Tying Real Life Identity to Online Identity Is Complicated

> I am seeing increasing calls for real life identity to be a fundamental part of online presence, especially in places like Twitter where disinformation thrives... Enforcing identity is great at reducing problems for you as long as you’re straight, white, male, and American. For others it’s not quite as clear cut

Requiring online real life identity for the internet is a terrible idea, even for straight while male Americans. For starters, it means handing the internet over to corporations who serve as gatekeepers to approve your participation. I think every one knows the risks of posting as yourself online:

- You are required to dox yourself to participate

- Most sites except Snapchat keep a history of everything you posted, for decades

- Most sites except Facebook require you post to the world

- Some group in the world may take great offense. Because of the above they have plenty of ammunition to come after you

Experimenting with identities isn't just for teenagers. Many people who have suffered abuse don't know who they are so they experiment with anonymous identities to find out who they are. Personal identity changes as well. Say you grew up poor and had the attitudes of your local culture, but then you go to college and find out you have are talented and become an art director at a museum or a finance officer at a corporation. You are essentially a different person at this point. Do you really want people to pull up your posts from when you were ignorant?

My Facebook is as bland as the Hallmark Greeting Card aisle at the local pharmacy because people are forced to use their real identity and thus are afraid to express an even mildly controversial opinion.

But on the other hand, if corps started enforcing real identity, I could see it giving a real boost to alternate networks and web3, so that might be interesting.