# Ever ID a doper as someone you knew?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-id-a-doper-as-someone-you-knew/103535>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 14, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-id-a-doper-as-someone-you-knew/103535 "2002-04-14T04:56:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-id-a-doper-as-someone-you-knew/103535/1 "2002-04-14T04:56:30Z")

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Has anyone read a thread and identified a poster as someone they used to know – like a former acquaintance? If so, would you try to contact that person? Why or why not?

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**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-id-a-doper-as-someone-you-knew/103535/2 "2002-04-14T05:52:07Z")

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It hasn’t happened to me on the SDMB, but during the old UseNet days of alt.fan.cecil-adams, I recognised a poster as an old friend from high school. I contacted him, which wasn’t too big a deal as I was in infrequent contact with his brother.

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**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-id-a-doper-as-someone-you-knew/103535/3 "2002-04-14T11:03:40Z")

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Someone here thought I was a friend of there’s from DC and emailed that friend to ask them about it. Turns out that her friend is one of my best friends from high school! Small world

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**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-id-a-doper-as-someone-you-knew/103535/4 "2002-04-14T12:06:38Z")

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Sort of. A poster once mentioned a college I taught at and it turns out he interviewed there when I was there. I vaguely remembered him.

I think it would be interesting to be contacted by someone from my past thru the board. My board name is my first name (how original!) but that is only partly due to a lack of creativity. The other reason is that my first name is distinctive, so I figure anyone who sees it will know it is me. I taught lots of students in my college prof days, so I keep hoping that one of them will turn up.

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**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-id-a-doper-as-someone-you-knew/103535/5 "2002-04-14T14:14:46Z")

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Well, I recognized my brother right off the bat from his screen name. And I won a case of Saranac from a friend who was foolish enough to tell me he’d registered and make a bet that I couldn’t identify him. I was the one who told both of these people about the board, though, so I don’t know whether they count; I’ve never ID’d somebody who came here on his or her own.