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What If: No Social Media Anonymity (Edit) (infosec.pub)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by MSgtRedFox@infosec.pub to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Question for the masses because I'm curious:

What do you think social media would be like if there was no anonymity?

Is it fair to say some people behave differently online because of anonymity?

Would it be good or bad if everything you posted could be tied back to you by your friends, family, employer, etc?

Some obvious concerns people express:

personal safety
freedom to express views contrary to community, government, etc without retaliation
fear of stigmas related to support, education, etc for stigma topics like mental health, sexuality, etc

What reasons do you have for not wanting to own your online identity other than being able to talk trash without being identified? Some people are public and still talk a lot of trash, looking at you Twitter.

You you got doxed, what do you think the impact would be just related to social media conduct?

Edit: With the introduction of online protections for minors, how does that affect the question?

Not from a political standpoint but from a technology one, how do you see that even working?

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[–] MSgtRedFox@infosec.pub -4 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Hmm, I trust the government because I don't have a choice. Same for my ISP. Same for MS, Google, LinkedIn. They all mine data to compile and sell for ads. I don't really care, I don't buy crap I don't want.

A guy named 'Jerry' runs the instance my account is on. I guess I wouldnt care if he knew who I was. It would be nice if I knew exactly who he was since he owns all our data in his systems.

Abuse in mild forms is a matter of opinion. I'm indifference to data mining in return for free services because I don't buy crap I don't want. I mostly hate advertising because it's a distraction and you never get more time. Ever.

Abuse towards identity theft already happens every moment of the day. If the government provided digital identity services that could be used to sign in everything, maybe I wouldn't have to put my social security number into anything anymore.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Hmm, I trust the government because I don’t have a choice

It's my understanding that the Arab spring was partially possible because of social media like Twitter which allowed organized protests against the government.

Another huge problem with real names is internet creeps doxxing women. If teens go to extraordinary effort to uncover the real names of people like Boxxy, then there would be a huge increase in online stalking if getting a real name was trivial.

As to Jerry watching your instance, a volunteer doing Lemmy as a hobby means there would likely be huge security lapses as time goes on and Jerry can't keep up with maintenance because of work/family obligations.

If you think real names are useful, then you could post your name and address right now instead of using a handle. It would be the start of a real name movement that is opt in instead of forced.

(The reason for name and address is to identify the unique John Smith from the other John Smith's. Otherwise people with common names keep their anonymity and people with unusual names are identified. )

[–] dezmd@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The irony of having an account on infosec.pub and not understanding even basic needs for personal infosec.

Did you ever know a world without smartphones in your adult life?

[–] MSgtRedFox@infosec.pub 0 points 11 months ago

What do you take issue with?

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

"I trust the government"

🤣

[–] MSgtRedFox@infosec.pub 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'd rather someone explain why they don't like something then just down vote it. Seems lazy? I usually only down vote low effort or trash talk.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 0 points 11 months ago

Seems you answered your own question