nCircle Sync Blog

College, Computer Science major. The tool of choice - an expensive HP calculator. The first thing I did was engrave my name and drivers license number on the back. Certainly, that would thwart off the threat of theft. Fast forward a few months to summer break where I was returning to contract work with TK (of course we didn't call him TK back then). On day one of my return to the software company, I trudged into work with that calculator safely tucked away in my backpack. My plan? To show it off to TK. He'd be so enthralled, so interested to see such a cool gadget. With corners of mouth pointing to the sky,

"Hey dude, check out this calculator I've been using at college."
TK: "Wow, this thing is nuts". After a few minutes of key pressing, he flips it over. "Um, hey dude, nice disclosure of privacy there."
"What are you talking about?" I inquire.
TK points out my flaw, "You've posted your name and drivers license number for all the world to see. Not to mention, I kind of doubt that this will thwart off a theft or even help you recover it if it were stolen."

I guess he was right. What a dork. Not only did I knowingly disclose my own information, but also I managed to deface my cool calculator in the process. So much for trying to resell it later.

Back in October, I posted an intentionally humorous question about how each of you protects your own privacy. Truth be told, these are part of my own list of personal privacy security measures. (No I don't wear tin foil undergarments). I learned an important lesson in those days working for TK. One might say he unintentionally molded my into a "security nut". I became a new person, or rather changed into just a phantom. You would have been hard pressed to find me at all.

I enjoy reading Jaron Lanier. He is one of those scientists and authors who make sense by stating the obvious. Or rather it may not have been obvious to you until you read it. In his ongoing line of writings regarding groupthink and the Internet, he comments on anonymity and how it affects collective communities like Wikipedia, YouTube and MySpace. "Beware the online collective" is his recent publication from December 2006. I read the piece and quietly said my typical response, "Well Duh". This short essay managed to get stuck in my head since December. It was not until now that I know why.

Like many people, I have profiles on many of the popular community sites. On all but one of these accounts I use a pseudonym. I'm probably not unlike many other people who either don't trust the company running the site, or simply would like to participate, but in private. A lurker of sorts. I haven't changed my identity, nor am I anonymous. I'm just sitting there like a span port.

Amy Bruckman is another one of my valued researchers and authors. A long time ago, I used to help run a MOO. She became famous to me at that time as she was using the online community of MOOs to understand human psyche in the online world. One of her findings, poorly paraphrased, is that persons with online identities eventually become themselves again online. As hard as we try to build a different persona, or even change gender online, we eventually return to our true selves.

Well, as it turns out, Jaron and Amy are correct. I'm one of those anonymous persons participating in the mass groupthink revolution. And yes, you'll discover I have a different identity. Not even my best friends know my MySpace profile name. Times have changed, however.

Today is a different day. You might say I exist again. There is my picture on our blog and it's not so difficult to find me in Google. Being a real person again online is refreshing. I learned that you if you want to enact change, you can't do so from behind the curtain. More importantly, if you buy an expensive calculator, don't engrave your drivers license number on it.

I still own that calculator.