The end of the anonymous Internet

The upcoming proliferation of Facebook Connect will twist a knife into what has been around since the dawn of the Internet: anonymity. Of course, online anonymity will never die because it’s a necessary evil, but I like sensational headlines…when I write them.

I’ve been using OpenID as my “one login to rule them all” solution for a little over a year now and have been relatively happy with it. But while OpenID provides a fine single sign on solution, it doesn’t always allow you to get behind the pseudonym and connect with a person. With authentication options like Facebook Connect, you get the benefits of a single-sign-on solution coupled with identity integration.

That extra level of integration is key to driving both the adoption of Facebook Connect and the knife into the belly of the anonymous Internet.

The Old Frontier
In the early days of the mass adopted Internet, everything was done with online pseudonyms. The first task at any site or service that required sign-up was “Choose your username”.

My thought process every time was: “You mean I get to choose who I am? I’m not saddled with my current reality? Cool!” And then I’d spend a few minutes debating if I wanted to settle on one pseudonym (oh, the irony!) or pick a new one. And no matter what I picked, that identity was tied back to nothing. It was vapor.

That anonymity empowered people to put forth controversial viewpoints without fear of reprisal or being shown a fool. But those instances were far outweighed by Internet tough guys using it as a shield while spewing out insults to incite a flamewar. And since nobody can resist a good flamewar, thoughtful discussion took a sideline seat to Godwin’s law.

This brings me back to an Online Ethics class I attended at the University of Saskatchewan back in 2001. One of the first assignments was to find all the online information you could about a classmate. At the time, I was a part of many online communities including gaming networks, pre-Facebook social sites (Arcadium, anyone?), Usenet and more. However, a search on my name came back with limited results. A brief, two-word review of Doom (“It rocks!”), my U of S personal homepage and a couple results which weren’t actually me.

If you were to search on my standard online nickname, the results would have been a different story, but divulging that information wasn’t in the spirit of the assignment. And it wouldn’t have helped make my point today.

I was nearly invisible.

The New Frontier
Now it’s a brand new hockey game. I’m involved in fewer communities, yet if you search my name you’ll find exponentially more results than you would eight years ago. You can find my profile on Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, StepRep and Bleacher Report along with comments I’ve made on other blogs, posts I’ve contributed to other sites, my Amazon.ca wishlist (feel free!) and even my signature on the SaveDoan.ca petition from 2007. You can do a Google Image search and the first result is my mug staring you in the face.

I exist online. I’ve put all this information out there and I’ve allowed it all to be tied back to my “real world” name. It’s a novel idea coming from the anonymous age I grew up in and the social and psychological implications are intriguing.

Back in 1999, there was no way to know if ZeroCool from Arcadium was the same ZeroCool who just dropped a comment on your blog. But today you would know if Shane Giroux on Facebook is the same Shane Giroux who just left a comment on your blog using Facebook Connect.*

When I leave a comment on a site using Facebook Connect, other visitors can click through to see my Facebook profile and learn more about me, while existing friends are able to tie the comment back to my name and profile. And the integration doesn’t end there. I can choose to auto-post that comment on my Wall for all my Facebook friends to see, promoting my involvement as well as driving people to the website. This symbiotic relationship will push sites to support Facebook Connect so they can benefit from this system of friend referral.

So my online identity is now equivalent to my real world identity. They are one. That notion is powerful to both the producer and consumer of that information. I’m more inclined to proofread my comment before posting it if I know it will be forever tied back to my face, my hands, my brain. Me. Additionally, people reading my comments will be able to deduce context from previous interactions we’ve had or other comments of mine they’ve read.

This context will help foster intelligent discourse and make the Internet a smarter entity. And let’s not forget the advertising potential of all this tightly correlated data. Marketers are licking their lips at the prospect.

We exist online.

* no, I didn’t use anything as lame as ZeroCool for my pseudonym.