Why Anonymous?

Some people really struggle with the idea of anonymity. Especially in fandom, where so much of its activity is content driven. If someone spent hours working on a fic or art to contribute, why wouldn’t they want to claim it as their own? Why would they just happily sign the work off as “anonymous”? And what about anonymous commenters? If all they are leaving is a small insight or quick review, why hide under a shroud of anonymity?

Unsurprisingly, there’s no easy answer and the reasons vary from individual to individual. A few common threads, however, can be found. The most common, and perhaps most obvious, explanation is simply privacy. Privacy issues are not solely confined to fandom spaces. Anyone who has used the internet for even the briefest of moments can understand these concerns. Generally speaking, you should expect anything you put up online to be searchable and permanent. (Yes, you can delete the original content, but anyone who knows how to use a keyboard can screenshot, download, or save the information. Not to mention, some websites, such as the WayBack Machine, work specifically to archive webpages so that a version of them might still be accessible long after the original was deleted.) That means that, for better or worse, an embarrassing picture, a racist tweet, an inappropriate comment, or private story can be traced back to you by a friend or co-worker. Even if the material was originally posted years ago and you’ve changed since then, the internet can keep it up as a record as who you once were or did. And it can have very real consequences for people offline.
Full post here.   It bears repeating that fandom involvement is a very private thing for many people. A user might simply not want certain people in their social circles to find out about what they do in their spare time. People often comfortably divulge a part of themselves and their activities to their friends that they would never mention to family or peers. Such reasoning becomes most apparent when considering what fannish spaces frequently discuss. The content of a blog or post itself, more simply put, may deal with issues that people generally are very uncomfortable talking about in public, such as sex, slash, or kinks. Anonymity allows for a degree of separation for a user from the subject matter. They can take risks and divulge very personal information about themselves without the danger of identification. It’s a way to interact with others and share work without stress. There’s no reason to worry about judgment because in the end, the content will not be traced back to you. At its most positive, anonymity is very self-indulgent and freeing. I end with a quote from an anonymous author after being asked why they refused to de-anon:

I prefer being no one. Better for my ego, better for my happiness. And I'm sorry if this seems horribly foolish and contrived - but, well. I'd rather be able to stay in fandom for years feeling comfortable than getting this moment of yay, it was me and then feeling awkward about everything.