Aliases

pikov22 wrote:

quietmorning wrote:I try to keep my full name off the net for safety reasons.

I don't change my alias, though - and have no problem with people knowing my first name. I don't have an issue of them knowing my last name as long as they keep it off the net.

I have been using the Internet since before there was a World Wide Web,and before that, I used CompuServe. I used my real name almost everywhere and have not run a foul of any stalkers.

It's not your name you have to protect --it's your SSN, bank account numbers, mother's maiden name, etc.

Well, I've been stalked. And I've been much much worse.

I think a lot of people know my first name...I don't mind it being used...it's Brenda.
We have more than one Brenda on the forum that is active.
The other part of my name I keep private. I have lots of reasons for wanting it private and can't think of one reason to make it public.

The Pugsy name...I chose that because a long time ago I was on another forum and my friends knew about my pug dogs and they just started calling me Pugsy instead of the screen name I had. It was something that always made me smile when they did that...so when I came here I decided to make it official.

When people here change names...if they have been posting here much at all...we recognize them through their writing style.
The people who got banned (and you have to have done something really bad to get banned) and try to sneak back in...they might get away with it for a little while but their writing style usually gives them away eventually. They can change their names but the underlying personality is difficult to change.

Seems its just the way of the internet. Almost like halloween where we get to be some one else. Mine is one I use on for gaming. It has noob to remind me where always new at something and no matter how much we learn there is always more to learn. Not as common as Mike either

mollete wrote:

Alias?

Why so suspicious?

Do you not believe that my folks (Mr. and Mrs. Midnight) named me "Captain"?

.

I use my full name on some forums, but on those that deal with more personal topics, like medical issues, financial topics, and political positions, I use either an alias or my last name initial for privacy. I want Google searches on my name to link to other places.

For email groups, I use my regular email address with my real name associated with it. That doesn't bother me. I use zoocrewphoto for my username for a lot if places because it is unlikely to be used already and represents me well. I have a small business - Zoo Crew Photo. I joke that I live in a zoo, and I refer to them as my crew. During college, I started photographing animals. So, I've been using it a long time now. I actually had a school project in high school where we had to write a small book, and I wanted to include the frint pages with the publishing information. So, I made up Zoo Crew Publishing. When I started my photo business, I brought back the name.

While I don't post my real name here, I am aware that it doesn't take much effort to find it. And that doesn't bother me.

I don't mind people at work knowing about my sleep apnea. I have worked there 24 years, and I have been a severe night owl for 21-22 of those years. I have chosen to work the later shift all this time. I refuse to work mornings. And I have turned down invitations to move up as it requires full time and morning shifts. I can't work full time without giving up my business, and I don't do mornings.

So, that all said, being diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea these past 10 months has been great. And they are happy for me. They can see that I feel better, and it has been a positive thing for me. Most of my direct coworkers have been there for more than 10 years, so we are a lot like a family. We know each other's health issues and enjoy working together.

I can certainly see why others would have a problem with their coworkers or employers knowing. It doesn't bother me to see usernames instead of real names.

pikov22 wrote:Why does everyone here post under an alias?

And why do people change aliases every so often?

They are not "aliases", they are "usernames".

People choose them and/or change them every so often (or post anonymously) because they have that right.

pikov22 wrote:Call me old-fashioned but I find it difficult to have a serious discussion with someone who is hiding their identity.

If it bothers you that much, then don't have a discussion with them.

Oh, sorry, you kinda said that already:

pikov22 wrote:Why are you guys fighting me? I discovered something that was important to me. If it's not important to you, how about just letting it go? It seems to me that most of the responders are not reading closely the definitions I posted.

However (and "IMHO"), a name matters not-- rather, it's who they really are, which you can only find out by talking with them (and by "talking to them", I mean "listening to them").

And of course, "talking" (and "listening") in the virtual sense.

And why even bring this up? Are you upset because you got fried in the other thread?

pikov22 wrote: I have been using the Internet since before there was a World Wide Web,and before that, I used CompuServe. I used my real name almost everywhere and have not run a foul of any stalkers.

Dating yourself!
On CompuServe you didn't use a name, you used a number (70210.243, and yes, that was my real number). I started on CompuServe's MicroNET program, when they were trading it for consumers. I also wrote one of the access programs. Now THAT is fading myself!

pikov22 wrote:And why do people change aliases every so often?

I believe some do it to keep the number of their posts low and the "joined" date recent, since in a forum without traditionally active moderators, the number of posts and the "joined" date can become more meaningful than perhaps they always should be. Some want the merit of their posts to stand on its own when helping others. Some were once on forums where moderators became abusive, demeaning, and controlling, and the bad taste of that in the mouth can make someone a bit, uh, anti-authoritarian on the Internet if they've been through that. The light-handed moderation and policies of this board make it a place where those people feel particularly welcome and free to contribute. That has its advantages and its disadvantages at times, but it is what it is and makes this place this place.

I once posted with the name "who" to fly under the radar here for a while. But that did not go over well, since some felt betrayed by it and it seemed dishonest to them. I respect their take. I was hiding at the time I first did it. I still feel bad some felt hurt by what I did, even though they forgave me. (I'll still post as "who" now and then as a joke, though.) Part of the reason some were offended by it is that one or two people here like to post under multiple names AT THE SAME TIME in the same thread to throw off polls and to give the false impression of a consensus opinion on political and medical matters, and that is understandably distasteful to those with highly-honed ethics/politeness meters in their brain.

I use my initials here. And my real name is so common that it isn't of much use to anyone for actually identifying me online. I have used a picture of me and my wife here before, too. There are several thousand people out there with the same name I have. Even when I occasionally post some of my songs online and attach my real name, it doesn't really help identify me because there are actually several people out there named Jeffrey Kelley posting their songs and recordings online. That doesn't bother me, since I only do it as a hobby and have no desire to go beyond that.

Cyberspace now has its own set of cultural traditions, and anonymity now has a role in many circumstances online. The old CompuServe ents will have their culture, and the teenyboppers who are growing up face-booking their way through life will have theirs. I try to respect both approaches and everything in between as best I can.

The point, to me, is that every post has a human being behind it one way or another--a human with hopes and fears and motivations maybe not even completely understood by him or her. So, OK, they may change online names for whatever reasons. But every post by anyone is still an opportunity to post helpful, entertaining words in reply, no matter who one is addressing, "alias" or not, since lurkers may read the thread and benefit from the details and the tone of the response and use their impression of all that to decide whether or not this is a forum where they can safely get help themselves.

kaiasgram wrote:

mollete wrote:

+1

perfect.

I have an alias for the sake of privacy. On my last job there was a man who was harassing me. The less information about me out there, the better.

Of course I use an alias. My politics, sex life and religion were none of your business. Since i am retired it doesn't mater but when I was working I had no intention of restricting my internet life to admiring pictures of kittens.

To make it perfectly clear - since I am retired - I am a lesbian, feminist, pagan and politically a REAL socialist, not the American kind. If you think that doesn't affect ones resume you are sadly out of date.

Oh and my user name - blackspinner - was the one I used when developing and supporting(in my spare time) a fetish website for a friend - while I was working for a major airline. If you happen to be interested in some of the costumes I developed for that site just go to my web page where these days you can find my real name.

Privacy has its rewards--remember junk phone calls?
Also the ability to assume a character, and to pretend to have some of the features of the character can be fun.
(splash!)

pikov22 wrote: I find it difficult to have a serious discussion with someone who is hiding their identity.

And yet with one statement you seem to have invalidated the majority preference around here with ease.