On the Internet, everyone may find you're a dog

Anonymity on the Web may seem attractive, but how you use it raises interesting ethical dilemmas.

from the July 18, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

Hiltzik was suspended for a time and had his blog taken away.

Anonymous posting is part of the Internet culture. Visit any popular blog or forum, and you'll see that most comments are made under pseudonyms. In most cases, postings are made by folks who want to express their opinions on politics or entertainment figures or some popular fad.

Nothing can stop a well-known public figure from posting anonymously. In fact, the temptation must be even greater for them, since in their public lives, they have to carefully watch everything they say.

Josh Ehrlich, a New York-based executive coach with a doctorate in psychology, says that the Mackey case may not be so unusual. "Executives like to know how they are viewed and how their companies are viewed," he says in a phone interview. "But there is this illusion on anonymity that they think protects them. I think we'll find out that there are a lot more executives doing this. I know we're just talking about the Mackey case, but I think we'll find out that it's just the tip of the iceberg."

It may be common, but it's not smart. Common sense says that public figures need to be as careful with anonymous posts as they are with their daily utterances, because those posts may eventually be used against them. All three of the anonymous "posters" above were "outed" by those trying to gain an advantage in a lawsuit or trying to make them look bad.

There is also that nasty ethical issue: Just because you can write under a pseudonym doesn't mean you should, especially if it compromises your integrity or threatens your company.

Avoiding the use of pseudonyms online is not just good advice for public figures, it works for everyone. The freedom of the Internet doesn't mean you can do whatever you want without consequence. Many ways exist to trace "anonymous" posts. The Los Angeles Times, for example, used Internet addresses to trace Hiltzik's postings back to his work computer.

When speaking about the Internet at conferences or seminars, I give this advice about e-mail, posting comments in a forum, or sending instant messages: Don't write anything online that you would not like to see on the front page of The New York Times. Ask Bill Gates: That's where his e-mails ended up during the Microsoft antitrust case in the late 1990s.

On the Internet nobody may know you're a dog. But don't count on the fact that someone won't be able to find out where that dog lives.

1 | Page 2