From Ars Technica: 4chan’s moot takes pro-anonymity to TED 2010
If you can give 4chan praise on anything (and, given their past, you’d be hard-pressed not to do so – for all their faults, they’ve done quite a bit of good), then you can give them praise on their efforts to maintain anonymity, even outside their own site. Granted, their obsession with it is a bit puzzling – is one not entitled to credit for their own deeds? does anonymity give license for chaos to those who have no shame? – but it also gives one pause when one thinks about how much ill can be done that can be tied to a name forever thanks to the way things work online.
Panic! because there is no middle ground between anonymity and recognition that will please everyone. (And also because I’m still posting here, for some reason.)
An intriguing post.
I don’t think the 4chan folks would operate with the same vigor if they couldn’t do their thing anonymously – many people associate them with the phenomena of endless troll brigades attacking feminist blogs and the like. Of course, not each and every one of them probably does such things: some fight worthwhile squabbles, like you mentioned. It’s a real pisser the way stigma works sometimes . . . But I’m sure those who have only been irritants on occasion without having done anything really egregious shouldn’t worry about other people “in-the-know” outing them from their anonymity, unless those other people were complete assholes.