I don’t get it. There’s a few Dopers who consistently sign their posts, some with their username, and other with their (I presume) real name. What purpose does signing your posts serve? I’m assuming you know that everyone can see each other’s usernames. So give. What’s the deal?
I don’t do this, but I have an idea as to why someone would. I don’t really pay much attention to the username of the person who made a post. By putting your name at the bottom, you’re more likely to be noticed.
I never use my sig line.
I add my name on the end out of habit. I do it with email, other message boards etc. No real reason I do it here other than that.
Russell
What’s even more perplexing is when some people have a closing sentiment in their sign line, which sometimes imparts a feeling very different from the post itself.
Example: Somebody has “enjoy!” at the end of all their posts. On more than a few occasions, that person has posted in the pit, complete with raving invective and cursing that would make the desiccated corpse of Joan Rivers blush, and then closed the post with a cheery “enjoy!”
“Regards” get on my nerves, too. Imagine having a discussion with a coworker who, when finished speaking, says “regards” each and every time it’s your turn to speak. If I was composing a letter, I might use regards. But not in back-and-forth discussions such as we have here on the message boards.
John: The copier is out of paper.
Steve: The paper is in the supply room. Regards.
John: I looked in there and we’re all out.
Steve: Oh, in that case I better tell Nancy to order more. Regards.
John: In the mean time, I’ll walk over to payroll and use their machine.
Steve: Good idea. Regards.
I sign my name out of a mixture of habit, concern (so that the reader won’t have to go “Who was that again?”) and promotion (reinforce the name).
Oh, yes, and also so that people can ask “Why do you sign your name on your posts?” 
Zev Steinhardt
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Reminds me of the old joke when the basic price for a telegram gave you ten words. Extra words cost more.
A guy went into Western Union and wrote out on the form a telegram to his girlfriend, which read, “I love you. I love you. I love you”
The attendant told him he could have one more word for the same price, so he added, “Regards.”
Oh man, I’m doing this in my office from now on…
It’s the only way I can keep track of all my sock puppets.
Regards,
Shodan
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
applause
I started doing it because my username is gender indeterminate and it seemed polite.
I also occasionally add a small comment after my name, usually for light humor or clarification.
As I am in the process of changing my username, I may stop doing this or I might not. Warning thread shameless plug.
Jim See like this this
Niether do I.
I don’t sign my posts here and even on my work emails it seems stupid tp me to sign my whole name since the recipient can see it is from me before opening it. So I just sign with my christian name even if it is being sent to th CEO.
I was going to say to **Patty O’Furniture ** that Shodan must be his/her coworker.
I started doing it on a message board for Everquest. My username was my character name, but of course I had to add my other info (level, etc). So the end of every post had:
Otanx Trainstopper - level 65 enchanter
Jaggedpine Defenders
Solusek Ro
I never bothered to make it a sig line either so I typed it every time. I just got into the habit, and now do it anywhere I post. I just leave off the stuff that dosen’t apply.
-Otanx
This is my number one pet peeve on the SDMB. One day I pray we will see the demise of the gratuitous signature.
I sometimes do it if I want to make sure people know I’m speaking from a personal perspective (ie, from experience) than from a strictly logical/theoretical point of view.
Plus, although I love having a self-referencing sig file, I just don’t think .sigs are really ‘me’, y’know?
I do it to confuse people.
Ugh. Don’t take it personally, but if I was ever to pit some annoyance of the SDMB it would be the self referencing sig line. Particularly the ones which are a list of quoted compliments for the poster, it just seems so self centered.