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All too often, and increasingly so in recent months, I find myself browsing the Motte and having to ask "is this guy posting from an alternate reality, or just straight-up trolling?"
No, this is just absurd, completely contrary to reality. We live in a world of instantaneous communication, having had high quality cellphones capturing crystal clear recordings for years, easily accessible databases, and tens of millions of netizens who derive no greater joy than when they can "identify" a wrong-thinker, track them down, and have their lives ruined. It has never been easier to locate a "ne'er do well" and track them down, and conversly it has never been harder to lay low and trust that your neighbors will never hear about your supposed "misdeads" a continent away. 50 years ago, people could watch Bill Bixby play a scientist who bombards himself with gamma radiation, turn into a muscle-bound monster, and end every episode hitching a ride to stay one step ahead of Mr. McGhee, confident that the random people he meet will never even have heard of the Hulk, and would certainly never recognize him. Today, the "skip town to avoid consequences" is the most ridiculous part of that premise.
If he was James Damore or something, sure. But how on earth would someone 2 states away be like "hey it's that mid-30s Red Vines guy from that feminist me too short story published several years ago!" Was he actually doxxed? Is his real name online?
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Except that the defamation here relies not on something like a viral video, or a government name, or even obvious identifying information like a tattoo, but on more subtle stuff like knowing where he lived ten years ago and who he was dating and where she worked. Without that information, no new person he met after the story came up could ever connect the dots...unless an article by his ex gf outing him was published on Slate. Then that might make it a bit more public.
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