There are a few of things that I’d like to address. Don’t worry, this won’t be a boring blog entry and I think it will be very enlightening for anyone that takes the read it. Let’s break it down into sections.
1. Anonymity on The Internet: It’s over. Being anonymous is how things were done back 2004. It’s 2009 and the are standard authentication tools like OpenID, Google Friend Connect or Facebook Connect that allow users to login with their credentials and submit content to the web as a real human and not an alias. I hate aliases. I’ve had one other alias and the influential power of “macdaddy” just wasn’t working out so in 2003 I went with AdamJackson and never looked back. If you’re in social media and you’re commenting on TechCrunch as “yourmom1972” then your time is over because it won’t be long before everyone agrees that authenticating with your real first and last name and a photo is the best way to collaborate.
On Friday, I was reading this post on TechCrunch and someone by the name of “AJ” without an Email Address or Web Address posts this
How much did Evan pay you to write this post?
I’ve seen comments all week from anonymous cowards and, in all honesty, the likelihood of seeing a healthy contributing comment from someone that posts anonymously is nearly zero. Those that login with Disqus, Facebook Connect or their Google Account generally have something more meaningful to say. By the way, the commentor is inferring that CEO of Twitter, Evan Williams paid TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington to write this post. That’s the first reply to that post and it’s complete bullshit.
I kindly reply to his comment because enough is enough.
STFU. Use your real name, URL and email address or GTFO.
I’d love to debate Twitter with you all day but hiding behind cowardice as an anonymous commenter is petty and childish.
Michael. Can you please require Disqus and Facebook Connect comments ONLY? I’m tired of this anonymous commenter bullshit. SUBSTANCE is needed on TechCrunch and the comments get worse every day.
Michael Arrington replies back with, “i would have marked it as spam but you beat me to it.” So Michael indicates that I was in the right for replying to this and he didn’t reprimand me so I’m sure he agreed with me despite not publicly saying it. The conversation explodes though and suddenly anonymous commenters begin attacking ME for my “bitch session” claiming that I need to chill out and that anonymous commenting has its uses and that I’m completely wrong.
No problem and I replied a couple of times but basically ended it by saying that this conversation is against the scope of the post so it’s best that we just leave it alone. It didn’t end there and I popped in a couple of more times to see how the conversation is going but basically I’m wrong and they’re right.
After running AdamsBlock and using Twitter for 2 years, I’ve learned that spammers and trolls never go away. There are ways to prevent them. On Twitter, I block 5-10 people a day. Someone says something negative to me or a friend and I block them. I have the power to do that and on AdamsBlock the anonymity of that chat room caused all of the crazies to come out. Using Facebook Connect on everything is going to become my only choice for authentication. If you want to interact with me, login using Facebook. If you don’t like it, don’t comment or read my content. I’ve never seen a comment from an authenticated Facebook user be a negative comment without also being backed up with facts and written from a respectful point of view. It’s the anonymous commenters who say, “you’re wrong fuck you” and that’s it.
It’s not negative feedback that I hate, it’s the lack of rich and interesting feedback that comes from anonymity that I hate. When, “pimpdaddy72” becomes John Smith, the Realtor from Ohio, the game changes and John is suddenly representing himself, his business and his family and the feedback from him is actual constructive feedback and not garbage that spurs from him having a stressful day.
You can read the entire TechCrunch Thread HERE.
2. I’m Adam Jackson NO not that Adam Jackson: Many of you may not know this but I moved to San Francisco and a month before moving I realized that another Adam Jackson lived here and was working in the same industry. Luckily, prior to my move I still dominated the page rank of Adam Jackson on Google and I had the LinkedIN profile of “AdamJackson” where I believe he is “AJackson”. Sharing my name with someone in the industry hasn’t affected me until Friday. To offer up a little background, the other Adam Jackson runs a website called DriverSide.com and he is one of the co-founders of that site. He loves cars, doesn’t go to tech parties, doesn’t Twitter (that much) and isn’t really a social media guy. Thank goodness because it has so far meant that no one confuses the two of us.
Here is a comment on the TechCrunch Thread I mentioned earlier:
Adam Jackson,
you have 40,000+ updates on twitter(do u ever do anything other than twittering … i hope your customers are aware of this fact) …. and only 2500+ odd follower … did u ever think y? coz your updates are crap, for example, ‘I’m at Westfield Center (865 Market St, 5th Street, SF) .’
you have your own website ‘Ideapply.com’ and this redirects users to your blogging website .. how amazing… least you could have developed an official website for your 10employee company ..
You also have a LinkedIn profile with 323 connections… oops! but you only have 2 people recommending you. Another strange fact…
I hope now you would realize how real name affect your personal and professional life …
Oh my god! I’m shaking this is so serious! Not really so let’s break it down. This guy who posted anonymously (of course) got it right when he noted my 40K updates. His attempt to take shots at me completely failed when he chose to not click the link in my Twitter profile but instead search “Adam Jackson” on LinkedIN. He failed a second time when he saw two Adam Jacksons in SF and didn’t click on the guy whose image matched the one on my Twitter profile but the other Adam. He then took shots at his blog (which I’m not a fan of the domain name) and the guy also failed to find a link to Adam’s DriveSide.com page. He then looked at Adam’s connections and noted a measly 2 people recommending him and says, “another strange fact”
So to be totally honest, neither me or the other Adam could give a fuck about this comment because the commenter is clearly a complete idiot who can’t navigate the web. Adam Jackson (the other guy) maybe didn’t make things completely clear on his LInkedIN page or Blog but I doubt it. What was interesting was that for the first time in 10 months, someone thought he and I were the same. That’s interesting and sadly unfortunate. Actually, Adam Jackson may be a terrific guy or he might be a complete dick. I have no clue and I’d like to meet him one day but I have a feeling as he and I continue our reach globally through the web, this identity confusion may become more apparent. I’m not budging though and taking a drastic move in changing my name and neither should he. Let’s just see how this plays out.