jfruh writes “Imagine that you’re a lawyer who also runs a popular sexual fetish podcast. Or that you’re a blogger on political issues and you want to determine for yourself who you’re going to get into political arguments with. Or you’re a transgender woman who isn’t out to your real-life associates but you want to explore your gender identity online. Or that you’re a female gamer who wants to play World of Warcraft without being hit on or harassed. All of these people have perfectly good reasons for wanting to use a pseudonym online. And yet more and more websites are making it difficult or impossible to do so, often for perfectly legitimate reasons of improving civility and stopping anonymous abuse. How can pseudonymity — one of the key foundations of early internet communities — be saved?”… jfruh writes “Imagine that you’re a lawyer who also runs a popular sexual fetish podcast. Or that you’re a blogger on political issues and you want to determine for yourself who you’re going to get into political arguments with. Or you’re a transgender woman who isn’t out to your real-life associates but you want to explore your gender identity online. Or that you’re a female gamer who wants to play World of Warcraft without being hit on or harassed. All of these people have perfectly good reasons for wanting to use a pseudonym online. And yet more and more websites are making it difficult or impossible to do so, often for perfectly legitimate reasons of improving civility and stopping anonymous abuse. How can pseudonymity — one of the key foundations of early internet communities — be saved?”

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