A long time ago (2010), on the internet we still use today, a company came out with a statement.
Blizzard, the once-renowned game developer, released the idea of Real ID. You could use your real name to find your friends online, so they said.
However, their real intentions became clear when they announced that anyone posting on their forums would have to do so using Real ID, their real name. As of right now, you can post using a fake name or "gamer tag."
This was an effort to combat toxicity on their forums, or players being nasty to each other. If you called someone a mean name or a slur, you’d have to attach your name to it.
Maybe if you’re older or bitter that someone with a Dragon Ball Z profile picture and a fake name like “Vegeta’s Welcome Mat,” called you a dipshit on the internet, you might approve of this decision. Blizzard, after community backlash, still thought it was a good idea.
It kind of makes sense, if you ignore the nature of people online. If you want to say something controversial, out of pocket, or mean, stand by it; don’t hide behind a fake name.
To buckle down and prove that posting under your real name isn’t a big deal, Blizzard employee and community manager Micah Whipple posted his full name.
By 4:06 pm of the same day, someone had compiled his age, address, phone number, the names of his family members, his Facebook, and even his favorite music and movies and posted them to the internet for everyone to see.
I won’t post any of that here.
Soon after, Blizzard announced they weren’t going forward with Real ID.
That was a case of pissed-off gamers expressing their displeasure at a corporate decision. You can argue they went overboard; I won’t, but an argument can be made.
I’ve watched the fallout of people getting their real names and locations posted online. There are “harmless” consequences, like a bunch of pizza orders getting sent to someone’s house. Then there are more harmful outcomes, like SWAT officers being sent to someone’s home. This practice, called swatting, can have lethal consequences.
Micah Whipple’s mother had nothing to do with Real ID. She had nothing to do with the policy, or Micah’s decision to post his real name. However, her real name got posted to hundreds, maybe thousands, of strangers.
When internet denizens decide to take things too far, innocent people get caught in the crossfire. Innocent people can get hurt when SWAT is called in. Innocent people can be the victims of real-life harassment.
This also brings up a different point.
The people swatting, releasing information, and making phony pizza orders always have anonymity.
The guy who calls SWAT officers to your home won’t give out his real name. The person calling your employer to tattle won’t give out their name. The people harassing your family members won’t be doing so under their real names.
The man who posted Micah Whipple’s information did so under a pseudonym on a different forum.
This isn’t always the case.
In July 2017 reddit user HanAssholeSolo posted a gif of Donald Trump tackling and beating up CNN. Donald Trump got a hold of it, and retweeted it.
CNN soon found his identity and posted this.
Whether CNN blackmailed this man is debatable. Most journalists agree that CNN was "unethical" by threatening to release his real name to the public. CNN states that the man said “he was not threatened in any way.” but HanAssholeSolo still deleted his account.
A major news outlet has your name and is threatening to publish it should you put a toe out of line.
I’d be fucking spooked, too.
As with Micah Whipple, we can see what the internet can do with just a name.
None of these people had their personal information obtained or released for a good reason.
Micah Whipple became the face of a bad company decision. HanAssholeSolo drew the ire of legacy media. Mark Herring, the man who died while being swatted, had a Twitter handle someone else wanted. He was swatted in an attempt to bully him into giving it up.
People are doxed for the dumbest reasons by the most vile of people. Most of the time, people aren’t committing crimes; they aren’t a danger to themselves or others. But people still take things to the extreme.
It’s why fake names and alternate accounts are important. It protects people’s safety and privacy. Furthermore, it protects the safety and privacy of those you care about.
People should be allowed to speak their minds without fear of being harassed.
Plato, the famous Greek philosopher—that's not his real name. That’s a wrestling nickname. His real name has been lost to time.
Our founding fathers, men who fought in a war and built the political structure of this country, argued for a federalist constitution under the pseudonym “Publius” in The Federalist Papers.
George Orwell is not his name; that’s Eric Blair. Voltaire’s real name is François‐Marie Arouet. Samuel Clemens is better known as Mark Twain.
Fake names are not some invention of cowards on the internet; they are a time-honored tradition used by people around the world for various reasons.
The people using fake names are doing so for the reasons you want them to use their real names. You want to inflict real-world consequences on someone for something dumb they said.
I’ve had people threaten to bash my skull in during an argument I can’t even remember. I had a grown ass man, married and with children, threaten to beat me up over an argument about kids playing Minecraft.
The fact that people jumped to violence over a disagreement is, frankly, fucking dumb.
This has been Michael Vincent Hawthorne of the Midnight Variety Hour. Thank you to my new subscribers. You are very much appreciated.