Who Are You?

Anonymity can provide a shield for those who want to be unknown. Being anonymous proves to have benefits but it also has it's downfalls as there is a lack in credibility.

A person might choose to remain anonymous for the purpose of revealing a story without jeopardizing their name. I believe that this is a plausible reason for not using your name. For example, say you wrote something that could potentially bring down a company. Although the credibility is easily taken away due to the anonymous person attached to it, there is still that curiousity if the said story was true.

Being anonymous could be seen as useful, it could also be seen as cowardly. Why do people choose to hide their faces? One might assume that it is because of they are afraid of the reaction that might ensue. You never know how someone will feel after reading a comment or a story. If you put your name with what you have written you could be subjected to praise or to criticism.

Some people that I have observed do not put their name to their work for the purpose of protecting themselves. A comment or a story can evoke different emotions. If a story is maligning, of course there might be people in the world who will try to, as bad as this sounds, get you back.

So when is being anonymous okay?

Personally, I think that you shouldn't be anonymous at all. I feel that if you are going to publish something you should publish it with your name. If you are going to hide behind anonymity obviously what you are about to say is wrong. The only time I will stand for being anonymous is when you want to protect your identity from revealing something incriminating.

I guess that is where anonymity can get carried away. When it is not used as a form of protection but as a form of covering your tracks from cowardly acts. There is nothing wrong with anonymity, to be honest I become anonymous sometimes, as long as you are using for purposes of good rather than bad.