The real me online doesn't want to collide with the real me offline

There has been a huge stir in the world of online privacy. Even bigger, I'd say than all the privacy issues that have cropped up in the past over Facebook. This time it was a game company's turn to rock the boat. Unless you've been hiding under a rock you've heard about the huge outcry and outrage against Blizzard's proposed changes with their RealID. In case you haven't heard, Blizzard announced that with the release of Starcraft 2 and the new RealID they would be using people's real names associated with their Battle.net account for all forums and community related posts. That's right... real names. No more hiding behind an internet identity... your name and the associated offline identity in all it's glory will be there for the world to see. They are doing this, in part, to stop the griefing and trolling that inevitably happens online and make people more accountable to their actions and words online. It's a nice thought but the reality of the situation is so deep and entrenched in various identity issues that a master spider would be impressed by the web this has woven.

There was such an outcry from players so strong that within a few days of the announcement of the change Blizzard retracted it.

The first problem is that if you've seen some of the responses on Facebook to President Obama's post then you'll know how much people don't really care about what they say even when it's associated with their real name. I've seen people threaten to shot the President on Facebook... people still tend to think there is this digital wall that shield their online actions from offline consequences. So I'm not 100% sold that using real names would stop people from acting like assholes on an internet game forum.

The second problem is a little bit more interesting and requires some reading of the numerous pages upon pages of replies to Blizzard's original announcement. Some people don't want their real names used not because they are afraid of saying something wrong, they simply don't want people to know they play video games. Seriously....let that sink in a moment. They...don't....want....people....to....know...they....play...video....games...

I can only say I'm flabbergasted. This type of thought only furthers the stigma that seems to be associated with video games. I mean, you wouldn't hesitate to let people know you read or listen to music or even watch TV. But video games... can't let people know you do that in your free time. Gamers need to step up and stop being afraid of the stigma. It isn't until we let people know that playing video games is a lot like reading or listening music will we be able to elevate them beyond mere "child's play". I personally don't understand what's so wrong with telling people you play video games? It's not like you're telling people you're snorting drugs in your freetime...it's a video game! They and by extension WE aren't the red headed stepchildren of the entertainment industry. There's seriously not shame in saying you play video games.
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Overall though what this has done to show is what many people have already discussed concerning social networks and identity; people want to keep anonymity and they want to keep online separate from offline. Even more so, online people fracture their identity in a variety of ways and will fight to maintain those different identities and keep them separate. It has interesting implications on social networking design and privacy.