Anonymity, besides just being a hard word to spell, used to be the defacto code of the internet. Not giving out your personal details on the internet was as after-school-special-’d as looking both ways before crossing the street. Now though times have changed, websites not only now ask for your real name, but insist.

I first heard of Quora a few days ago in a free www.shortlist.com, which described it as the next Twitter (the creators being former Facebook enlists). It describes it as the best of Facebook/Twitter/Digg and most importantly Yahoo Answers. I was intrigued, but what made me sign up was the tidbit that Ashton Kutcher had an account (the tidbits are exactly why I read shortlist). I can’t give my verdict on Quora, but it is definitely generating a lot of buzz to be the Yahoo Answers killer and more. While I’m sure they’re focusing on the ‘more’, if it could actually do a decent job of what Yahoo Answers is trying to achieve, I’m sold.

So signing up is refreshingly simple, you can link it to your existing social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter only, sorry MySpace users, get with the times), give your real name and you’re off.

I still have gripes with giving out my personal information on the internet, and when I hit the infamous real name stage, I gave a pseudonym; Ozzy.

Nope, rejected. Ok how about….Ozzy M.

No deal. Your AJAX is swift and unforgiving Quora, well take a hit of: Ozzy Moore (My facebook and twitter name).

Success! My account was created and off I went. I then quickly got distracted by Facebook and never looked at the site again; until I found a note from a moderator in my inbox a day later.

Pssh. I’m a rebel internet user, you can’t tell me what to do silly internet start up! Don’t bring your ex-Facebook ways on me! And who are you to say Ozzy Moore isn’t my real name anyway. I responded with the following:

Heh, that’ll show those Facebook creators a thing or 2, my English mates don’t call me a 'Cheeky bastard’ for nothing. If Mr Osbourne can use Ozzy well dammit so can I. Put on some Rage Against the Machine and suck it, Admin. A day went by, and I received the following:



Identification? Are you serious? I was actually furious. This isn’t how the internet works, you don’t put your real information out there to be stolen. You might end up like Sandra Bullock in the Net!! It was a Saturday, and I decided to take my cheeky bastard level to new heights. I responded with:





The infamous email read:



Hi guys!



Here is a copy of my identification as requested by one of your admins. I usually fax official documents, but I thought for speed it would be quicker to simply take a picture.



Have a good weekend!



Regards,



Sir Ozzy Moore esq.



(with this attached)





Oh you should have seen the smug grin I had on my face. It was the grin of a winner, no, the grin of a champion. A man who spat in the face of authority, I took one for the little guy; the internet will be anonymous, and it will be silly. A few hours later my account had been disabled. OK I didn’t win the fight, but who cares, I made a point!



In seriousness, why did I waste precious time to do this and not just close my account if I felt so serious about internet anonymity? Well firstly I’m just generally a dick, but most of all because I truly believe in the old internet, where we are not individuals but the sum of our parts. I say the 'old internet’ because I know that this era is over, whether we accept it or not.





Anonymous is (and I choose my words carefully here) an internet group/way of life, that was born on the image board www.4chan.org. They are modern day anarchists. I say anarchist in the most literal sense of the word; if the internet was a classic story, their character would be Chaos. They exist only to shake things up, sometimes for good and sometimes just to be trolls. You may recognize their protesting stunts a few years ago against Scientoligists:





Or 2009’s Youtube Porn day, where members uploaded porn with names to entice little kids to see them (e.g. Jonas brothers, or to translate to 2011, Justin Bieber).



However Anonymous are more than this; they have helped Iranians spread the word of oppression when they faced rigged elections, or knocked off websites that spread Egyptian propaganda during the 2011 protests. They are organized and they get things done. Most importantly they are all anonymous, and they are able to change things because of this. They could not exist in an internet with identities.



In January 2011 Barack Obama announced a new office which will be focused on trusted online identity technologies. While they promise that this will not be national ID cards, it will be a form of identifying yourself. To be frank it is hard enough to stay anonymous on the internet as it is, ask the RIAA who routinely find internet pirates to send to court. Good luck in 5 years getting away with calling someone a Nazi under a youtube puppy video.



What convinces me that this is something we cannot avoid is what the big companies have to gain from it: information. With your identity (and they already do it with Facebook), they can track your habits and shopping preferences. For example if one of your interests on Facebook is skiing, you’ll begin to see adverts with the best time shares in Aspen that you can’t afford. Its here already and its happening. Companies will do anything to get better targeted advertising.



Is this really a bad thing though? If I like to ski, then I don’t need to see an offer for a romantic getaway walking on hot hot coals. Also, one of the great parts of the internet has been the ability or barter and trade; ebay being a shining example. With identities in place, it can take the fear out of the equation and put confidence behind transactions. To get, you have to give sometimes.



About an hour ago I received this in my email:



:D, score one for the little guy!



Upon logging in, a message from Marc Bodnick (one of Quora’s big partners, and if you didnt know, kind of a big deal) awaited me. He said that there had been a mistake and my account had been activated again. Hats off to you Marc; I appreciate anyone who can take a joke.



I have since changed my Quora login to have my real name (hell, look at my blog url) and I have no hard feelings. I had to ask Marc, why the big fuss about real names; he pointed me to their policy pages which explicitly state that you must use your full name. However there do seem to be users who share the same frustrations as I do with not being able to have nicknames (policy)

Xeno Phrenia • Dec 2, 2010



Is it fair to knock Quora for this policy? Well one of the appeals to Quora seems to be that, you can get good answers from experts, not just MaryJane2001. So when Zuckerberg gives you tips on the perfect profile pic, you’ll probably take it that much more seriously.

Is this a world I’d like to live in? I am not sure; I like to think that identities online are for the better, but I know that they are the future. For now I’ll enjoy my internet anonymity.

Stay cool. - Oz Oscar

(I’ll get used to it one day)