I have always been a proponent that people should be compelled to ID themselves on the web in full - as in full name and address. Now, IPv6 will allow that level of detail, except no one seems to be implementing it. I believe that this is the only true way to stop Internet trolling, spamming, and scams. I believe it is also the only real way to bring us together as a community. If I know who you are - really know who you are, you can't mislead me with electronic illusions augmenting your small little mind.

However, what is being discussed in the article is not that. It is yet another form of Internet exhibitionism and its twin brother voyeurism. Never has there been so many insecure people battling it out online to present themselves in the most stylish way. But the catch, and the one catch that no one seems to mind, is that none of these exhibition sites are free. They may not cost money, but they do cost privacy - privacy in the sense that your ID is sold to advertising agencies. I've yet to meet someone who likes junkmail - yet the same people will dive headfirst into a website that practically guarentees they'll be front and center on Madison Avenue.

Make no mistake, these sites are around for the sake of making a profit. Selling your name, credentials, perfecting the advertising model aimed at your wallet.

What's the attraction again? You're not gonna meet these people in real life - so who cares what they think of your face? If you do meet them - they don't need to see your face online do they? Are people really this insecure about themselves?

Eigenvector:

I have always been a proponent that people should be compelled to ID themselves on the web in full - as in full name and address... If I know who you are - really know who you are, you can't mislead me with electronic illusions augmenting your small little mind...

Yeah, I remember you now. We went to school together. You were that quiet guy in the front row in Linear Algebra. The teacher's pet if I recall.

"I have always been a proponent that people should be compelled to ID themselves on the web in full - as in full name and address."

I suppose you think our Social Sec numbers should appear right along with it? To hell with any sort of privacy whatsoever.

Eigenvector:

What's the attraction again? You're not gonna meet these people in real life - so who cares what they think of your face? If you do meet them - they don't need to see your face online do they? Are people really this insecure about themselves?

At the risk of sounding condescending, I would suggest that you are coming at this from the standpoint of the pre-internet generation. But for Generation Y and after, it's actually pretty simple. Most of us spend the majority of both our work and free time online. So having a flattering photo is basically the equivalent of making sure your hair doesn't look like crap before leaving the house.

As for meeting people, again this requires a different way of looking at things. Among older people, there's still this idea that meeting people online is a deliberate endeavor you set out to accomplish by going to a dating site - something separate from your regular browsing activity. But for the rest of us, it works the same way as it does in 'real' life - it often happens randomly and unintentionally. I met my girlfriend through commenting on each other's blogs. A friend of mine met his on a webcomic messageboard. Neither of us are particularly weird - slightly nerdy, sure, but well within acceptable social limits (at least I'd like to think so). The point is that we see the Internet as merely an extension of our 'real' lives rather than some separate plane, and the time we spend on it akin to hanging out in bars or coffeeshops.

I don't see the value in online interaction. At some point wouldn't you like to actually meet that person in real life? I do and therefore avoid getting all personal online. For me it is far more simpler to walk up to someone and introduce myself than it is to put on an online "front" of myself and dream up a contrived "coolness" about who I am - just so that I can rise above the rest of the millions doing the same. It is far easier for me to simply take the shortcut and get right to the point - creating relationships.

Do you talk to people online the same way you do in person? Taking a leap here, I'll assume not. If not, have you ever thought about the reasons WHY you don't and how that might impact your own socializing skills in both realms? Go to any newsgroup and read the posts (sci.asto is a good one), that is what I think an online personae ultimately gravitates towards - and that is NOT healthy.

To me, and again not to be condescending to you (I thought your reply rather even-handed), I find the technology generation to be overly concerned about public appearance to the point of failing to develop inner structure. This is coming from someone with a masters in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering, and who did computer system design work for 10 years. I'm certainly not a stranger to technology nor it's effects on society. But I will freely admit I have my own personal biases.

You're just jealous because you got a D-

Eigenvector:

You're just jealous because you got a D-

Yeah, right. You got the wrong guy pal. I flunked it.

Do you use the telephone? Do you write, say, paper letters to people? Both of them are technologies use for meeting or keeping in touch with people, and neither is the same as a face-to-face conversation. People don't write letters the way they speak, and even the telephone forces a different kind of conversation because all body language or facial expression is lacking.

So would you say that the people who use these technologies are antisocial or socially awkward? I'd suggest they aren't, that if people are using these technologies (of which the internet is only the latest), it's precisely because they want to be in touch with other people. Yes, it's a different kind of interaction, but it's also not unusual to meet, in person, people you have known online for years. This happens quite a bit among people who have been brought together by a common hobby or passion, and often enough, the interaction in person is just as friendly as it was online. (This is more difficult with online dating, obviously, but I think it's just a more natural process when it's people with common interests.)