28 Jun 2011
The Rise and Fall of Pseudonyms

Lot's of folks have pointed out how email destroyed the art of letter writing, but this is the first time I've considered that the venerable pseudonym may have seen it's better days. Ubiquity strikes again...

Thanks partly to the Internet, pseudonymity is decidedly less dramatic these days. Fake names are more popular than ever, yet the pseudonym as it once existed is just about dead. In the 19th century, when the practice reached its height, or even in the early 20th century, authorial disguise often carried considerable psychological investment and a genuine need for secrecy. Today, privacy has become less desirable and less possible. An IP address is easy to trace. Many bloggers use an array of noms de plume, but often as a means of generating publicity or branding a “persona.” It’s self-promotion under the pretense of hiding.

(link) [New York Times]

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