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The
false identity
His Bigness
Fasi Zaka
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If
you have a false ID on Orkut, a dummy email address or even
an additional phone SIM, it's a good thing to ask yourself
why you choose to mask you identity.
The subcontinent is a society of conformity, at least on the
surface. Sticking your head out to voice opinions against
the powerful invites ire that is disproportionate. General
debate tends to end in acrimony that lasts far beyond the
realm of the discussion that takes place. Plus, our conventions
are very deeply rooted, our way of life is not built upon
the strength of allowing the individual to be free, but rather
the community to survive.
The easiest way to get out of this feeling of general fear
and disempowerment on voicing one's individual opinion is
to mask yourself, say what you want without being identified
as the sponsor. Life is also cheap in the subcontinent; violence
is a recourse that is not really doubted strongly.
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change in technology that has democraticized access to those who were
once limited to their immediate physical confines has strangely mutated
the psyches of many. Orkut and the internet is filled with rabid pundits,
critics and malicious naer-do-wells whose normally placid personalities
morph into angry witch hunters. |
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where the problem is. If you want to say something without taking
responsibility for it sans a valid reason, then there is a problem.
Look at it this way, you want to get to know a girl, but you refuse
to call her from your number and use a dummy SIM instead, quite often
one does so because they know they are probably sexually harassing
the woman. If a male gets rejected by the woman he is suiting incognito,
quite often the rejection becomes his cause célebre. The girl
ends up being tortured, threatened and scandalized by a virulent campaign. |
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By
the same token many people use false identities on Orkut. Why they
do so is simple, they are afraid of losing face or getting embarrassed
because shame is the severest punishment in our society.
Emails under false and dummy ID's have the same purpose behind it,
it is no different from the Orkut phenomenon.
It sounds like innocent teenage hormones gone wild, but the will to
disguise oneself becomes quite insidious, and frankly scary when one
extends its implications. There are two kinds of people out there,
one who do everything under the umbrella of their own name, the other
whose real self only comes out when they know they won't be discovered.
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If
you are someone who has never used a false ID, it's quite likely you
are a man or woman of conviction, with the integrity to own up to
your opinions. The very act of not choosing to hide behind the false
blanket of security that a false ID gives you is because of a system
of ethics that prevents such an individual from taking liberty with
the sanity, reputation and integrity of others.
The scary things about people with false ID's and a predilection of
doing so is that their psyches tend to grow into a duplicitous nature,
one that has a different face for the observing world and another
for a world that cannot see the face behind the messages. The worst
thing is that it means that some people will do anything if they are
assured they will not be caught. |
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The religious right has used the online forum quite well for their
purposes, including within the US against anti-Zionist proponents,
and Pakistan is no exception. That's moral bankruptcy, and it is quite
prevalent in our use of the online world. |
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