Proponents of social media have been quiet on the Orlando Figes case leaving mainstream media to pick up the story. The Times leader writer and columnist Oliver Kamm has penned an analysis.

The case of the Birkbeck College professor and celeb-historian that admitted posting anonymous and often hostile reviews on Amazon shows that it is increasingly impossible to be anonymous on the internet – even when you try as hard as Figes.

Here’s why:

• Social pressures – speculation and ego are a potent combination that tests the conscience of even the most devious anonymous commentator. And if conscience doesn’t out you the network surely will
• Legal transparency – the threat of legal action for slander or defamation will surely result in the end of the anonymous account. Watch for Amazon’s response to the Figues case. Authenticated accounts are surely around the corner
• Technology – IP level monitoring is a trivial. It scares me how Google Maps can almost always locate me to within a square mile irrespective of my connection-type. If Amazon or your ISP is called on to disclose you by a court you’re a click away from being named and shamed
• Web shadows – language construction and posting patterns provide a unique signature to an individual that is almost as reliable as a fingerprint.