For a long time I've used my full name as my username on the internet, for accountability reasons. That is, if I say something on the internet, I say it knowing that anyone that cares to look for it will be able to find it and attribute it to me in the "real world." I wish I could say that this has always insured that I behave on the internet the way I would in person, but that hasn't always been the case. I'm far more inclined to express anger or disdain than I would be if the actual person I was interacting with was standing right in front of me. Still, it's a lot closer to "real life" when I use my real name, and that's the accountability I was talking about. It's mostly a way to hold myself to account and I'm not worried of backlash from other people. Am I afraid? No. I'm not a racist or a revolutionary. I'm not planning to take down the US government or burn any crosses. If someone wanted to "out" me for things I've said on the internet they would mostly be things I would say in person. I think the internet is a frightening place if you're advocating for things that would disgust people. If you avoid that, what is there to be afraid of? Yours, Dean A. Solecki
This sounds nice, and I would love to believe it works this way, but I have a bad feeling that this is basically the same argument as, regarding privacy, "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." The problem is that what I think is a reasonable thing to argue or advocate may seemingly unreasonably piss someone else off, and then they may go on to have an unreasonable reaction to it. Just as you can't really know the minutiae of all the laws and what seemingly innocent thing could get you into legal trouble, you can't know what statements will put you in someone's crosshairs, even if it's nothing hateful or criminal or disgusting. I try to avoid being a dick online, but I can't say the idea of public accountability in this way really appeals to me. It's not that I'm trying to escape accountability -- I just don't trust myself to the judgment and mercy of the internet. They can judge my words and leave my self alone.
I really liked this. It's something I learned when I used to keep an online journal: to never write something online about somebody I knew IRL that I wasn't prepared to say to them in person. In fact, talk to them in person first.If someone wanted to "out" me for things I've said on the internet they would mostly be things I would say in person.