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Anonymity isn't the problem. The problem is that Trent's mind still cares enough about what other people think of him that it is consumed by the act of surveyin
by mishmash 17y ago
Anonymity isn't the problem. The problem is that Trent's mind still cares enough about what other people think of him that it is consumed by the act of surveying his status and trying to please the please-able.
That's a dead end.
Instead, I suggest that at least on a personal level, we should let go and try to realize that nothing* really matters online.
As you begin to welcome anonymity, a certain type of apathy appears. You may even surprise yourself that you don't actually care that some troll just told you to "an hero" or whatever else it is they're bringing.
Although we're not funded yet, my startup is working on bringing the ideas of anonymity (along with privacy/security) to the mainstream.
We believe, that for many, many use cases, identity simply doesn't matter.
*mostly ;)
- adrianwaj 17y agoI'd stand by my identity consistently if it meant revealing the identities of others.
- mishmash 17y agoYour life and circumstance may allow for this, others don't. :)
- adrianwaj 17y agoIn some cases anonymous expression is preferable to no expression, in others anonymous expression is not preferable over silence.
- mishmash 17y agoIn some countries you lose your life for "standing by your identity," in others you don't. http://iranianminorityshumanright.blogspot.com/2009/03/reporters-without-borders-internet.html http://iranianminorityshumanright.blogspot.com/2009/03/repor...
- calambrac 17y agoThere are many kinds of trolls. Most can easily be ignored, but there are many that can't. Two that spring to mind are the persistent attention takers (switching or maintaining multiple identities as necessary) that amount to a DOS attack, and those who are able to look like signal for a long time before it becomes clear they're just trolls. In other words, not caring what trolls say is necessary but not sufficient.
- mishmash 17y agoAnd I get that. We (in our apps) have captchas, crapflood limits, banning, etc. that Trent doesn't have IRL.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- greengirl512 17y agoI don't know...the impression I got was that what really got under his skin wasn't so much the attacks on him as it was the attacks on people he cared about-like his fiancee and the guy who needs the heart transplant that he was trying to help. It's easier to let anonymous attacks slide if they are just directed against you, but it's different when people start directing their venom at other people because you care about them.