Who Are You?
04/06/2009I recently read several online articles having to do with identities on Facebook and Twitter. Personally, I’m more than a bit bemused at the notion of creating accounts with anything other than a real name or a genuine nom de plume. Of course, there are some genuine security concerns in revealing your name on the internet, but if you’re going to expose anything “personal”, shouldn’t it be associated a real person? This blog is personal in the sense that it is my writing and I don’t want anyone else getting credit (or blame!) for it so I use my real name.
I’ve written before about the incidents of Twitterrhia and Facebook overload and the angst it causes me. How could it get much worse when this blather is compounded by the fact that I don’t know the actual source? When you add in the factor of fake celebrities and ghost-writers, how in the world do I know who to trust? Of course, the simple solution is to not make friends in Facebook and not follow in Twitter; simple, but defeatist. I want these tools to work for me, not create roadblocks.
Evidently, Facebook won’t let you create an account using your legal name if it happens to be Mary Christmas or one of many variations on names with double entendres. Of course, this is done via logic inside the Facebook site and there’s nobody actually checking to confirm that a person with that name doesn’t actually exist. Now I’m all for family-friendly names but this opens the door for people to create fictitious accounts that can be used for mischievous (and sometimes vicious) purposes. Also, having the Facebook programmers determine what constitutes an inappropriate meaning is spooky enough considering the fact that the Urban Dictionary is a moving target that could completely misconstrue a name for drug dealing slang.
I have simple online needs. I want to be able to meet people without being revolted by their name. I want to follow Tweeters who post real stories about themselves, personally penned. I’d rather have people be honest rather than polished. In the end, it’s the sum of what you say, project, and post that defines who you are. And, if you can’t be honest with me in cyberspace, how can you possibly be honest with me in real life?
So, for all you pretenders, perverts, panderers, and preening poseurs, heed the words of Pete Townsend and tell me, “Who the fuck are you?”
So That's Life? 
The question is, when does honest become too honest? It’s along the same line of those justifiable white lies — should you -really- tell your best friend her new haircut makes her look like a ten year old boy? I’m not saying people should use false identities to justify saying hurtful or malicious things, but there are instances where anonymity can be justified. Sometimes it’s easier to tell your problems to strangers than friends. Although I’m guessing you’re referring more to people who pretend to be someone else, rather than people who hold back parts of themselves.
You gonna be surprised when a young short little blond country music lovin’ girl shows up in June??
LOL!
[AVH – Thanks for the thoughtful comments Sophie. I definitely think that there is a lot of discussion that needs to take place on this topic and this is a good starting point.]
Interesting topic Art. I was recently invited to join a Facebook group to fight name discrimination by Facebook staff. As always I rejected the invite (too many groups to monitor), but I thought it raised an interesting point. The organizer of the group is Native and part of a national Native graduate student network that I am plugged into. Many Natives people from mainland US and Alaska have traditional non-European names.
How does Facebook police names and determine what name is real and what name is not?