Subtle Vengeance

It’s pretty obvious who I am. I’ve spent the better part of two years consolidating my online presence. I use basically the same screen name everywhere, and I post my real name where appropriate. I have a consistent identity on the internet. Why don’t you?

I’d like to start by talking a little about paranoia. Yes, there have been some incidents of ugliness with stalkings and child predators and the like. I’m not saying in any way that this is not a concern. But I’m not a child. I’m speaking from the perspective of an adult in his mid-late twenties.

This fellow is wearing a costume called "Midnight Stalker." He does not concern me.

So ruling out stalking, because nobody wants to rape me and anyone who starts following me around will find themselves answering to Calgary’s finest, what other reason would I have to hide? Financial attacks? Well, since I’m not publishing my Social Insurance Number or my credit card or bank info – hell, you probably won’t even find my street address unless you’re on my friends list – it’d be damn hard for someone to steal my… debts? Wait a minute, maybe I wouldn’t mind having my identity stolen.

Totally how I would deal with theft.

Then there’s the touchy subject of religion. Or is there? I live in Canada, one of the most progressive countries in the world. There is virtually no religious bias here. It’s a non-issue. It only really enters into conversation if you tackle abortion or gay marriage. In fact, irrelevant fear of discrimination was one of the things that sickened me enough to drop out of the pagan community here in the first place. Only once have I experienced any form of verbal attack over my faith, and that person has since apologized and is still one of my closest friends. Nobody is going to firebomb my apartment, or tell my boss to fire me. Nobody will take my child away or deport my wife. So that’s no reason to hide.

Being myself online has its advantages, too. Basically, Facebook. By being myself everywhere, I can not only stay in contact with people who I’ve known, but I can also share the things that are important to me with all of them more easily. Anyone who knows me can add me to their instant messaging service of choice, follow my exploits on twitter, read my comic and this blog, and even be notified when any of these things change, automatically.

ON MY WAY TO WORK SUNNY DAY TODAY what? you don't care? okay, I guess maybe I should just tweet this instead...

What it comes down to, though, is honesty and maturity. I feel like my online persona has “grown up,” and I’m ready to be a part of the larger community. I no longer have anything to hide. Hell, I don’t even have any porn on my computer anymore, since I got a kid living in my house. I know, right? Me? No porn? But it’s true.

I also want to take a moment to bitch about those of you who will never read this. Internet non-entities. Modern luddites. PEOPLE I CAN’T FIND ON GOOGLE!

There’s a lot of people I went to high school with who I can look up at any time and see how they’re doing. It’s reassuring to know that my people are off having good lives. But I was curious about this girl, Stephanie, who was nice to me back in 9th grade, who I had this hopeless crush for, right? I sorta wanted to know if she was having an awesome life. Maybe send a message of “Hey, thanks for being nice those couple times when everyone else was giving me shit. You really helped me start on the road toward a decent self-image.” But can I find her online ANYWHERE. Same goes for Tracy, my best friend in University. She just sorta dropped off the grid. And going back even further, my friends from kindergarten to 4th grade… man, those folks are tough to track down. Stupid tiny village.

Like I said, there is a need for some privacy. There is some information you shouldn’t just put out there. But we live in a different age now, one where your online identity is just as important as your offline one. And until we get over the paranoia and start putting ourselves out there as true citizens of the digital world, we are doomed to a self-imposed hell of fear and seclusion.

Oh and if you’re someone from my past, drop me a line, okay? I miss you folks!

~ James Reinsch
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

1. Mike Doyle says:

   December 20, 2009 at 02:03

   I take your point, but my bosses at Fort Mudge and Stoplight State tend to be rather anal:

   http://www.policeone.com/off-duty/articles/1975735-Facebook-comments-cost-Ga-cop-his-job/

   http://www.policeone.com/police-technology/articles/1776582-Two-Wash-officers-fired-over-Facebook-indiscretions/

   Hence, the pen name. I don’t know if they routinely Google the names of their troops, but why take the chance?
2. James says:

   December 20, 2009 at 16:07

   aye.. I’m very careful about what I say about my work, since I have signed some NDA’s about some information. But that has less to do with the internet and more to do with the NDA itself.
3. Mike Doyle says:

   December 20, 2009 at 18:02

   True… and if it were just NDAs, then I wouldn’t fiddle about with pen names, and I could probably get by with, “The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” But, note that the rookie in the Washington State story was fired for having a photo album showing himself in uniform, along with a separate photo album showing him partying. It didn’t become an issue until some anal citizen filed a complaint with an anal supervisor. The hook they hung their hats on was, Conduct Unbecoming – “Words or actions that tend to bring disrepute upon the Patrol or its members” – and they used the fact that a complaint had been filed as evidence of the “disrepute” – never mind whether it was a Mickey Mouse complaint or not. And, particularly in this modern age of litigation, if you’re terminated for cause, no matter how petty, you’re effectively blackballed.

   *sigh* It isn’t particularly fair, but it’s the way it is. And, I figured, why take the chance?