Re "The Real Name Fallacy"

["Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From
Date: Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 3:52 AM
Subject: Re: [IP] Re "The Real Name Fallacy"
To: <dave () farber net>


 [Dave - this is for IP list - please remove my real name if you decide to
publish it].



The only thing the requirement for real names in social networks produces
is an enormous chilling effect on the writing by exactly the category of
people we would all want to read and learn from: smart, aware of the
realities of life, having opinions of their own, and desiring to talk about
things which actually matter rather than engage in verbal mutual grooming.



Smart - because smart people are interested in big and often controversial
issues. Meaningless chatter about celebrity antics and greatness of Burning
Man is for dullards.



Only a person totally oblivious to how corporate business works uses his
real name to discuss anything remotely politically sensitive on-line. The
rest of us understands very well that the first thing an HR dept does upon
receiving a qualified resume is on-line search to see any dirt (in the eyes
of the HR drone) which may justify tossing the resume into trash can.  In
many cases this "vetting" could be totally illegal, but the law is also
totally unenforceable here. Besides "I was rejected because lady in HR
disliked my joke about cats" isn't going to impress the judge. Same goes
for the people searching dirt on their opponents in corporate political
games, etc. No one who has any awareness of the reality would want to
conflate personal with professional.



Now, the mindless parrots merely regurgitating approved blabber from the
mainstream press are probably reasonably safe. They also are absolutely
boring. Thank you, I can read WaPo myself. The only interesting speech is
by those who have to say something new or different and have mind of their
own.



Finally... nobody cares about pictures of cats, vacation photos, or stories
about how great the last party was. It's content-free, it is nothing more
than mutual grooming. I like yours, you like mine. Nothing wrong with that,
but, please, I have a mind which needs something more complicated than
simian camaraderie.



The obvious and observable result is terrifying dullness of social networks
- and willing and widespread disrespect of the "real names only" policies
by virtually everyone whose words I may be interested in reading (and who
haven't yet secured an unassailable position of a tenured professor or a
housewife).



And, yes, I'm one of those who got banned by Facebook for not using my real
name. I consider it beneath myself to use Photoshop to bypass the
idiotically easy identity check FB requires, so I'm not coming back to that
platform, ever.



Yours,



A guy who helped to destroy nuclear armed evil empire, built first ISP in a
big chunk of the planet, ran a team which made a Unix clone way before
Linus T. became a student, invented the only practical way to switch
packets at Tbps speeds, etc, and engaged in other stuff I'm not willing to
ever mention anywhere close to my real name.



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