Real ID and the necessity of anonymity

Edit: We did it, folks; the change isn't going to happen. Rejoice!

I am publishing this post early because I feel the significance of the events in question warrants it.

Sometimes, the best way to summarize your feelings about recent events is with a loldog.

Boy, have the proverbial feces ever hit the fan on this one! In case you missed it, Blizzard announced that starting some time in July, if you post on the official forums, your real name will be displayed, rather than your character's name. It's a shocker, I know. They are apparently doing this in the hopes of curtailing trolling on the official forums, but it's going to have a lot of negative consequences for decent posters, as well. If this is your first time hearing about this and you haven't had time for the news to sink in yet, I suggest you give it time before you continue reading this post.

Back? Calmer? Good, let's begin.

Blizzard's decision reflects a general trend in the evolution of the internet: privacy is getting harder and harder to have. The ease with which someone with your full name and your general location can look up your address and phone number and--if they are willing to shell out a bit of money--so, so much more, is alarming. In a world that is becoming increasingly connected, staying comfortably and safely detached is getting more difficult. These aren't abstract concerns I'm saying here, either. When community manager Bashiok posted his real name, the community responded by finding out his address, phone number, and the names and ages of his family members using simple Google searches, and using that information to harass him. (though apparently, they may have mistaken a random California resident for Bashiok, for Bashiok may have an unlisted number, but that doesn't make it any less sobering) While I don't agree with their methods, I do agree with the message these rogue googlers are try to send; when people have access to your full name, it can lead to all manor of bad things.

Now, if I were to write this post the way I have written many other posts, I would here propose a hypothetical question contrary to the point I wish to eventually prove, something along the lines of, "Could the lack of anonymity do more good than harm?". I would then examine this question, attempt to answer in the affirmative, and then show all of the problems inherent in an affirmative answer. This time, however, I just can't bring myself to do it. I certainly could do it if I were so inclined. I could talk about how anonymity on the internet has lead to a lack of ownership of one's behavior and perhaps postulate on how seeing people as avatars with user names, rather than real people with real names, leads us to have less empathy for others. (If you are looking for a good article on the subject, I highly recommend Jason McCabe Calacanis's "We Live In Public (and the end of empathy)".) But this is an issue I feel so strongly about that I just can't bring myself to feign an understanding of the other side of the argument, so I'll just have to skip that part.

Put simply, anonymity is not only something we denizens of the internet are accustomed to, it's a necessity. There are just certain parts of our lives, parts frequently made possible by the internet itself, that we don't want the people we meet in our daily lives to know about. For the sake of relevance, I'll go over the one most relevant to us, the WoW community; outside of the gaming community (and the few non-gamers who still support the gaming community) it's still not cool to admit that you are a gamer. Though we, like many sub-cultures, are gaining more respect as the years go on, many still think of the stereotypical pasty, basement-dwelling, no-life stereotype when they think of video gamers. The image of the casual gamer (a category which the majority of gamers fit in to) just hasn't seemed to have caught on, so if an employer Google's your name and sees that you have posted on the WoW forums, he will judge you for that, even if he can't be sure it's really you.

This applies more generally, as well. I can only speak for myself, but as a member of multiple online communities, there are things I may say and do online only because I know I am among like-minded individuals. On this blog, I can talk about WoW as seriously and as critically as I do because I know I'm not likely to be shot down by someone saying, "You take this way to seriously." (which has happened to me before in face-to-face conversations) In the WoW.com comments section, I can be similarly passionate about this game with the comfort of knowing that those who read what I post will not consider it odd that I care about WoW as much as I do. I'm sure you can think of ways this phenomenon applies to you in whatever internet communities you are a part of, WoW-related or otherwise.

What I mean to say by bringing this up is that anonymity is not a bad thing; it is a tool, a tool that has, unfortunately, been used by many as an excuse for bad behavior. But anonymity can be used for good. Someone who is a member of the GLBT community who is not open about their sexuality to the people they know can take advantage of the anonymity of the internet to join an online GLBT group for support in the process of coming out. Someone who is a member of the furry community who may never meet another furry in his life can go online to a furry group and realize that he is not as unusual as he may have thought. A man who is a fan of a show typically aimed at women can go online to find fan groups and use his anonymity to discuss and praise the work without the risk of ridicule. Someone who is a gamer but also has a life outside of gaming can use the fact that online gaming forums are anonymous to discuss his game of choice without the risk of ridicule from those who don't understand the gaming community... oh wait.

But really, the issue of the potential for real-world harassment (a potential we have already seen come to fruition) should be enough to prove that us being forced to use our real names on the forums is a horrible idea. It may curtail trolling (truth be told, it probably won't; I know some trolls in real life, and believe me when I say, trolls will be trolls, no matter what we may do), but it will only encourage trolling's real-world counterparts: harassment and stalking. This is a dangerous path to tread down, Blizzard, both for you and your players; I am begging you to turn back now.