Article published in:
Formality and Informality in Online Performances
Edited by Sofia Rüdiger and Susanne Mühleisen
[Internet Pragmatics 5:1] 2022
► pp. 38–65

Anonymity and authenticity on the web

Towards a new framework in internet onomastics

| University of Hertfordshire
| University of Münster
Building on our own research (Kersten and Lotze 2018, 2020; Lotze and Kersten in press, under review) as well as other work in this area (Bechar-Israeli 1995; Stommel 2007; Lindholm 2013; Aleksiejuk 2016a, 2016b), this article will discuss the pragmatics of (self-)naming practices online and how they contribute to identity construction and face-work (Bedijs, Held and Maaß 2014; Seargeant and Tagg 2014). Drawing on the data collected, both existing and analysed as part of a wider study of usernames across 14 languages (Schlobinski and Siever 2018a), the use and function of anthroponyms and other names in online contexts are explored. Furthermore, we endeavour to situate both onomastic and sociolinguistic research in the field of digitally-mediated interaction (DMI) and in the field of pragmatics in general.
Keywords: usernames, handles, self-naming, internet onomastics, onomastics, online practices, authenticity, anonymity, face-work
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Nicknamen international (‘international usernames’) study
  • 3.Usernames and self-naming practices online
  • 4.Self-naming as a sociolinguistic practice: An attempt at a definition
    • 4.1Formality and informality in online styles
    • 4.2Usernames as curated authenticity?
    • 4.3Username choice: Identity construction as positioning in relation to a community
  • 5.Self-naming online as an identity-constitutive form of face-work
    • 5.1Results of the questionnaire
      • a.Mono-referenciality
      • b.Self-representation
      • c.Authentification – anonymisation
      • d.Individualisation vs. group-convergence
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 28 April 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00074.ker
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