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What Is Pseudonymous Economy – And How Is It Helping Corporate Indian Employees?

The concept started out with crypto and Reddit and has now expanded beyond that.

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You may have heard of famous writers who wrote under pseudonyms. For instance, crime novelist Agatha Christie wrote six romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott.

The young Benjamin Franklin famously wrote under the guise of a middle-aged widow named Silence Dogood. Why? Because no publisher in Boston wanted to print the work of the real, teenage Franklin.

What Is Pseudonymous Economy – And How Is It Helping Corporate Indian Employees?

  1. 1. What Is Pseudonomity?

    The first Bitcoin was mined on 3 January 2009 by someone known as 'Satoshi Nakamoto'. Now, Satoshi Nakamoto is recognised as the pseudonym of the person or group of people who created Bitcoin.

    The concept of pseudonymity is quite prevalent on social media platforms such as Reddit and Quora. The users on these platforms are also mostly pseudonymous. In fact, many on social media use pseudonyms, especially the so-called "alter ego" and parody accounts. 

    What does pseudonymity mean in the online space? And what does a pseudonymous economy mean? The Quint delves into these questions for you.

    To put it simply, pseudonymity is when a name other than an individual's real name is used to create an identity online.

    As Balaji Srinivasan, an angel investor and author of The Network State, highlighted at a summit that there are three forms of online identity today:

    • Real name, used on platforms like Facebook

    • Pseudonym, used on sites like Reddit and Twitter

    • Anonym, used on sites like 4chan that are designed to be anonymous

    "Pseudonyms are interesting because they're not your real name, but they are persistent… and you can build up reputation on them," said Srinivasan.

    At another conference, he highlighted how "people will be known more by their crypto domains than their real names," adding that, "AI and blockchain are changing the fundamental way we are representing ourselves online."

    Expand
  2. 2. How Is It Different from Anonymity?

    As Srinivisan pointed out, "A pseudonym is a persistent name like [a Reddit user]. An anonym is like a [4Chan user] where there is no tracing across interactions. A pseudonym can crucially have reputation and metadata associated with it. An [anonymous user] is not persistent at all."

    Examples include @BoredElonMusk, whose musings on tech and wild startup ideas that the real Elon might invent have attracted 1.7 million followers on Twitter. Others like Corpse Husband, the YouTuber, IceFrog, the creator of World of Warcraft/DOTA, a series of popular strategy video games, also use pseudonyms.

    In a blog post, @BoredElonMusk has highlighted how pseudonymity is different from true anonymity (where no one knows anything about you).

    A pseudonym, as the post highlights, allows one to even have the chance to demonstrate a skill set, build a following, make long-term connections with other people, and even establish a professional track record and build a career.

    The concept started out with crypto and Reddit/Quora and is now expanding beyond and is becoming mainstream on other social networks and professional career websites.

    Why Do People Use Pseudonyms?

    As Shreeyash Dharmadhikari, creator at Grapevine (an app for a pseudonymous discord server), pointed out, "The benefit of being pseudonymous is that it is possible to be recognised without any risk to your personal reputation."

    Expand
  3. 3. How Is Pseudonymity Catching Up in Professional Networking Space?

    In September 2021, a pseudonymous discord server called 'Corporate Chat India', which is a community of working professionals giving each other genuine professional advice, went live.

    They started with a Reddit page and then moved to the Discord server. Originally created for gamers to communicate in games without in-game voice chat, Discord has become a group-chatting platform for all kinds of communities. Today, the Corporate Chat India channel has grown to host 10,000 professionals, according to Moneycontrol.

    On this platform, people discuss their career, salary, and work culture at different firms. Corporate Chat India also has an active Twitter account and the team has now launched an app called Grapevine.

    "We believe that Indian professionals are really attached to their corporate lives. There's so much to talk about but real and honest conversations only happen offline at the water cooler or at after-hour socials," Dharamadhikari says.

    "It is not possible professionals to have such conversations on a platform like LinkedIn where everyone is watching you, and people only end up self-promoting there. We wanted to create a platform where professionals from diverse sectors in India can come by to have real conversations with each other. We currently have users from 700+ companies," Dharmadhikari told The Quint.

    The concept started out with crypto and Reddit and has now expanded beyond that.

    A discussion on Grapevine. 

    (Photo: Accesed by The Quint)

    The concept started out with crypto and Reddit and has now expanded beyond that.

    Another conversation on Grapevine.

    (Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

    "We have created a platform where every user is known by their username and their company. This gives some credibility and familiarity to users," he added.

    Expand
  4. 4. Will It Create Better Network and Brands?

    He pointed out that Grapevine users can have honest conversations around salaries, career advice, and workplace culture.

    "There are discussions on questions like, 'How much does an engineer at Amazon earn?', 'How do I go about getting a promotion?', 'What’s the culture like at Swiggy?," he added.

    Recently, he added that there have been regular threads around salaries and layoffs, which is something that's at the top of mind for professionals in tech.

    Like Grapevine, there is Fishbowl, which is another platform many professionals from the tech community use.

    Similarly, there is Blind, an anonymous app for the workplace.

    As Balaji put it in his talk, "The 'pseudonymous economy' prevents both discrimination and cancellation. Hundreds of millions of Reddit profiles are pseudonymous and this concept is already is already mainstream."

    He added that in the United States, not only GenZ, but many baby boomers have pseudonymous accounts as well.

    As Varun Mayya, entrepreneur, investor, creator and software engineer, told Moneycontrol, "Humans have a lot of reverence for legends. It is hard to relate to a pseudonymous identity, but at the same time, it prevents an individual or their views from getting cancelled."

    Mayya believes that though nascent, this trend will pick up.

    (At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

    Expand

The first Bitcoin was mined on 3 January 2009 by someone known as 'Satoshi Nakamoto'. Now, Satoshi Nakamoto is recognised as the pseudonym of the person or group of people who created Bitcoin.

The concept of pseudonymity is quite prevalent on social media platforms such as Reddit and Quora. The users on these platforms are also mostly pseudonymous. In fact, many on social media use pseudonyms, especially the so-called "alter ego" and parody accounts. 

What does pseudonymity mean in the online space? And what does a pseudonymous economy mean? The Quint delves into these questions for you.

What Is Pseudonomity?

To put it simply, pseudonymity is when a name other than an individual's real name is used to create an identity online.

As Balaji Srinivasan, an angel investor and author of The Network State, highlighted at a summit that there are three forms of online identity today:

  • Real name, used on platforms like Facebook

  • Pseudonym, used on sites like Reddit and Twitter

  • Anonym, used on sites like 4chan that are designed to be anonymous

"Pseudonyms are interesting because they're not your real name, but they are persistent… and you can build up reputation on them," said Srinivasan.

At another conference, he highlighted how "people will be known more by their crypto domains than their real names," adding that, "AI and blockchain are changing the fundamental way we are representing ourselves online."

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

How Is It Different from Anonymity?

As Srinivisan pointed out, "A pseudonym is a persistent name like [a Reddit user]. An anonym is like a [4Chan user] where there is no tracing across interactions. A pseudonym can crucially have reputation and metadata associated with it. An [anonymous user] is not persistent at all."

Examples include @BoredElonMusk, whose musings on tech and wild startup ideas that the real Elon might invent have attracted 1.7 million followers on Twitter. Others like Corpse Husband, the YouTuber, IceFrog, the creator of World of Warcraft/DOTA, a series of popular strategy video games, also use pseudonyms.

In a blog post, @BoredElonMusk has highlighted how pseudonymity is different from true anonymity (where no one knows anything about you).

A pseudonym, as the post highlights, allows one to even have the chance to demonstrate a skill set, build a following, make long-term connections with other people, and even establish a professional track record and build a career.

The concept started out with crypto and Reddit/Quora and is now expanding beyond and is becoming mainstream on other social networks and professional career websites.

Why Do People Use Pseudonyms?

As Shreeyash Dharmadhikari, creator at Grapevine (an app for a pseudonymous discord server), pointed out, "The benefit of being pseudonymous is that it is possible to be recognised without any risk to your personal reputation."

0

How Is Pseudonymity Catching Up in Professional Networking Space?

In September 2021, a pseudonymous discord server called 'Corporate Chat India', which is a community of working professionals giving each other genuine professional advice, went live.

They started with a Reddit page and then moved to the Discord server. Originally created for gamers to communicate in games without in-game voice chat, Discord has become a group-chatting platform for all kinds of communities. Today, the Corporate Chat India channel has grown to host 10,000 professionals, according to Moneycontrol.

On this platform, people discuss their career, salary, and work culture at different firms. Corporate Chat India also has an active Twitter account and the team has now launched an app called Grapevine.

"We believe that Indian professionals are really attached to their corporate lives. There's so much to talk about but real and honest conversations only happen offline at the water cooler or at after-hour socials," Dharamadhikari says.

"It is not possible professionals to have such conversations on a platform like LinkedIn where everyone is watching you, and people only end up self-promoting there. We wanted to create a platform where professionals from diverse sectors in India can come by to have real conversations with each other. We currently have users from 700+ companies," Dharmadhikari told The Quint.

The concept started out with crypto and Reddit and has now expanded beyond that.

A discussion on Grapevine. 

(Photo: Accesed by The Quint)

The concept started out with crypto and Reddit and has now expanded beyond that.

Another conversation on Grapevine.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

"We have created a platform where every user is known by their username and their company. This gives some credibility and familiarity to users," he added.

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

He pointed out that Grapevine users can have honest conversations around salaries, career advice, and workplace culture.

"There are discussions on questions like, 'How much does an engineer at Amazon earn?', 'How do I go about getting a promotion?', 'What’s the culture like at Swiggy?," he added.

Recently, he added that there have been regular threads around salaries and layoffs, which is something that's at the top of mind for professionals in tech.

Like Grapevine, there is Fishbowl, which is another platform many professionals from the tech community use.

Similarly, there is Blind, an anonymous app for the workplace.

As Balaji put it in his talk, "The 'pseudonymous economy' prevents both discrimination and cancellation. Hundreds of millions of Reddit profiles are pseudonymous and this concept is already is already mainstream."

He added that in the United States, not only GenZ, but many baby boomers have pseudonymous accounts as well.

Will It Create Better Network and Brands?

As Varun Mayya, entrepreneur, investor, creator and software engineer, told Moneycontrol, "Humans have a lot of reverence for legends. It is hard to relate to a pseudonymous identity, but at the same time, it prevents an individual or their views from getting cancelled."

Mayya believes that though nascent, this trend will pick up.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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