How To Remain Anonymous?!

It's impossible. You can't. But you can minimize the effects of being discovered.

  • Thinkpad with BIOS removed (Libreboot supported)
  • Linux
  • Self Host as much as you can (VPN/Email/Websites)
  • Firefox/Librewolf/TOR Browser
  • Ublock Origin
  • No Social Media
  • Signal/Matrix
  • Never put your real name online EVER
  • Never put a photo of you online EVER
  • Have two phone numbers - one you give out to all the services - other one is personal
  • Two phones - one personal - one decoy/work/school phone
  • Never reveal a location where you are IRL online EVER
  • Multiple passwords
  • Multiple temporary fake emails
  • Multiple emails
  • Remove metadata off photos
  • Only use phone for calling/light texts/trivial stuff - nothing else
  • Buy a real camera - only use it for taking photos/recording
  • Buy a music player - only use that for listening to music
  • Buy an ereader - only use that for reading
  • Play video games, watch movies/shows on separate monitor/laptop/desktop
  • Utilize imageboards/old school forums/websites with multiple different pseudonyms
  • Don't use any cloud services - self-host your own or just rely on external hard drives
  • Realize you're never really truly anonymous on the internet, so give info out lightly
  • Don't EVER gossip about people online and ghost people the second they do it to you

Yeah this becomes a big pain in the ass as you can imagine...

First step is to create two identities:

  1. Personal
  2. Professional

This is actually quite difficult to do. For instance let's say you want an IRL identity with lots of close friends, hobbies, and relationships, but you also want a virtual identity with tons of online virtual projects, essays, videos, and communities.

To make this road easier to navigate, create a Professional website and a Personal Website. Whatever you do just make sure you don't ever tell anyone IRL about your personal one, and the people online about your professional one. Keep them as separate as possible.

Professional Site

  • Public
  • Job
  • Business
  • Clean
  • Minimal
  • Professional blogs
  • Mobile Friend
  • Not Anonymous
  • Rules

Personal Site

  • It doesn't have to look good for everyone
  • Personal blogs
  • No Rules
  • Freedom
  • Anonymous
  • Fake psuedoname

Tell only people IRL about your professional site. Tell only people online about your personal site.

For instance my personal site is not made to look good on every device. It's also just my place where I get to vent to the world. That's all it is. Also if it hurts people's eyes that means less eyeballs on it.

If you're working hard on both identities without compromise it can potentially make your ego very uncomfortable. People start generalizing, and they think they know your life. Your ego may start getting uncomfortable. It may think it has to "prove" to people that you're special or valuable or whatever. Don't buy into it. Let people win. As long as you still have a lifestyle you want it won't matter.

Popularity is the worse thing that can happen to you if you're trying to remain anonymous. Everything you're hiding has a greater chance of exposure the more you gain popularity in either your Personal or Professional life.

I was thinking of Death Note as I was writing this. Long story short, the main character was able to conceal certain aspects of himself because he had an outside identity and appearance that showed he was well liked with lots of hobbies and such. He was very careful not to let out his other sides of him. But as you watch on, even though he was initially successful it became very stressful to keep quiet about what he was doing. His popularity and high status came at a cost. Later on he became a top suspect and he had to keep coming up with elaborate schemes to think his way out of getting caught.

I'd suggest having a bunch of IRL hobbies that exclude you from your personal virtual identity. Keep them separate. Don't worry what others think. Whatever you do just DON'T use Social Media. Stay away from it. Don't take pictures of yourself on it. Just don't. Make sure online photos of you don't exist online. Even better if someone else is famous has your name.

Normies love social media for god knows what reason. Don't buy into it. Call friends through your professional website/phone through matrix/signal or whatever. If you do somehow make online friends talk to them through your personal site through matrix/IRL/XMPP. "Online Friends" are a huge meme. IRL friends are better. Everyone online is fake so don't take any of it too seriously.

But even with all those precautions taken, your IRL identity and virtual identity might be discovered.

Stay out of Drama. Do not engage.

A lot of this is to stop that small percentage of people/organizations who will abuse you, stalk you, and try to harass you. That's why remaining anonymous is so important. It's also why you should be careful about the data you give out. Once it's out it's out. Obviously if you did some illegal stuff then that's on you, but if it's in the gray area then you'll have to just let the internet fight it out. People have short attention spans and time is on your side. But to be completely honest the worst thing people can probably do to you is just start accusing you of doing/saying something horrible. For the most part all that is just petty high school bullshit drama. The best thing you can do is to have a healthy independent lifestyle and to stay out of microblogs, social media, and reddit tier forums and just keep focusing on what you can control and what you can do to make yourself and people's lives better. At least that's my philosophy.

The second I start gaining traction online or IRL I am going to have to be prepared for this. I mean I already have voice recordings, so someone will figure it out eventually. By the time it happens, I hope to have built an independent lifestyle enough such that the effects of this would be pretty minimal. I will still keep my identities, personalities, and personas separate for the sake of my mental health. I think it's important to have places where you can have fun/don't take yourself too seriously and other places where you do take things seriously.