Ignoring the expense and risks associated with verification, anonymity is the absence of constraints imposed by identity. Free from that particular restriction, you can create and wear whatever mask you want.
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The range of self-expression is wider because you can be all of your selves — even those you don't know about yet. Try doing that among your IRL friends — it's much harder because violated social predictability doesn't invite positive feedback. Anon detaches the expectation.
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That's not to say anonymous is all good. It's just that the impulse to associate every online identity with a traditional offline one, defensively, is really bad medicine. TL;DR: Anonymity is good, actually.
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Replying to @generativist
Do you think true anonymity is the good thing or is it more the separation from offline identity? I love online accounts that maintain IRL anonymity but nonetheless claim a specific online identity. Full anonymity seems to lead too often to shitposting.
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Replying to @attaboy
Hrm, yea saying "anon" specifically may have been a poor choice of words. Mostly, I favor the separation, as well as anything that invites people to be more than one thing. I think pure anon (each post a singleton identity) has it's place but they dynamics are generally bad.
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I do go back and forth though. For example, I really do wonder what it would be like if you could post as anon on twitter, but on the backend, any abuse stats accrue towards your main. Low-friction sincere preference revelation — if the anti-abuse part worked (gigantic if).
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