Anonymity is Lame

This is not a substantive post; just a little rant about my beef with those who love to be anonymous.

In general, I don’t get it. Why are people so affraid to reveal who they are on the internet? This is especially perplexing to me when it concerns topics they think are important enough to discuss and give their opinions about. For me, it undermines their credibility and for some reason I can’t take anything they say very seriously. It seems� they are afraid of their own views, or perhaps they’re afraid someone who knows them will find them out–and they will be embarrassed? Or perhaps they really don’t hold the views/opinions they spew forth and just like to play “devil’s advocate” with impunity? Whatever it is, it’s dumb (in almost a literal sense).

In particular, there are several people who submit posts and websites on Sustain’d who for some reason refuse to reveal their identity. This is frustrating to me because I have wanted to visit their websites or find out more about them. But their anonymity makes this impossible; they are mere names in the blogosphere.

Why do people insist on being anonymous? Any thoughts? And how do we start a campaign to promote identity?