## 44 The need to use a pseudonym

I've been using the same pseudonym on the Internet for 25 years... I won't tell you what Iceman really means to me. But sometimes I wonder what I should do with my real name. 

I could have bought a domain name with my full name or just my family name. Too bad, my name is not free in .fr, .com, .eu, .me, etc... And with something like family before, it will be too long. But that's not the point. The Internet is not real life, but we must not forget that there are rules like in real life. You can use a pseudonym, you cannot act like a ghost or an outlaw. But many people think that everyone forgets that when he/she uses a pseudonym. For many years I was in favor of "Netiquette", a French name for Etiquette in Technology, good behavior on the Internet. It was at the beginning of the Web, but everything went wrong when too many people came without knowing "the rules". But many people used pseudonyms in the beginning without asking themselves if they were right or wrong. We did not have social networks, but forums and other discussion tools were not always a safe place to discuss. I've evolved, I've changed, the world has changed, and I don't talk about the same things I used to.

The first problem with a pseudonym is that you do not own it. There are many Iceman in the world and maybe that's why I chose this one....that some people used to call me. I'm not a superhero or a fan of the Top Gun movie. But I like the mystery about the meaning and the character and I don't want to talk much about myself. Many people know my first name now and I don't care. Some people still call me "Ice"... But very few of my family or friends know what I write here or on the French blog. It's like a secret garden. None of my colleagues know my pseudonym, not even those closest to me. I had a bad experience with that 15 years ago, when some knew and we were all on Facebook, etc... That's over now and I'm really careful about mixing private, professional and family life. Now Iceman is like my "trademark" for a very small world and I'm happy with it. I've changed the location and name of my blog so many times that I don't want to change it again. And if someone is looking for the blog of Iceman, he won't fi
nd it easily.... That's exactly what I want.

If someone wants to usurp my pseudonym, there are no consequences because it's not my real name. I'm not sure if the opposite would work. That's the first reason for me to use a pseudonym. The second reason is related to what I said before: not to mix professional life with internet life and everything else. For example, I'm into politics, but I'm not into it while I'm working. I don't do it with my family (except with my wife, because we do it together). It's a different life and none of my political party friends know anything about this blog. They could now because I have some political posts in my French blog and that's not really a problem. I've been a vegan activist and an animal rights activist for years, and that's another part of political life. When I'm a volunteer in an animal protection organization, I'm known by my first name, not by my pseudonym or my real name. OK, that's a bit complicated, but that's what a lot of people do every day in their lives. That's why it was difficult for some people
 during the SARS-CoV2 crisis when they had to work at home with their different "lives" in the same place. It was not a problem for me because my wife and I are okay with it, with a habit of managing all this and tolerating each secret garden. 

Do I really feel more free under my pseudonym? Maybe in the early years, but not anymore. Ok, I can question a famous journalist or politician on social networks with my pseudonym, but I always do it with a minimum of politeness... That's not always the case for us when they talk about us, ha ha. I'm no longer fighting fascist trolls on Twitt....sorry X. Too many people like that. I feel like Don Quixote fighting windmills. But if I had done that with my real name, I can imagine what trolls could do in my real life. A pseudonym is also a good way to protect yourself... And not from the law, because (except with a VPN... but not every VPN and never completely) you are not anonymous on the web. So my first question will not take long because of all these answers.

2Dɛ
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