Next time you think we have a troll problem at SJ, read this

He italicized his DyePack interlude.

Also, DD, dead on the money about the lack of reportage. And the story was clumsily structured, for that matter. By the way, 155,000 page views for that story now.

Anyway, I think part of the reason I'm sensitive to this all is because I still care about my anonymity.

 

I find it instructive that the same people clamoring for First Amendment protection for themselves also insist Chen should have been subject to prior restraint.


(Yes, I know both those terms aren't applicable since the government isn't involved.)

 

Same person. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one. And you've got my views twisted.

 

You freak shows!

 

If it makes you feel better, Versatile, no one cares who you are.

 

It does, and I know. Thanks for being there, YGB.

 

I liked Verse better when he was COCKDIAN!

 

If that's in response to me, I was characterizing the Reddit community, not you. You're still clarifying your views. I'm not about to try to wade in and untwist them.

 

That's a wise move. And I agree Reddit is being wildly hypocritical in blocking the story and Gawker.

 

I think what also stands out about that story, and it's true in my case, is that you can probably still be as anonymous as you want to be. There are just trade-offs. I have a handful of really great friends/mentors I've meet through SJ that I wouldn't have if I'd just kept my persona IRL entirely off limits. For a long time, no one knew who anything about who I was. I revealed nothing identifiable about myself. Then, like most of us, it slowly eroded. A friendly PM here, someone asking for advice there. You chat with people you like and want to trust. A few of them might decide to burn you. A few of them might become some of your best friends. It's not that easy to weigh.

But if your anonymity is really important, just don't tell a soul, don't friend anyone from SJ on Facebook, and don't write in a way that's easily recognizable. I remember once, I was listening to the radio when I heard a fairly prominent use a hilarious line I swear I'd heard/read before. Two minutes later, I found the post where he'd written, a day ago, verbatim what he said on the radio. It was obvious who he was after that. Even this creep could have kept who he was a secret, I suspect, but he yearned for two things:

1. Human connection
2. Acknowledgement for his "talents"

It's still tough to want to stick up for this Reddit creep in any way, even weighing all the complexities. Some of these issues about who we can be on-line, how that differs from who we are in real life, and how secret those identities should be from one another, are addressed in that recent novel Ready Player One. They get kind of lost in the avalanche of 80s pop culture stuff, and some truly shitty writing, but they're fascinating to think about.

 

That's an interesting point, one that makes me think differently. I think Adrian Chen would come across much worse had he exposed Violentacrez through IP tracing or extensive cyber-stalking. As is, it doesn't sound as though it was very difficult for him to get the name.

 

I will hunt down anyone here who outs my real ... oh, shit. Nevermind.