This article begins to fill that gap in the literature through a case study of a specific site of pseudonymous identity practice: the subreddit r/gonewild, which enables women (and occasionally men) to post nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves. Research still must fill gaps that “provide greater nuance to identity practices online” by examining specific contexts in which pseudonymity or anonymity enable social practices that would be rendered difficult, if not impossible, with a totalizing embrace of the “real name” Internet. While researchers have recognized the value in the identity construction enabled by social practices of pseudonyms and anonymity, as Bernie Hogan argues, “there is much work to be done both academically and politically”. As these sources argue, pseudonymity can protect users’ security while enabling them to participate freely online without the fears of “context collapse” that come with using “real names.” On the other side of the debate, online activists such as Chris Poole and scholars such as danah boyd (2011) and Bernie Hogan (2013) have argued for the benefits of pseudonymity and anonymity.
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Blizzard embraced the “Real ID” to force gamers to tie their accounts to their offline identities (Blizzard Entertainment, 2014). The news site Huffington Post changed its commenting function so that people could only comment through their Facebook identities (Kirkland, 2014). He is certainly not alone Google+ was originally designed so that people had to sign up using real names. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is the current face of the “real-name” movement. The debate between people who embrace what has been called the “real name” Internet and those who see the value in the flexible identities of pseudonymity and anonymity has come to a head. The main contribution of the article is to provide a specific account of the costs of a totalizing embrace of the “real name” Internet.Īnonymity, authenticity, and the search for the selfĪuthenticity on Reddit Gonewild: The construction of the prismatic selfĪnonymity on Reddit Gonewild: Being seen while keeping safeĬonclusion: What would be lost in a move to the “real name” Internet? This article provides a detailed account of the behaviors enabled through pseudonymous identity construction through a case study of the subreddit r/gonewild. While much has been written about the benefits of anonymity and pseudonymity, there is a lack of published research examining specific practices enabled by pseudonyms. On the other side of the debate are scholars such as danah boyd and Bernie Hogan and sites such as 4chan and Reddit that view anonymity and pseudonymity as important to how people construct identity online.
Facebook demands that people use their real names and is one of the leading forces behind the push towards a “real name” Internet. On one side of the debate is Facebook, the world’s largest social network site. Anonymity, pseudonymity, and the agency of online identity: Examining the social practices of r/GonewildĪ debate is currently raging regarding the value of anonymity online.