That’s the question! There are only so many people who know who Cybrkyd is, and I can count them on one hand. That is by design, intentional.
I value my privacy, and I highly value my online privacy. There is no reason anyone could present to me which would convince me to blog under my real name, or add a profile pic to any of my social media accounts.
Who cares?
I occasionally get asked why I blog under a pseudonym. My response is usually along the lines of, who really cares? Who cares why authors write under assumed names, or who wants to know the person behind the story or mask? Why do they want to know?
It’s all data points to me. I’m sorry, I’m twisted in my thinking on this. I don’t want everyone who knows me to know it’s me, does that make sense? If it does, then I’m not sorry.
Then there’s work
Many corporations (especially financial institutions) trawl social media to collect data points on their people. There is KYC and for us in their employ, there is KYS; know your staff, or “vetting”. This happens automatically prior to commencing employment and, for some of us, it is repeated regularly, at two or three-year intervals. They hire outside sleuths who are rather adept at locating something you may have posted back in 2001 on an obscure online forum.
Whilst I live in the UK and am protected to my teeth by tight employment law, theoretically, I can be fired for a simple tweet or post or indeed, anything which I do in my private life and outside the office. The view is that, if an action of an employee — regardless of where said employee performed that action — leads to the firm’s reputation being called into question, then bye-bye employee. I’ve lost a few good colleagues this way because they did/said/implied something stupid which may or may not have led to the firm being viewed in the same light. Reputational damage.
So, long story short, you may already know me, you may not. Who cares? Why does anyone care? What will anyone gain from knowing who Cybrkyd is in-person, besides perhaps a vain, satisfied curiosity?
The UK’s Online Safety Act
As “noted” by Cybrkyd yesterday:
I’m hovering over that Delete Account button in Bluesky, waiting to receive the request to verify my age.
My nom de plume is my Bluesky handle as well as my X one. What will happen is that as soon as I verify my age by providing identification to a third-party, the data points are created. Immediately, I’m on a database that is housed who-knows-where. The link between my social media accounts is tied back to a real person, and there it becomes fact. This is a violation of my right to privacy.
The Online Safety Act is a much-needed piece of legislation, created in order to protect children from the world of pornography, and I personally welcome this.
What I do not welcome is Bluesky — afraid of the potential fines — adding it to their platform. Firstly, who on earth uses Bluesky for porn? Secondly, why would I lose the ability to send and receive DMs on the platform unless I prove I’m 18 or older? It makes no sense.
How curious are you?
I won’t waver; I will not give in. My right to privacy in non-negotiable. I don’t really need Bluesky or X in my life. Like…I didn’t need Mastodon in my life with all those admins braying at you to add a bio to your profile. Seriously!
Why would anyone want to do that, though? Know who Cybrkyd is, I mean? I dunno. Nothing to see here, anyway. Just another Internet user with a blog, who likes the quiet life without all the drama.
I can live with that. Can you?
If you cannot, go down the rabbit hole. Say “Hi” to Alice, won’t you? 😉️