(CNN) -- Online, you can project whatever identity you like. But for some people, it's easier to have no identity at all. A new social networking site, Social Number, caters to those who have a preference for anonymity. Instead of a name or a handle or a thumbnail photo of themselves, users are identified only by a number. In this way, the site encourages users to discuss anything, from a bad job to a hot-button social issue to a substance-abuse problem, without fear that the conversation could be connected to their real-world identity. "I had been feeling for a while that there were privacy issues with most social networking sites," said the site's creator, who gives his name only as M.K. "I just felt that any time you search someone's name, it pops up in every different way, from Facebook and Twitter and everyplace else ... I just felt that there was one site needed where people could come and talk ... freely and not worry about who's going to read it and what's going to happen."
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A new social network, Social Number, lists users by a number, not by name
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It's the latest entry in an ongoing debate surrounding online anonymity
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The CEO of the company sees it as a complement to open social networking
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Users say they appreciate being able to talk freely without fear of being judged
"As long as people are doing legal activity on the site, it's a freedom-of-speech issue," @placeholder
While the software-marketing professional visits Facebook five to 10 times a day, there are certain topics she would rather broach on @placeholder.