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Stuck in anonymity

3 points by termer ↗ HN
Ever since I was 9, I've been online under my current psuedonym. Since that same time, I've been programming, and chatting with people online. My parent's are aware of my online name, my website, and my GitHub page. However, they are very strict on online communication, and are unaware of my online friends, aquaintances, and connections. Something even as trival as someone swearing in a chatroom would make it unsuitable for me to be there, in my parents' eyes. So I have to keep almost all of my online activity a secret. Because of this, many projects I worked on with others and connections I've made cannpt be shared with my parents. This would be fine, and it was, but now I'm needing to build up a portfolio so I can get a job later in life. I've got my GitHub repos, but I can't say "Worked at such and such company" or my parents will freak that I've been doing all this. Likewise, I can't accept payments with anything other than bitcoin, and I can't spend it on anything tangeable, only online resources that I can pay for with BTC, such as hosting, but not computer parts to maintain my aging box. I really don't know what to do. I feel like I'm really screwing up my life.

3 comments

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slater
You're not screwing up your life. Your parents are.
greenyoda
It would be hard to offer any advice without knowing how old you are now. If you're 18, I'd say it's time to assert your independence from your parents. If you're 13, you probably have fewer options.

One option might be to create a second online identity that your parents don't know about (while keeping the first one active as a cover to avoid suspicion).

As for being able to accept payments: until you're legally an adult, you won't be able to legally enter into a contract, so banks, credit card companies, etc. can't do business with you.

termer
Unfortunately, I'm under 18, so I'm stuck. Thanks for the advice.