How anonymous is anonymous here? I'm new to the forums, very experienced radonc after more than a couple of decades, very realistic, and very appreciative of this forums discussions and points of view. Before becoming more active and knowing how radoncs eat their own across the field, I was interested in colleagues experiences as far as assessing the vulnerability related to discussing reality here? Any horror stories or heroic achievements that can be shared? Very appreciative of some experienced voices helping provide a confidence to affect patient and physician centered change.
Very anonymous, in a sense. Short of a court-ordered subpoena, SDN itself is very unlikely to "expose" anyone. Since they're a private entity, technically they can do whatever they want, but I've been coming here for 20 years and never seen anything of the sort, or even the hint of such a thing.
Where the "threat" comes from is how much you reveal about yourself, if you consistently use the same account. Since RadOnc is small, it's easier to identify someone based on their stories if you pay attention.
But it's still difficult. I know who some posters are on here, either because we've talked about it in real life, or I've been told by friends-of-friends, that sort of thing. However, I've only been able to "figure out" one or two folks based on their stories, because there's VERY FEW people who post enough to see a pattern, and of those people, most are very careful about what details they reveal.
This is actually my third account, in part for those reasons. My first account appears to have been automatically deleted because I stopped using SDN for some years while I was in med school/PhD. Then, when I got back into it, I used a second moniker from ~2012-2018. I had made enough posts that I felt like it was clear who I was, and I wanted to transition into more of the protest/advocacy/whatever you want to call it, and didn't want to be identified. Hence, I made the ESE account in 2019. Because the world of RadOnc has shifted so drastically between 2019-today, and I'm completely done with all training/board certification/jobs etc, I don't really see myself switching accounts again. But I know it's an option - and it's an option for everyone else, too.
I will say this: I know why
@RealSimulD started this thread. It's pretty classic RadOnc shenanigans.
So to anyone concerned: even if you think you know who I am, prove it. Even if I've told you in real life, to your face, who I am - can you prove it?
A great example is
@RealSimulD himself - or herself. Gun to my head, I cannot prove who is actually behind that account. Obviously, this is just an example haha - I'm just illustrating the point, because the internet tricks our brains. We're inherently trusting, as a species, and our brains look for patterns and fill in gaps. It's why we can see shapes in the clouds, or why there's an entire branch of philosophy dedicated to logical fallacies.
I have zero concerns about my activity here. First, everything I say here, I basically am willing to say in real life, with my own name - and often have. But second - short of SDN handing over the IP addresses used on my account, and then those IP addresses being matched to billing data with ISPs, and then that being confirmed with my personal location details indicating it was most like me and not someone spoofing/hacking my IP...that takes actual law enforcement powers. And the FBI isn't getting involved because some podunk Chair thinks being criticized is the same as being canceled.
I haven't heard any horror stories from SDN, as in someone said something and then faced real life consequences (and if that has happened, again - it's because someone admitted to owning an account - NEVER ADMIT ANYTHING).
Heroic stories, however? I mean...the world woke up to the systemic imbalance of the highly regulated RadOnc economic system. Of course, that's multifactorial - but if you run a thought experiment of the last 5 years, with and without SDN, would things look the same?
I doubt it.
