Text 5073, 111 rader
Skriven 2010-02-20 17:35:00 av Lee Lofaso (3:800/432.0)
Ärende: Using An Alias 3
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Hello Everybody,

"In the future, everyone will be famous for fiteen minutes."
- Andy Warhol

The computer, especially in its present-day incarnation, lends
credibility to Warhol's prediction.  Just look at the number of
message boards and networks that exist.  Not just fido.  But
also facebook, youtube, etc.  A fido echo spans the globe, the
same as facebook or youtube, etc.  Messages can be read by anyone,
including by those who have no computer of their own.  Internet
cafes and public libraries exist everywhere, and almost everything
is free.  By participating in fido and/or in other forums, each
of us becomes a public figure.  Just like politicians and movie
stars.  Most participants do this without realizing it, and
almost always without ever thinking about the implications and
possible consequences.

Think about it.  Just think about it.  Twenty years ago there
were about 1,500 Usenet conferences, with half of those conferences
having about 20,000 participants, along with those conferences having
about 200,000 lurkers apiece.  That is a lot of people.  Today, that
number is most certainly in the millions, if not tens or hundreds
of millions.  Quite a large audience.  Now factor in all the other
avenues that exist.  That makes for a truly huge and worldwide
audience.

There are special problems and risks that come up when dealing
with such a large public audience.  Most people who use computers
have little or no experience, or even the vaguest understanding,
of what they are dealing with.

Media professionals, celebrities, politicians, and the like
understand the risks that are involved.  Those professionals,
celebrities and politicians have made their own decisions on
how they should best deal with those problems.  But they have
been informed.  That is not true of most people.

When an audience becomes sufficiently large, as it most certainly
has today, people of every personality type are included.  Not just
police and government agents, but also bona fide nutcases.  That's
right.  The mentally ill, robbers, rapists, murderers, religious
fanatics, con artists, you name it.  Almost anything you do, no
matter how inocent it may be, could inspire at least one loonybin,
somewhere, to harbor a great deal of ill will toward you.

Do you feel safer now?  Do you still want to continue using your
real name when posting messages in fido, or anywhere else online?
If so, you do so at your own peril.

Remember John Lennon?  Yoko Ono does.  You see, some loon shot him
dead, as he was walking, hand in hand, with his wife, Yoko Ono, in NYC.
There are other loons out there.  Loons with guns.  Or knives.  Or
swords.  Or great big giant fists.

The point is, by using your real name when posting messages in fido,
you takes your chances with those loons.  And all it takes is one loon
with a gun, or a knife, or a sword, or big giant fists, to do you in.
John Lennon found that out.  So did Ronald Reagan.  But at least Ronald
Reagan survived.  Not everybody is so lucky.

I know what you are thinking.  You are just a bunch of ordinary folks.
Nobodies, really.  All posting messages to a public conference known as
Fidonews, never attracting quite the attention that you've always
thought you wanted.  Sure, everybody wants to be a movie star.  Or the
president of some godforsaken country.  But consider, if just for a
moment what apocalyptic scenarios that could happen if your fondest
wish to become a celebrity were to come true -

* On Friday night, after you get yhome from a hard day's work, you post
a message to your favorite group, known as Fidonews, defending the most
unpopular or controversial viewpoint in existence, coming out of the
closet to show your unequivocal support of gay marriage, and also
letting it be known that abortion on demand should be legal everywhere.

* On Monday morning, you go to work, and find out your biggest client
has canceled a major contract.  You spend the rest of the day trying
to win back that contract, to no avail.  Later that evening, are kept
up all night answering telephone calls from some nut demanding that
you "stop killing babies"!

* The next day you decide to stay home, needing a day of rest.  So
you go out and buy your teenage son or daughter a new computer.  Later
that afternoon you find your once-beautiful lawn littered with beer
bottles, along with lots of tire marks dug into the mud.  The inside
of your home has also been vandalized and burglarized.

* The following week you are nominated to the Supreme Court.  Who
in the world are all those strange people on TV claiming to be your
friends?  How did that fellow in the pink dress know about your
position on gay marriage and abortion?

Yes, my friends.  Celebrities and politicians accept the risks and
sacrifices of notoriety.  Of course, they also receive the benefits, as
that is part of their careers.  Don't believe me?  Just ask Tiger Woods.
He knows all about those benefits.  Should fido participants be expected
to do the same?  What benefits do fido participants get by using their
real names in posting messages?  How many babes have gotten?

Celebrities and politicians make their own decisions, especially
when it comes to using their real names.  Who should be making those
desicions for fido particpants?  Certainly fido participants are not
children.  Or are they?

--Lee


 * SLMR 2.1a * Don't shoot me! I'm just the piano player!

--- Maximus 3.01
 * Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.mooo.com (3:800/432)