I’ll get back to marketing and search in my next post but first…

As I am reading Seth Godin’s book, “Small is the New Big” I come across a “chapter” where he discusses how Internet anonymity is the root of all evil. How true is that? Very much so!

Think about it … would your next door neighbor cut you off on a street? Would he show you the finger? No? Well that’s because you know him and you know his name. He’ll have to face you at some point.

I bet that if every web user had to provide their real name anywhere they chat, post or even make a sound … all those adult / porno chats would be empty. Those child molesters would be on eBay ordering porn instead of trying to chat with kids.

Why should I hide behind my computer? As I say … we’re all brave when we’re home, online, behind the screen and a fake nick name. Make people who use the web give up their anonymity. You think things will be bad? No, they will get better.

People would stop doing things that they wouldn’t want “their mother” to know about. In addition, people would act more responsibly in chat rooms, blogs, message boards, etc.

As you can sense it here … I am all for the “anonymity-free web”. Heck, if I come to your blog and I post a message, why should you not be able to see my picture or my full name? This is the reason I have my picture up when I post on forums. Here it is ….

… and you know my full name.

Whenever I speak to someone over the web at the message boards, forums or blogs … I appreciate seeing a face that I am communicating with. I think you’ll agree that the conversation is different when you can see/remember the face of the person you’re speaking with.

Oh and let’s not forget about the e-mail spam we get every day. What if we were able to trace that e-mail back to the sender? I am sure your mail box would get a bit cleaner. I bet we’d all be happy to find these people who e-mail us asking for money, purchase Viagra (I’m 25 … too early for that), update our PayPal accounts oh and the latest … “secret stock news”.

I am all for “Anonymity-Free Web”.