I received this through email some time back.

I do not condone the fact though, that you have refused to be seed [sic] by anybody else. hahaha, are you afraid of being exposed for who you really are. Well as far as I am concerned, I hope one of these days you would have the courage to face your public and be friends with them or even face me and share a cuy [sic] of coffee with me.Well, honestly, if some guy hides behind a computer keyboard, he will not amoung [sic] to anything but one big bag of air. So whyd [sic] dont you meet up with some of the group, show us who you really are. Don’t worry, we had the same fears before but we overcame them and in the process our pre-set notions about each other disappeared and we became friends like lost kindred spirits we fell for each other’s compnay [sic] lokking [sic] for companionship and looking for salvation. I am not asking you to be my friend, but I am requesting you that should you care to criticize me, why dont you come out in the open and look me in the eye so you can have a clear look at your subject. It is more objective that way. Don’t you think so, but unless you do that, I am afraid that you will remain but one of those guys who kept on bashing in the dark, oblivious of the truth. hahahahah.

I am not being personal dude, just being passionate about how I truly feel of those who retain the anonymity of the web and yet crosses over the real world to snipe at real peop0le.

I hope you don’t take this in the wrong way and frankly i am not expecting you to show up anywhere near me, I just hope ur not the next guy on the tee with me hahah.

My, my, someone seems too overly sensitive about my opinion. The person who sent this email is a member of one of those Philippine adult-themed forums that are proliferating the internet. Perhaps it was the post on sharing PSPs or the post on sharing FUBUs that got him all riled up. It’s hilarious how people say that “it is not personal” but they make judgemental statements like “i hope one of these days you would have the courage to face your public” and “if some guy hides behind a computer keyboard, he will not amount to anything but one big bag of air.”

Anyway, like I would care….

Is it an act of cowardice if I choose not to attend any forum’s “eyeball” sessions or “meet-and-greet” gatherings?

Am I less credible if I don’t reveal my identity?

But I guess the more interesting question is: what’s wrong with anonymity?

Here’s the thing: personal information is exactly that–PERSONAL. It is my choice to divulge personal information, and I only do so if there is some value in revealing that information. In my younger, neophyte days, I was chastised by a colleague because I revealed where we both worked to a few ladies. “You didn’t have to give that info,” he said. “It’s a plus for them and a minus for you.”

A lot can go wrong if you divulge your personal information to a stranger. For one, that person can incessantly attempt to contact you. Even if the person means no harm, he or she may also lack some basic courtesy and call you at odd times. And it does become a bother—not to mention, an irritant—to whip out your cell phone, especially during an important meeting, only to find out that it is a call from someone not worth talking to.

So in some sense, people are correct in claiming that I am “hiding.” And it’s because I have something valuable to hide. You don’t flaunt your money out in public, do you?

And here’s another thing: if someone does not believe me based on the posts I write, then I don’t think revealing my identity will matter. If someone thinks that my insights are worthless or unbelievably incredible, I don’t think that the person will suddenly have a change of heart after seeing me. “Wow, he’s actually shorter and uglier than I thought, he must be telling the truth!” I don’t know about you, dear readers, but in a free and intelligent exchange of ideas, a person’s identity for me is not as important as the idea he is putting on the table. For me, it doesn’t matter if the person is rich, comes from a good school, is handsome, has a good job, has many friends. If I think his ideas are crap, then I will call his ideas crap. And if he insists that a face-to-face meeting will convince me that his ideas are worth something, then he is digging himself deeper. It is not the person. It is the idea that matters.

There are a couple of sites I regularly visit because I find their ideas thought-provoking. I do not know any of the writers personally. I have not met any of them. But I respect their ideas. I don’t necessarily agree with their insights, but I respect it nonetheless. And I have grown to admire them.

And finally, a lot of these adult-themed forums can be populated by people who are boorish, proletarian, juvenile, pseudo-intellectual and immature where one small and innocent move can initiate an entire controversy, if not something akin to a World War. I shun from those anonymous “meet-and-greets” for the plain reason that I don’t want my picture in some compromising situation plastered all over the internet.