Jay Baker (he/they)

MSNBC “left wing”? Jesus, that’s laughable.

There are similarities here with my comment - I think some of us longtime internet users have a shared history!

This is my real name you’re seeing. And yet I totally agree with this advice. I’ll try and explain.

Basically, I was an early contributor to IndyMedia during the anti-war movement of the early 2000s, back before IndyMedia collapsed under the weight of conspiracy theories and antisemitism. I also did a lot of guerrilla video work and interviewed fairly high-profile people, and ended up holding screenings and speaking at events as a guest speaker and such, and I kept various blogs online too.

There was a fascist doxxing website here in the UK called Redwatch which listed me, and there were other incidents that were unpleasant. But the genie was essentially out of the bottle, and I’ve carried on being active online, as myself, all through the years in a way where folks could find my latest work or projects via my usual handle that is associated with me and my name.

However, I’d advise anyone to be active online under a pseudonym because it’s just safer that way, and more proactive from the perspective of protection from authorities, especially as Late Capitalism predictably embraces and promotes fascism in order to protect itself, and therefore even “democracies” become more authoritarian.

That’s not to say I haven’t at times been active online under pseudonyms as well, but mostly I try and restrict my energies into the causes that I also happen to be associated with and known for, which means still being the same person who got into media activism twenty years ago and became known for it online.

I envy folks who are now starting from scratch, signing up for sites using pseudonyms, and retaining their anonymity. For most of us, there is absolutely nothing to gain from using real names online. Mask up on protests, and protect your privacy and security online!

I think Owncast might be comparable?

Kolektiva.media “A collective effort to offer video hosting to anarchist collectives and individuals federated with the PeerTube network. Registrations are open, but you need to write us with why you want a Kolektiva.media account at [email protected]”

Thanks for this. I’d stick to the It’s FOSS channels if I wanted to see loads of fascist crap 🤣 Love being on Lemmy!