Personal klout or branding can be derived from sharing your information and options online while attaching this information to your identity. While many people share aspects of their real life, others flourish in what they believe to be anonymity. These people often want to be under surveillance as long as their anonymous internet identities can not be tied back to their actual ones.
Enter contemporary philosopher and media expert, Jimmy Kimmel. His wildly popular segment “Celebrities read mean Tweets” is just a comical example about how the hate which is spewed out into the internet rarely loses it’s sting and often finds it’s mark.
Video Credit: Youtube channel Jimmel Kimmel LiveInternet giant Google is trying to convince users to use their real names as their Youtube ID. This attempt to cut down on the blind hate and trolling that comes along with anonymous surveillance is an important first step in creating consequences for those who don’t “play fair” online.
The idea of doxxing users real identities creates backlash and many internet users say that it disrupts the right to free speech. What many people don’t understand is that the multiple identities of the average user are already connected. For example an American Congresswoman was subject to political attacks over her gaming hobby of playing World of Warcraft. No online identity can be completely hidden. Like the celebrities reading mean tweets, individuals need to understand that the internet is very much like a elementary playground- teachers can always tell where the spitballs came from. This might become much easier, much sooner with Google’s help.
Wired Magazine writes that internet users may in the future use one device like a “smartphone or something like a Yubico key — and then use that almost like a car key, to fire up your web mail and online accounts.” This would compile all of my personal identities into one secure identity which I could literally hold the key too. The convenience of one identity online would force users to think before they acted and would break down the larges myth about the internet, the illusion of Anonymity
What do you think about anonymity on the internet? Is it a basic right or something that has ceased to exist? Would you be interested in creating a universal identity online?
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