At first this was going to be about some local, NY stuff. Then Armando's outing got added on. Now some of the tiffs at My Left Wing are thrown into the mix.

I am not much on Meta-tation. To me the internet is a tool like a screwdriver, and I don't spend too much time considering the workings of a screwdriver when I use it. But events are happening that remind me that the internet is NOT just like a screwdriver so much as a telephone or megaphone and that issues that one would think we had learned long ago seem suddenly to be sweeping through the blogsphere.

In local NYC politics I have gone virtually head to head with a guy who labels himself "Gatemouth." Didn't much like the guy at first. He had attacked some of my work, which I ignored at first. But then he made some accusations (which he later regretted and retracted) against a local politician I am friends with and I jumped on him. Our spat was well noticed in the tiny arena of NYC blogging and ended on a sour note.

Shortly later, some attempts to out his real identity drove Gatemouth into a semi-retirement which, happily I am surprised to find, has left him more time to lurk around my normal stomping grounds of Daily Gotham. Whether in that context we have just gotten to know eachother's work a bit better or he was chastened by the near outing, or I was less grumpy, whatever the reason, since then Gatemouth and I have actually been fairly amicable.

My spat with him led to another spat with another local blogger where I came off the worse. What I did is I attacked Gatemouth for hiding behind his anonymity and using it as an excuse to forgo normal rules of polite discourse. I think I was right to attack him on that in many ways, but my rant came out as an attack on all net anonymity. Enter EnWhySeaWonk who took me to task for it. And rightly so.

Now...despite being wrong, I made some key points that in light of recent events I still stand by.

This weekend I became aware that Armando had been "outed" by a right wing journal who shall remain nameless and that is forcing Armando out of blogging. I have never been a huge fan of Armando, but what I did love to watch is the way he would have following in his wake a very devoted bevy of anti-fans, people who could not help but be fascinated by him and driven to disagree with his every word. I found it quite a tribute to him that so many felt so compelled to attack him. If he wasn't raising some important points, no one would have ever paid attention to him. Right or wrong, his opponents sheer numbers and determination showed Armando had an important role on the net.

What struck me about the outing of Armando and the near outing of Gatemouth is the fact that in both cases the threats were despicable and yet in some ways each of them brought it upon themselves.

Yes...I know. It isn't nice to blame the victim. And that is not my intention. My intention is to look to their situation and learn.

Why do I dislike anonymity on the net? Simple. I like to know who I am talking to. If someone is TOO anonymous, I am suspicious of them. That is my personal feeling, nothing more. I respect people's right to hide their identity, but it bothers me when I am interacting with a non-identity or false-identity. But what is more important is hiding behind a pseudonym in reality does NOT hide our identity, as Armando and Gatemouth found out.

We project our identities into the net with every paragraph we write. Behind the names there are real people. Armando made several blunders that revealed too much of his identity: using his real first name, mentioning his link to dKos, etc. He did these things because, I suspect, ultimately he is not ashamed of his identity, either online or off. So he proudly exposed himself even in anonymity. It was inevitable he would be outed, which does not excuse those who did it for their own purposes.

When you are argumentative, as Gatemouth and Armando are, you challenge your opponents. Some feel that challenge means they must discover you and out you. By hiding and by challenging, a blogger with a high profile makes it likely that someone, someday, will out them or at least come too close. I don't care if people know who I am, so I post personal stuff and use my real name (David Michaelson) whenever it seems appropriate and don't care who knows. That's because I don't really have anything to lose. Those who do are forced to hide at least part of themselves. But they are here because they want to be influencing and discussing things. It is prudent if you are hiding something to keep a low profile. But that is not what gets your words out there in the blogsphere. Armando and Gatemouth would never have been noticed if they had kept a low profile. And I suspect neither of them would want to not be noticed : -)

Rock Hackshaw is another local NYC blogger. I have never had a run in with him and rather like his perspective, though I often disagree with him. He is also considering semi-retirement due to the revelation of personal information, in this case someone else's. He meant well, but it did not work out well.

We are people. Hell we were people before we were an online identity. As people we are complex, error-prone and composed of mixed identities.

On My Left Wing there have been a series of fights that ultimately get down to identity. People are accused of presenting themselves as what they are not. Claiming to be gay when one is "really" straight or a member of a particular minority when one is "really" white, etc. By and large I don't think too many of these accusations of misrepresentation are true except in the fact that we are all multiple identities. I am Jewish. I am atheist. I am related to Paris Hilton. I am related to Henry Rollins. I am a scientist. I am a political activist. I am...I am a mish mash. So are you. When we interact in person, we are presented with the entire mish mash, more or less, of a person. When we write online, we are better able to select the identity we project. So, intentionally or unintentionally, we may be hiding a part of ourselves. In a weak or safe or close moment we occasionally reveal more than usual. In that moment, we open ourselves up to revealing a part of ourselves others may not have seen. Some will out us for it or consider it a contradiction with our more commonly presented identity, etc.

All of these blog difficulties are unconnected. But they have all happened within the last month and all have to do with identity. Who are we? Who are we presenting to others? What are we hiding?

Every word we write has the potential to come back and bite us. In normal conversation, words can be uttered and forgotten. We often misremember and differences in opinion over what was said was common.

Online there is a record. There is no privacy online, though often it seems there is. We should never be surprised when our identity is revealed or challenged on line. It may be done by someone who has ulterior motives, but ultimately, no matter how safe we think we are, we are revealing ourselves online.

I try, and I think mostly succeed, in behaving online much as I would off line. I don't think anyone can use my identity against me online...I think! People have every right to hide their identity if they can. There are many reasons for it. But any time we are hiding something, have to take extra care. I think Armando and Gatemouth spent too much time attacking people given their wariness about their identity. Again, I do not want to excuse those who attacked them. If Gatemouth is right about the individual who attacked him, it is someone who probably has many other sleazy tricks in his past, though also a few excellent actions. And Armando was revealed by one of the bigger bunches of fools out there, in my opinion. But fault is often ours when our identity is revealed or misunderstood.

What is my point? I am not even sure. I think I am just surprised at and trying to make sense of the recent events in the blogsphere, locally and nationally. It's no fun when someone gets threatened, even those whose aggressiveness sometimes seems to invite it, as in the case of Armando and Gatemouth. It is not fun when an online community sees major personalities clash as is happening on My Left Wing. And it is not fun when a well meaning action creates bad feelings, as in the case of Rock Hackshaw.

What is my point? If I have one, it is simply to urge respect and caution. I would also urge openness, but some people have reasons to hide parts of themselves and I should respect that even if I don't feel comfortable with it. Respect: we are communicating with real people, not just with other computers. Caution: everything online is public even if it is private. if nothing else, the Bush administration has removed the concept of privacy from American society...in the name of security, of course. The more we have to hide, the more cautious we should be not only in the facts we reveal online, but what we reveal off line and who we challenge. Nothing profound, I guess, but it really is the main practical lesson I can find coming from the discomfiture of Gatemouth, Armando and Rock Hackshaw, and the fights on My Left Wing. For what it is worth.

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