Anonymity

The Internet does a good job of creating an illusion of anonymity. I say illusion, because while on the face of things it would seem impossible for anyone to connect what you do on the Internet to the real you, there is a connection, a very real connection, made of fibre-optic cable, sillicon chips and electrical impulses, which anyone with the knowledge can trace to the person tapping the keyboard. It doesn't help that, with an illusion of assured facelessness, people tend to be more careless with information they leave on the Web. It takes just a little carelessness spread out across various sites, and all one has to do is bring all these indiscretions together to build a picture, of the real person, their friends, and satellite photographs of their home. It's almost terrifying, when the supposed anonymity proves to be a sham.

Then again, perhaps all of us, deep down, want to be discovered. After all, there is a way to remain truly unknown, and that is to refrain from all connections. By taking pot-shots into the darkness of the Web, perhaps the intention is that, someday, someone will reach back and say, "Found you."

Until then, there is a thrill, in having a little secret which no-one knows about but which anyone could reveal with little effort, like some sort of superhero from a book.

Except this is real life, and you don't get a retcon, and the main character always dies in the end.