Google & Facebook Are Pushing To Replace Anonymity Online For Real Identities Only: Good Idea Or Bad?

I think this is a good idea as the amount of stalkers on the internet will lessen.

Thanks for commenting Raul--there area advantages and disadvantages.

If you don't want to use your real name then don't go online. Websites will be more profitable also. Advertisers do not want to sell adds to accompany stories written by phony people.

well I know how you feel Robert! As I said above, there are many advantages but we can deny there is a scary downside.

Very good idea thanks for nice sharing rated up

I think using our real identities would improve the civility of the conversations. BTW, Veronica--that image is an outstanding match for this post!

Thanks Billie--I too love that pic!

I agree with what everyone said - it is a good idea. Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome Lj----the pluses and perils of modern technology!

People would be less likely to post the stolen work of others.

well that is the best part of the real identities!

This is absolutely NOT a good idea,this is pushing their control grid agenda further and further, the NWO's agenda is to get the peoples using FB, myspace, twitter, google even more enmeshed within their weapons of control. They have already endoctrinated millions of youth socially conditioned them into these systems so that their lives might seem empty without these tools which have been aggressively pushed in the last 10 years. Their plan is electronic monetary control and also to have a real-time human control grid, be warned,this is not for the good of humanity.

Thanks for commenting---everyone should have a choice for they stand to benefit from this move but we cannot discount that people hide behind anonymity to bully, demean, harass, threaten, steal on line.

wonderfully written and informative report thank you for sharing rated up

Thanks for the support.

I believe we should use real names. I have nothing to hide and if I say something to make people mad then I take the blame. If you aren't big enough to back it up then don't say it. Good story

Thanks Orakul.....real names cuts down on the criminal behaviour but also gives google and facebook a lot of control over our lives!

thanks for the report Veronica.

This is a step in the right direction. Please see my article on cyberstalking and harassment. The use of fake names is addressed with deadly consequences.

We are not allowed to use fake names when getting a library card, credit card or taking out an ad in the newspaper. I can't think of any instances when the use of fake identities are allowed, encouraged or tolerated.

Our identity is our passport to credibility. People who choose to use fake names usually have a reason for hiding.

Please see my article on cyberstalking.
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10390313-cyberstalking-and-harassment-how-to-identify-react-and-report

Thanks for the support as usual Dava...will check it out.

I too wrote about online bullying a few months ago and I know it can have deadly consequences. The ironic thing is revealing true identities can also contribute to the same deadly results! Plus the library etc doesn't sell our info to third parties so that's a bit different.

the internet and all it's devices are a control grid being rolled out for humanity, again, if you are willing to trade everything you are as a human for safety, you will have neither safety nor freedom.

I really have not thought about this or examined the issue to have much of an informed opinion. I can see there are dangers in revealing true identities but obvious advantages too. How is that for waffling. This is not usual for me!

Good! That shows it is an interesting topic to ponder!

There will be unintended consequences, such as less privacy and more susceptibility to identity theft. There will be more monitoring of what people say and do. In a way, it could prevent an honest exchange of ideas since more people will be afraid to speak their minds out of a fear that they will be targeted for what they say. Not such a good idea, in my opinion. Northsunm32 is right - there are dangers and some advantages, but I would hope the choice can continue to rest with the individual user.

The right does not rest with the user now. It lies with the owner of the Website. It you don't want to use your name then write it on a wall some place.

We should start all over and recognize that the real username comes from the IP provider, not a Website like allvoices.

i find you rather aggressive RW on this point, so you would not want the individual to have a choice, there are many more dangers in putting up our real details, than not,so there is a potential market here then for websites who will permit their users to choose!

One of the problems is that in the days when the printing press was supreme, a reporter or columnist would be at least somewhat protected by the institutional power of the particular entity for whom he or she worked, be it the New York Times or the Pudunk Press. But even that isn't always enough, as witnessed by the assassination of Oakland Trubune reporter Chauncey Bailey over his critical coverage of the black Muslim community in Oakland.

So what this push for full disclosure might bring about, in my opinion, is less open discourse because of an underlying fear that being on the "wrong" side could lead to reprisals. A blogger friend of mine who supported Obama in 2008 got jumped in a parking lot by some goons with, shall we say, interests in seeing Obama lose. They didn't rough him up too badly, but they sent a message.

Let the user choose, I say. As Robert Weller pointed out, the "real" user name, the one that can be tracked, comes from the IP provider. If Google and Facebook want people to be "nicer" when they comment and exchange ideas, that is great. So why not deal directly with that issue rather than forcing people to make themselves more vulnerable and open to public scrutiny?

Another example would be the Board of Directors of a large corporation. Do they have to reveal their identities every time they speak on behalf of the "brand" they are affiliated with? No. We can find that information out if we are diligent enough, but a name like "Burger Foods" or "Grocery Shop Store" or FU Repeatedly Corp. are like user names for the people with much more power than online scribes sharing their thoughts with the world.

If corporations can obscure their true identities, so can people. Human rights and corporate rights are not mutually exclusive - at least not yet.

Some excellent points Punditty--I too can see the pluses and the minuses. I have been verbally abused on here and sometimes it is scary with your identity out there!

good news sharing ,,,,rated up

Well, I think it is a good idea. Good report, rated up!