There are things that I wouldn’t write on this blog because I use my real name. I don’t mean things like my personal life (I’d never write about my personal life whether I was using a pseudonym or not) but even just things about which I feel strongly, but are not necessarily in line with other popularly held opinions.
There have been cases of people being fired for what they write in blogs or on social networking sites. Granted, the cases in which I’ve heard this happening have been fairly justified (employees which somehow compromised the company or its reputation), but it makes me wonder about the extent to which people are judged by what they say or do online and by whom. People will always judge and be judged. However, I think many people find it easier to write about things on the internet, even knowing that it can be potentially read by millions of people, than to say it to people face to face. The internet can give people a false sense of security about what they write and any implications which may result from it, and so people write things they would not otherwise say.
There seems to be a tradeoff between anonymity and accountability. On one hand the online community can be great for saying what you like without implications in the real world (though this can go too far). Obviously this isn’t limited to the internet, people in the real world hide their identities to protect themselves too (eg Banksy), but communicating is much easier on the internet. On the other hand because information on the internet is much easier to find, if you say/write something using your real name, if people have a strong (negative) reaction to what you wrote it can quickly get spread around and blown out of proportion.
There is no real accountability on the internet, unlike in real life where people can see your face and know you. One of the implications is I don’t believe people can form meaningful relationships purely online. I don’t necessarily mean romantic relationships, I mean any relationships where people connect atleast as friends and not just acquaintances. To me this sounds obvious, but I know people (friends) who would claim they are friends with people who they got to know online but have never met face to face. I know that there are online communities to which people can feel strongly attached, whether they be forums or online games or whatever. However, in terms of forming non-trivial relationships with people, I think you need more than just text (or even video/webcams). A big part of this comes down to accountability. I believe accountability is prerequisite to any non-trivial relationship and any relationship in which someone can avoid being accountable is trivial. In the real world you are forced to deal with situations which online you can just avoid (accidentally or deliberately).
The format and ease of communication facilitated by the internet is not always good. I especially believe that easy, text-only communication via email or instant messaging trivializes communication and hinders the ability to form meaningful relationships online. There’s no obligation, nothing which really ties you to any responsibility or to commit to a relationship. Even if you chat with someone on IM or send many emails to someone so that you’re familiar with what they doing each day, the lack of meeting and chatting face to face and the additional aspects of real life communication can result in a shallow relationship. You know what the other person has been doing but not how they feel… I find it very difficult to discern any emotional responses through text alone.
Maybe I’m just old fashioned…