Doxing, also incorrectly spelled doxxing (see #Spelling), refers to the releasing of documentation relating to a person's identity, location, or activities; however, victims and their apologists have watered down the term to mean the mere mention of someone's true name (i.e. the name a person uses off-line), even if that name is available publicly online.
Doxing is often employed in order to scare, humiliate, or bring unwanted attention to an individual. It is also used in attempts to ostracize individuals or ruin their livelihoods. The threat or possibility of being doxed can be used to intimidate an individual into silence.
Doxing is often employed by social justice warriors to ostracize individuals who do not conform to their social standards.
Properly, doxing is spelled with a single "x" character. "Dox" is derived from the word "docs", as in "documents". "Doxing" is pronounced "doksing", not "doks-ksing"; and "doxed" is pronounced "doksed", not "doks-ksed".
Consider other verbs that end in "x":
- Index: indexing, indexed
- Mix: mixing, mixed
- Relax: relaxing, relaxed
- Tax: taxing, taxed
The two-X spelling seems mainly to be used by the mainstream media and feminists, while the single-X variant is used mainly by regular internet users. Some people use the two-X spelling for the verb to dox(x), while some use the one-X spelling for the noun dox.