We have a lot of anonymous people in the internet, especially in Steemit and in the crypto world in general. For some it’s a safety measure to protect their assets from crooks, or to safeguard their own criminal behavior, some hide from their government, some want to be able to speak their mind without having those statements be linked to their offline persona, and some just don’t want the attention. I’m sure there are many more reasons I’m not aware of.
What I find interesting is that these anonymous people in the blockchain are not anonymous to all of us, somebody always knows someone who knows someone. How fascinating! There will always be people trying their hardest to dox the anonymous big fishes. The longer you have been on the platform and the more active and involved you are in the projects and gatherings, the more you’ll probably know about the real people behind their usernames.
You can dig out actions on the blockchain, but what happens between people outside of that, is even more interesting. We have had three Steemfests, a lot of little gatherings all over the world happen all the time, some bring on their friends and relatives to the platform, others have been here from the start and build this whole thing, some people know each other from other social platforms or crypto projects from way back. Who knows who, who is friends with who, who hooked up with who.
Steemit is such an interesting little microcosm with secret society characteristics, that one can not not be curious. I think if we could have all the information about the connections between all steemians, a crime novel worthy map with peoples faces and red strings between them, it would be quite interesting to see. I wouldn’t actually be surprised if some creep was building such Steemit map on their mamas basement as we speak.
It’s kind of funny when meeting Steemians in real life and you start to talk about the big players or the more polarising characters and how everyone is connected in Steemit. A few meaningful glances go through the group when a name comes up and you know those people know more than they give out. Loyalties are for sure tested at times, and it tells a lot about a person if they are ready to give out any information about a steemian who clearly likes to keep to themselves. I for sure have come across many instances where someone asks me about a person they think I might know off chain, and I need to do a quick calculation on what is public knowledge and what not, before I answer.
Steemians in general, at least most of those I have met, respect others privacy very well. I’ve noticed people tiptoe around the subject when someone brings up a person and you can see they know more than they are saying. It’s quite heartwarming actually to see how well secrets are kept and even during Steemfest where a lot of pictures are taken all the time, most everyone makes sure they are not posting a picture of anyone that doesn’t want their face on the blockchain. Those who want to remain anonymous, should be able to do so.
Ps. If you waterboard me, I’ll spill all the beans.
