A few thoughts on identity

Yesterday, I found myself 'in conversation' with someone who'd left a comment regarding one of my videos. Trouble is, she's been accused by several other Xhamster members of being a fake profile, so - in the spirit of offering a fair hearing - I sent a private message. Curiously, 'she' didn't really respond to that charge and was more interested in explaining how excited she was to have been contacted by me. Had I any lingering doubt as to the truth of the matter, my suspicions were rapidly confirmed when I discovered a further three near-identical users had left comments on other of my videos. I immediately blocked all four, though I remain mystified as to what possible benefit could be gained from this subterfuge.

Matters grew even more bizarre when I got in touch with one of the original profile's more vocal critics. He actually raised the possibility of my being yet another fake from the same stable, although I think I managed to convince him in the end. After all, although I have personal and professional reasons for not using my surname or a personal photograph on Xhamster, I believe there is more than sufficient material here to prove my authenticity.

This entire affair does raise some interesting questions regarding the nature of identity in the Internet age. I state that I am real, yet there is virtually no way of proving this short of recording myself on video, holding my passport open before the camera lens. And even that would only provide evidence of the existence of someone with my declared name, not that the author of these words was in fact him. Welcome to the future.

(For the record: the original contact came from Hottgirly4u; the subsequent clones were Luckgirl2, Hottgirly420 and Freakygirly2.)