Just a nobody

Anonymous has all the best quotes.

- Anonymous

When it comes to surfing the internet, anonymous is precisely what I strive to become (and to remain so). I do my best to keep my full name and location secret to you, my readers, and I withhold any information that could lead to my identification, including my picture. And yet, by virtue of sharing myself through this and other blogs, and through the many other means of interaction on the Web, I become increasingly less anonymous every day. Still, I strive ever more to remain, at least to you readers, simply Rachel.

Why do I fight to keep my anonymity? Basically, so that I can say what I want without reprisals. I don't use this in a negative way, however, as you would already be aware. I mean this in the sense that I can comment on issues and people in ways that they also remain anonymous, which is only fair to them.

Is this freely-available anonymity a good thing? Time and time again, when I overhear stories of web-stalkers and virus manufacturers, I begin to question whether anonymity is good for us. Sometimes it unleashes an inner monster, and we find that people say and do things to others (real people) that they would never imagine doing were they not name-and-face-less.

And yet, if we are not anonymous, we no longer have a place to connect on a different level with others - a place where we can take off the masks we wear in real life and allow people to connect with the deeper parts of ourselves. I would ask, is this form of interaction any less real than 'real life', where we usually don't show others our inner selves because we are too afraid of the very real experience of rejection?

I don't think (even if it were desirable) that it is possible to eradicate anonymity from the Web. We are, therefore, obliged to address its negative results and to appreciate the positives. I personally prefer to view it as a framework, through which positive life change can be achieved among those who I would never be able to engage were they not anonymous.