From Harry Vox:
My views on anonymity
People are welcome to remain anonymous and for some people who have a lot at stake for doing so, it may be necessary. My earliest work was anonymous - I was putting out aggressive attacks against the CIA, and Jewish power during the Bush years and I needed to keep my identity hidden because it was dangerous to do otherwise at the time.
But unless your life or livelihood is in danger, a person like me can't by nature take any non personified entity very serious. I prefer to deal with people, not just nebulous avatars who can be anything. Its not hard to understand that a message has much more power if it is attached to a person than if it is coming from a black hole.
And this is the same reason why, when I remove a person from this forum it is nothing at all to remove an anonymous entity than it is to remove an actual person who has made their identity clear and hopefully is a person of substance. When you have a real person you can see stuff like, what have they done in the past? Are they a substantive person? Have they published anything? Are they are great artist? Have they been a notable activist? etc, etc. If they have done nothing that can be demonstrated, have no track record and no proof whatsoever that they are anything other than an anonymous entity why should I or anyone care about their opinion about anything?
An when I remove an anonymous person with no name no face and no idea who or what they are and they complain and say "baw haw haw your removed me!" My response always will be, "No I didn't, there is no "you" because without a name or face or track record, you are nothing!" Of course, what the hell else should anyone expect? Without risks without proof of anything other than some keystrokes, without any evidence that you should be taken seriously who should care?
There is the possibility for an anonymous entity to put out work that is of clear substance, but even then, when that is detached from a past, a track record, then is is much less powerful than if it were connected to a person.
Credibility and trust ultimately can ONLY be ascribed to a person in a corporeal form - not an anonymous avatar, not an AI profile, not a computer generated 3D person but a real life flesh and blood human being who puts it all on the line and takes risks and fight the big fight!
It takes courage to risk it all and put yourself out there and we're going to need many more people who have this courage and willing to take these risks that we currently have.
I support anonymity when necessary to stealthily attack the enemy, but when it comes time to a real fight, I'll take a real person by my side any day over an avatar.
