Your Username/Persona.

[doughishere]

This is something to think about as you progress through your life but you have a digital footprint that is very real and doesnt take much talent other than putting a few keywords in a google search.

 

I'm not going to get all preachy and ive made my share of mistakes through life but it is something you should consider and think about. I do from time to time.

 

The internet wont go away. The information stored on it wont go away. Videos/Comments/Tweets/Whatever. For instance people are watching every tweet Elon Musk makes and recording them in a time line. Tweets are being used in court cases...SMS text messages are being used in court cases as evidence. These types of things.

 

Your messages and internet traffic may be being routed through god knows what. Apps are saving messages hidden on your phones.....these things are real.

 

And this isnt just about politics or the latest outrage. You can literally view old Michael Burry posts from 2000 and before. Theyre not even that hard to find.

 

http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=578997

 

http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=1216693

 

http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=12689567

 

 

 

These are just examples and the same goes for me. Just some thoughts.

[ragnarisapirate]

It’s a shame that the natural result of this is that there will be less of an exchange of ideas, which was one of the great hopes for these technologies.

[DTEJD1997]

It’s a shame that the natural result of this is that there will be less of an exchange of ideas, which was one of the great hopes for these technologies.

 

A lot of truth and things to think about here....

 

One of the things I've considered doing is getting a "burner" system and using TOR or other system to mask your IP.

 

I have heard stories/rumors of certain websites being recorded/backed up (by 3rd parties NOT law enforcement) and all of the posters IP recorded.  Mind you, these are not illegal OR crazy OR porno sites...

 

If you are really concerned about privacy, I guess that you have to be a step or three ahead of others...

[LC]

Honestly, screw that. I don't "hold back" just because you can track down my identity. Fuck it, I have free speech and I plan on using it. If my boss wants to fire me because of my opinions, so be it.

[StubbleJumper]

So, try to engage people with courtesy and dignity.  It doesn't always work that way, but if you succeed almost all of the time, your digital footprint is not an albatross around your neck.  The use of a basic pseudonym is also a straightforward way to discourage anybody but the most enthusiastic of sleuths.  Sanj knows my true identity, but I don't worry about it.  If it's revealed, it's revealed.  I have little to hide.  The pseudonym has been appropriate to insulate my former employers from whatever I post on the internet, but it's not the end of the world if that anonymity is lost.

 

SJ

[rb]

So, try to engage people with courtesy and dignity.  It doesn't always work that way, but if you succeed almost all of the time, your digital footprint is not an albatross around your neck.  The use of a basic pseudonym is also a straightforward way to discourage anybody but the most enthusiastic of sleuths.  Sanj knows my true identity, but I don't worry about it.  If it's revealed, it's revealed.  I have little to hide.  The pseudonym has been appropriate to insulate my former employers from whatever I post on the internet, but it's not the end of the world if that anonymity is lost.

 

SJ

Basically this. I don't see the reason why you should go ahead and behave like an absolute dick just because the internet may provide you with some veil of anonymity. But for reason people do. But I wouldn't write anything here that I wouldn't say to someone in person.

 

Then there's always common sense on how to use the internet. I don't post drunk pictures of myself on Instagram and I don't feel the need to "share" everything about myself. As an example, if you don't get hired because your prospective employer is concerned about hiring on alcoholic because of all the pictures you have on facebook or instagram of you partying, it's not the internet's fault. It's your fault.

 

The one thing that's really changed with technology is not the Internet's seemingly ability to back up stuff. It's that today there's always a camera next to you ready to record you and document usually your bad deeds. Every single one of us has done something bad or something we're not proud of at one point or another. In the past it was a private matter that you would end up regretting or making amends for. Today It has a very real possibility of being a public issue and well documented. My guess is that technology usage etiquette will evolve in society otherwise everyone will be a villain.

[Pelagic]

The other end of the spectrum is a site like Quora where users are required to use their real name and there are millions of users asking and answering questions with their own name. All you'd have to do is Google the person's name and if they've written answers on Quora you would have a wealth of information about them. Personally I don't mind, I enjoy reading, participating, and occasionally answering questions on Quora more than I care about what someone can find when they Google me.