internet diaries and screennames, dog brain:
I've felt like an absolute freak since myspace, because I just don't want to put my picture up, or tell everyone about where I live and work. Recently I was watching a video and the topic of online interactions came up, and people were saying that you HAVE to video chat or how do you know who you're talking to???? And I just... maybe it's the neurodivergence but I can't imagine needing to stare into a laggy webcam image to NEED to know someone. I don't need you to doxx yourself to see you as a human being worthy of taking up some space on this Earth or this internet. Anyone who does, honestly, is a fucking freak.
I've found myself coming around to this way of thinking recently, as somebody who has done effectively the opposite and used their real name and face online for over a decade. On the one hand, the damage is done — but it doesn't quite feel entirely pointless to start using anonymous accounts on web services.
How being anonymous feels online also depends on the environment, in my experience. As opposed to simply being anonymous on a platform that is kicking, screaming, and crying out to scrape every single piece of identifiable information about you, being anonymous in a sea of other anonymous users completely changes the entire mindset. You're not part of a secret, guilty minority — you're among friends!
Modern takes on web-2.0-era sites like Neocities, or the more literal SpaceHey, are great examples of this, and games like Hypnospace Outlaw became popular for emulating the "wild west" feeling of the early internet (very successfully imo, it's a great game and you should play it if you were on the internet at any point during the late 90s or early 2000s).
All in all, I echo the sentiments of this article. Not knowing what somebody looks or sounds like irl doesn't inhibit a real, personal connection — just as knowing those things doesn't prove a solid relationship.
15/08/24