Anonymous & Pseudonymous Posting

Great Debates
61

I use a screen name because it’s fun. Long before the internet existed, I used to make up alternative names for myself, and imagine what it might be like to write with a pen name, act under a pseudonym, or even just dump my life and start over again with a new identity.

Now I have a chance to be whoever I want to be. I don’t have a separate persona for the web; what I do reveal about my personal life is almost entirely true. But I reveal what I want to reveal, selectively. In the real world, whatever opinions I express are always tainted to a certain extent by what others know about the real me. To give an example: in the real world, any discussion I have about the current crisis in the Middle East always starts from the other participants’ knowledge that I am Jewish (the other day, it was even suggested to me that I must find it awkward working on a big project with a Frenchman. :rolleyes: ) As it happens, I have revealed my religion on this board before. But if I hadn’t, this would be one place where I could have discussions about Israel without any automatic assumptions of personal bias.

We judge and label and pigeonhole people every day, whether we realize it or not. I’m not ashamed of who I am, but I like being able to talk to people without them knowing everything about me. It makes a difference. It’s a form of freedom.

In my everyday life, I am locked into being “that woman”, with that job, and that haircolor, and that family structure, and those friends, and those tchotches in my cubicle, and that collection, and that annoying habit, etc., etc., etc.

SpoilerVirgin, OTOH, has a whole lot less baggage. She’s not defined by a specific framework. She’s very much like me, but she’s just a little bit less restricted, and a little bit less judged.

That’s fun.

62

jiHymas, you asked why DSeid chose that name over any other one. There are several threads in MPSIMS which you can peruse which will tell you the rationale for that particular person’s SN.
My SN refers to Ender Wiggin, a character from my favorite book, Ender’s Game. My SN is not a way to hide in the shadows. It’s designed to tell you a bit about me right off the bat: I’m a science fiction fan.
I picked it as my online personum. Someone I would like to portray. Now, I don’t believe that I am Ender Wiggin. I highly doubt that anyone here confuses me with a fictional 6 year old military genius. Again, my point is not to hide, but to enlighten.

To add on to MrVisible’s fine points:

I am a law student. A lot of people online know this. This doesn’t score me any points in debate. I can’t lord it over people and say “bow down to me because I know the law and you don’t!” Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m held to a higher standard. What normally happens is I get beaten into submission by actual lawyers who know the law far far better than I do.
Now, how do I know they’re lawyers. I don’t! I take their word for it.
I’ve met some of the dopers who “claim” to be lawyers on the boards. I never asked them for their bar cards. I don’t need to. I’ve seen them post and I know that if they AREN’T lawyers then

  1. they seem to be fooling every other person on the board
  2. they still have an awfully good understanding of the law.

In short, as MrVisible has stated, I judge them by what they post. I challenge them by what they post. Names are irrelevant. Giving out my name will not determine whether I win a debate or not.

63

I don’t use my real life name because it is unusual and easily traceable. I’m married to someone who does have a public persona – if I am easily identifiable here I don’t consider he should have to answer for the trivia I post here.

I’ve been approached by journalists in the past on lists where I am identifiable. I share more information there about my kids although I am a lot more careful than I was 5 years ago.

It’s only part of who I am that I share here. But that’s common in social situations isn’t it? Or do people normally share every last detail when they go to a bar?

64

I have to agree with this sentiment. Speaking from personal experience for a moment…

I am extremely active with several online music trading groups. In many of these groups it is standard procedure to use your real name. So now my name is posted all over the net. As a matter of fact, a quick Google search on my name will bring up about 90 hits. Considering my real name is particularly unique, it would be impossible to disassociate myself from these online signatures. If an employer, or potential employer ever did a quick search on me it would be mildly awkward at best.

It’s not like there’s anything I have to hide, but what I do with my life outside of work is my business, and I’d be more comfortable if I wasn’t as easilly traced. Boy, a good pseudonym would sure do the trick

65

A quick Google search on my real name brought up my cousin the Forest Ranger and a brick making company in South Africa. I also seem to have a cousin who plays soccer in Argentina.

I, however, have a negligable influence on the cyber-world. That is to my taste.

66

In my case, it is to prevent unneeded deaths. I have a very small group of scary criminals that have decided to illegally harass me as a result of being here and on other Boards. Given their instability and obsessiveness, I have no doubt that one day I would pull into my drive and see a raincoat-clad figure lurking behind my bushes, waiting to “teach me a lesson”.

And then I would kill them.

Alternately, I guess someone could harass me from afar enough that I eventually snap, cash in some of my umpteen frequent flyer tickets, fly to their State/Prvince/Territory/Country, and kill them too.

So you see, it’s better this way for all involved. People always laugh at it, and never think that there are consequences to actions, that they are not invulnerable because of the distance of the Net, and that someone can be pushed to a point where murder is not only a good option, it’s the only option. I mean after all, this sort of thing only happens on TV, right?

Hell - I can get on a plane at Gatwick and be anywhere in the World in 36 hours, cashing in about 200,000 FF miles and hardly paying anything. I can fly Business Class too. The “buffer” of the Net and distance does not really protect anyone from someone who’s mad enough and crazy enough.

Hypothetically speaking only, of course.

In general, this does not happen.

No difference in my opinion - but others may vary. See the killing scenarios above…

67

Well, that isn’t quite my logic. If you were to use your real name, would you be more thorough in your response? Include more cites? There would always be the chance that one of your profs, friends, rivals, future clients etc., would read your response and form an initial impression of you based on the post.

That’s part of the self-discipline that is part of my (and some others, it appears) rationale for using my name. Another is, quite frankly, distaste for anonymous (“poison pen”) letters.

I was once employed (as a very minor, but ambitious, clerk) at a huge multinational which would periodically distribute questionaires on employee satisfaction. I would fill these in honestly, which meant a lot of criticism of bonehead management, and then, against all instruction, sign it. This must have caused at least a little consternation in the personnel office as the surveys were supposed to be anonymous … but I always figured it didn’t mean anything if not signed.

68

Now this is interesting. By “standard procedure”, do you mean it is demanded by the site administrator, or that it is a cultural phenomenon with some exceptions?

If the latter, would the culture be determined for all time by the first batch of participants, or does it change over time? Is there any observable practical difference between pseudonymous and identifiable groups?

69

Does anyone know of any actual instances where death or injury has resulted from an on-line dispute in which the participants know each other solely from their on-line discussions?

70

It happened on both Jenny Jones and Springer. I’m pretty sure if it hasn’t happened yet, there’s someone out there itching to get on the cover of People as the first internet killer.

Now you’re asking a completely seperate question. I think it’s been firmly established by everyone but you that pseudonyms (or even Sue Duhnyms) are OK. That you disagree with that is fine, but realize that you are in a VERY small minority on the issue.
But what you brought up above has nothing to do with how other posters view me. It’s how outsiders will view me.

To this I say: I don’t want them to view me. It has nothing to do with embarrassment of what I’ve written. I hope that if someone I know reads my posts, he or she will say “that person is very intelligent.” But the fact is that I don’t want them reading it. I don’t want my friends, my family, my professors to read my posts. If they do…well hey, nothing I can do about it. Let them read. In the meantime, I’m not going to provide them a pathway to these message boards.

71

I remember a famous Korean one. Some guy pked this mob boss in an online game called Lineage and was visited by two goons who beat him up. He was using a screen name though and not his real name.

I use a screen name because I always thought that everyone who used their real name looked dumb. That and I don’t like my real name.

72

Not using your real name does not mean you’re going to be sending out “poison pen” letters.

Just because a person’s user name is a real human name does not mean that it’s necessarily their own name. I have absolutely no evidence that your name is James I. Hymas other than your word. You have no evidence that my given name is not racinchikki or perhaps Racine Chick or something, other than your own suppositions and my word. What’s the difference?

And yes, I could try to look you up, but all that would prove is that there is, in fact, a person somewhere whose name is James I. Hymas. It’s not necessarily YOU. You’re no more nor less anonymous than anyone else here.

73

In the particular circles that I interact in I know of nobody who goes by anything other than their actual IRL name. If someone did try to become active using a pseudonym they would most likely be ignored completely. I know this is the exception rather than the rule in online communities. It’s a bit different than say, the SDMB. Most all communications are done via e-mail or e-mail based groups, like Yahoo groups. In many cases the individuals involved have know each other for years and years, so reinventing yourself is not a possibility, and newbies are treated with suspicion. In and of itself I don’t see anything wrong with using a pseudonym. It all comes down to what is considered acceptable in the circles you run in. In the SDMB I know folks don’t use real names, so I’m not bothered by that in the slightest. In other places it is the norm to use a real name, so a pseudonym would seem strange at the least, and possibly something to be concerned about.

I assume the original participants used IRL names as well. Like I say, I know of nobody who uses a pseudonym, and I don’t see this changing. Much of this may have to do with the fact that a lot of our transactions are done through the mail, in which case a real name and address is needed. I can’t say that there is a lot of difference in people’s behavior based on real and assumed identities. Some minor things might include a lack of people trolling on our lists, or pulling the sock puppet routine, both of which were completely new concepts that I learned about here, but never even considered in 4 years of online activity elsewhere. If you’re interested, e-mail me privately and I’ll send you some links to lists where you can observe people interacting under real names for yourself.

74

I use a handle for the same reason I live in a secure building and do not post my full name at the entrance: basic security. Mr. Hymas, on this board, I make no secret of the fact that I am a 37 year old woman. By current American standards, a 37 year old woman who gives out her full name and address to strangers and is attacked as a result is stupid, and, to some people’s ways of thinking, deserves what she gets. I don’t think of our regular posters as strangers, but I have no idea who our lurkers are or what they are like. I prefer to make it difficult for someone to work out exactly who I am and where I live.

You have maintained security is not that large a concern for you. Unfortunately, it is for me. Among other things, about 10 years ago I was the secretary of a Star Trek club (yes, I’m a geek). After I quit, I started getting strange, anonymous calls in the dead of night. They turned out to be from someone who was still in the club who decided to stalk and/or harass me. Friends, shall we say, discouraged him, but I’d prefer it not happen again.

As my life changes, I am getting to be known as CJ (“seige” for short, sometimes) in more and more circles, and I don’t use other user names in other fora. I also run a depression support group which was inspired by this forum. There, when speaking as myself, I use CJ Howorth. When it becomes necessary to act as a moderator, I switch to an identity created for the purpose, teeming_million, which allows me to differentiate between official pronouncements and me being human. It also means that, if for any reason I can’t carry on as moderator, someone can take over the place without having to assume my identity.

As for my integrity, if it doesn’t show from my posts, then I am “full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” That I leave up to my fellow dopers.

C. J. Howorth

75

Mr. Hymas, I can say unequivocally that I would say nothing differently if I went by any other name. I am honest, here and in my meatspace dealings.

In truth, I rather resent the insinuation that my use of a pseudonym here is dishonest, lacking in self-discipline, or short on meaning. I’m sure you’re very proud of your high standards, and I admire them. I simply do not hold those standards myself, and disagree with them as a personal choice. I trust you will have the respect to keep your obviously low opinion of my disagreement to yourself.

76

How come? There have been various rationales advanced for this, just as there are various rationales proposed by the minority who prefer real names.

77

After a fashion… the online massive multiplayer RPG, Lineage, has had several incidents where groups of players will attack one another in real life (known as “real life PKing” by the community). Of course, this game is popular largely in Korean internet cafes, so in this particular case it’s actually possible for “clans” online to group up and attack each other in real life. That wouldn’t be the case in the more dispersed western online community, but it is still a precedent.

78

I certainly attempt to be civil and expect that I will be told in no uncertain terms if I am not.

My very presence on this message board indicates my acceptance of prevailing standards - my objective in this thread is simply to understand why the standard is what it is, especially given that my views are in the minority.

79

If that was truly your intention, then you might want to accept that people who have taken the time to explain their views on the matter have as legitimate a rationale as your own. You might want to answer questions that ask why you feel that you’re any more accountable than anyone else on the boards. You might wish to consider the possibility that your own opinion may not be the only right one in this discussion.

As it is, it’s seeming more and more like you’re using this thread as an opportunity to feel superior to those who don’t live up to your rather arbitrary moral standard.

80

I wasn’t going to say that. :wink: