Abstract
In August 2005, on the Dutch web forum FOK!, someone calling herself Nadine26 wrote about the mutual attraction between herself and the man she was babysitting for. A conversation ensued, and as the affair took shape, the forum’s visitors cheered, warned, and consoled her. In the final message a disillusioned Nadine broke with her lover, and took revenge by announcing her Internet diary was about to be published as a book. And indeed, in March 2007, a book was published titled Dagboekvaneenkindermeisje.com (‘Diaryofananny.com’), by an author identified as Nadine S. The book was compiled out of the earlier forum messages and the forum visitors’ comments. A lively, often angry debate followed about the legal and moral aspects of acting under false pretenses in a public forum and of reprinting, without asking, other people’s messages.
This chapter discusses the paradoxes of anonimity, confidentiality and sincerity in the affair. Anonimity facilitates sincerity and trust; at the same time, anonimity ceates the conditions for cheating and misuse of trust. I trace the role of confidentiality in the original forum threads, in the book publication and in the online debate about the affair.
This chapter discusses the paradoxes of anonimity, confidentiality and sincerity in the affair. Anonimity facilitates sincerity and trust; at the same time, anonimity ceates the conditions for cheating and misuse of trust. I trace the role of confidentiality in the original forum threads, in the book publication and in the online debate about the affair.
| Translated title of the contribution | The paradoxical confidentiality of the web: Sincerity and Trust in 'Diary of a nanny' |
|---|---|
| Original language | Dutch |
| Title of host publication | In vriendschap en vertrouwen |
| Subtitle of host publication | Cultuurhistorische essays over confidentialiteit |
| Publisher | Verloren |
| Pages | 35-48 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789087044787 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |