Internet-Based Identities

New AmCon column

The online world allows Americans to strip off their real identities in favor of assumed ones—with insane results.

I write about the effects of this in my latest American Conservative column:

Many Americans now practically live online. The internet identity they assume can become, in their own minds, their true self. This helps explain why men decide they’re women, why humans decide they’re furries, and why Middle Americans in the 21st century decide they’re 18th century monarchists or Stalinists. No one in the real world would recognize these identities as legitimate (outside of ideological brainwashing). But they can seem real online.

All you are on the internet is an avi and a name of your choosing. You can present yourself as an anime girl, a hardened guerrilla fighter, a stormtrooper, or a black guy if you so choose. It’s all up to the individual. Off the internet, the anime girl is still a man, the hardened guerrilla fighter is still a desk jockey, the stormtrooper is still a handicapped Mexican, and the black guy is still a white dude. These identities don’t exist outside, but that’s not an insurmountable obstacle if you live online.

Read the rest here.