is about making up a deceptive human username and AI generated human photo. What I'm talking about is making a name like rco8786 and using the avatar of whatever... a delicious ham sandwich. There is nothing novel about making up an avatar. The point of the article is "trick people by making it a believable one so they'll think that's you, and not just an avatar." Ie. there's an incredibly important social signal in having a name that's obviously not your actual name.
- SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
  He isn’t saying you can’t do that, he’s saying if you do, people will wonder, which is risky. If you give them answers, even false ones, they’re less likely to wonder. It’s just tapping into the natural human curiosity, and you want to avoid that kind of attention to maximize your chance of staying anonymous.

kerkeslager 4y ago

> > If you defiantly refuse to say who you are, it can make people angry that you’re upsetting social reciprocity. > Citation needed. Look around. In this thread there are people who are upset. > This entire post/idea seems to be based on "you can't just make up an obviously anonymous avatar/username anymore (like BakedPotato138)" and I frankly don't see why not. It's been working fine for decades. I have had a few obviously anonymous avatars/usernames over the years (this isn't one of them--it's actually my real last name). There have been a few attempts to doxx me during that time. > The only people who are upset over this are authorities and corporations. Authorities and corporations aren't people (which is important because people have rights). But that's an aside really. The bigger point is that authorities and corporations are made up of people, and those people, are often acting on behalf of their authority/corporation. In the worst case, they're true believers that what their authority/corporation is doing is right (i.e., all the people who defend invasions of privacy by corporations on hacker news). > And in those cases, making up a fake person is quite possibly criminal fraud. Not always. For example, with Facebook's shadow profiles, they won't even admit they exist most of the time, so they certainly aren't going to prove they exist by attempting to prosecute someone who feeds them fake data.

O__________O 4y ago
> Authorities and corporations aren't people (which is important because people have rights). Depends on the jurisdiction; for example, in the US, see “How the 14th Amendment Made Corporations Into People” for a brief explanation: https://www.history.com/.amp/news/14th-amendment-corporate-personhood-made-corporations-into-people https://www.history.com/.amp/news/14th-amendment-corporate-p...
- kerkeslager 4y ago
  Authorities and corporations aren't people and don't have rights. In places where the law says that authorities and corporations are people with rights, the law is wrong. I do understand that it's worth knowing the law because authorities have the power to enforce it. But I think it's important to be clear that corporations and governments are not people and do not have rights, no matter what the law says. In context, this conversation is about ethics, and corporate personhood is a prime example of where laws and ethics diverge drastically.

nonbirithm 4y ago

I have lost many potential friends because I chose not to give my real name. It gives me some anxiety thinking about whom I've lost, but it's a normal thing to respect other people's boundaries, and my boundary is that I don't feel comfortable with giving my real name to people I haven't met in person. And I have ethical reservations to go as far as lying to make up a real name just to keep a friendship founded entirely on something I'm not comfortable with. It almost makes it seem like it's wrong to keep the social boundaries I have and that I'm doing harm to myself by withholding new human relationships just because of my discomfort. But I know that if those people are generally going to carry those standards then I can't change them, and it's my choice to disagree.

O__________O 4y ago
I tend to be super social, and agree, there’s frequently people that either clearly state not being identifiable is a deal breaker or just fade away. One’s that are the worst though are people that after you have set boundaries assume that they’re special and your boundaries don’t apply to them; frequently they share information that wasn’t requested, then demand because they did you must too. If someone’s not able to respect your boundaries, just politely communicate it’s not good for and wish them well. There’s 8 billion people on Earth, wouldn’t worry about it, at least I don’t, but clearly limits population of people that are interested in having meaningful relationships.