You are right about this. But the solution IMO isn’t everyone going into hiding, but standing up and affirming the truth so that the trolls and haters realize they are outnumbered and rational people aren’t buying the narrative. That’s actually happened to some extent even on Twitter now where no one says shit when I point out the vaccine killed thousands of people. Before they were calling me an anti vaxxer just for being against mandates.
I haven’t finished reading it yet so sorry if I misrepresent your views or if I ask something you already addressed in it but I immediately had a question that’d be helpful in understanding the point you’re making
How do you define anonymity? Eg Is nostr:npub1r0rs5q2gk0e3dk3nlc7gnu378ec6cnlenqp8a3cjhyzu6f8k5sgs4sq9acanonymous?
Anonymity is not a byproduct of social media cancel culture; pseudonymous users were the norm in Usenet and BBS days.
I define anonymity as unconnected to a person’s actual identity in real life.
Nice to see this post provoke so many responses — obviously it hit a nerve. But almost all of them were already addressed in the post itself.
1. No one should be doxxed. This is an attempt to persuade people to post voluntarily under their real-life identities because it’s more based and will lead to an environment with less censorship.
2. This isn’t an argument *against* privacy. Privacy is essential. It’s an argument against the expectation of privacy *when posting in the public square.* Your finances, your personal communications should obviously be private.
Here’s the post — pretty sure these two points were clear:
That’s great, but think about how many more people would come to a true free speech protocol if they knew you were here.
LOl, what a ridiculous statement. I was one of those they went after on Twitter.
But I’m glad I said what I said because I had a right to say it, and I also happen to correct in almost every case.
without skin in the game you have people who stand for nothing, Other social media platforms could deplatform you. Now that’s no longer possible.
LOL, no one is “attacking” anything. This has nothing to do with the post.
yeah, but no one is arguing you are not “free* to post under whatever handle you like. I am making the argument to persuade you to stand being your ideas voluntarily.
And privacy IS important in your personal affairs, finances, etc. I’m talking about with respect to posting in the public square, not using the internet.
It’s a free newsletter — should be able to read the whole thing. And again, I don’t think anyone should be forced, but if you want to grow NOSTR, and want there to be an ethos of free speech, people are gonna need to make that choice IMO.
No, skin in the game is what enforces genuineness over the long haul. Because there’s a cost for being full of shit.
And you don’t judge the truth of something based on credentials. You judge the motives/ of someone who works for Pfizer based on the fact that you know they must say and believe what they’re saying otherwise they couldn’t work there.
1. I disagree — the censor has no power because NOSTR exists. No one can cause you to self-censor once you realize your expression can’t be stopped. Only you are self-censoring.
2. Bitcoin is money so pseudonymity is a reasonable expectation. When I buy something I’m not intending to announce it to the world. Social media is the opposite — I am precisely announcing it to the world. And stop working for people who would fire you for dissent!
3. No one is saying your private communication with a friend should be public. I’m taling about things you are posting in the public square.
Exactly. Your point is that without anonymity you wouldn’t speak your mind. And that’s a problem that you can’t only blame on the State.
yeah, I read it because I wrote it. Did you read the post? Seems like you did not.
obviously you didn’t read the post
Yeah, as I wrote in the article, there are people for whom and situations for which anonymity is necessary. But it should not be the default for sharing your views in the public square. It’s like everyone went to the public square in masks because no one could deal with disagreements.
This is good for some things (like all current ones) but I think people should actually be *more* angry about the infringements to their liberties the last few years in the west. I mean they created the virus, the lied about its origins, they banned early treatment, they mandated medicine, they locked you in your house, etc.
People are way too ready to move not only without justice, but without even removing many of the malefactors from power.
Just because you’re not being abused right this instant, doesn’t mean everything is okay.
So I hear you and agree — starve the people fomenting outrage over the current thing, but the flip side is to demand an accounting from those who got rich off it too.
Bsaically, starve them but don’t forget to prosecute those fuckers when they’re good and starved.
Yeah, you have *some* skin in the game, especially if you build up a following. But it’s not as powerful IMO as someone who is saying, “Yeah, that’s me IRL saying and believing these things, and standing up for my right to do so, even if other people are going to be mad about it.”
There are deep philosophical questions around the concept of identity, but in this case everyone knows what we’re talking about.
I was attacked pretty hard in my industry and job for my views during covid. But I also had a lot of people tell me what I posted was helpful to them. Not just the ideas which were out there, but someone credible they knew standing behind them and taking heat for them.
So I agree ideas are the most important things, but ideas with someone willing to stand up for them are more likely to propagate.
And if you really care about growing NOSTR, I think more people will need to ID themselves as being there.
I think anonymity should be permissible but discouraged. So no one is advocating for doxxing you and getting you in trouble at your day job.
But do you not see the problem here? Maybe there are 10 other people who work where you do who don’t dare speak put, and the censors believe all the compliant employees are in lockstep with their permitted world views. How would they even know anyone is dissenting? How would someone else at your work know to reach out to you?
But even beyond that, you undermine the views you hold by being unwilling to stand by them. And should you simply stating your opinion that Israel is committing genocide get fired, perhaps long-term it would be for the best.
And as I said, I don’t think anyone should be doxxed, but I think putting your name to your views and letting the chips fall should be encouraged.
I think it’s only that way because we’ve accepted censorship. We’ve bought into the premise that our views are too radical, too impermissible to have attached to our real identities.