on anonymity and the net

a continuance of a discussion on the email

...that anonymity may not be
an issue, but the issue is the content...to be or not to be
anonomous IS an issue. The verbal attackers could attack under
the protection of remaining unidentified. But when Brian
was identified he was dismissed entirely from the discussion.
The internet is not always an equal and open forum.

But anonymity is an issue that is contanstly changing
according to context and other factors. If more women in
history wrote under male names would we have a greater body
of literature by women available to us now?

Also, I read an article about running on-line chat rooms and
etc, and the author went into detailed discussion of the
differences between forums which allowed anonomous postings,
and those that did not. She basically stated (a very general
summary of her arg.) that those forums that only included
real identities often had posts that were more mature,
professional, articulate, and etc.

I think some of this actually points to larger issues of
text and context, issues of audience and purpose, issues
about how ideas are developed and presented. Some of these
may make for good examples when talking to students about
different writing situations and how to critically read and
write within changing rhetorical contexts.