From time to time I see speculations about possible celebrities that might be members of the board, but I’ve always wondered, if they said who they were, how would the rest of us know if it was legit or not? Maybe if he/she stated they were a member on the dope during a interview with Letterman, or one of the other talk shows perhaps.
And then of course, there are celebrities, that if they are members, probably don’t want to reveal themselves after reading what’s been posted about them. I’m talking about the likes of Tom Cruse and Sarah Jessica Parker. I know if I was one of those two, I wouldn’t want to reveal myself to the board.
So, if someone posted that yes, the are a celebrity, what proof would you demand?
And, if there’s a hated celebrity on the board, would you still want them to reveal themselves, or would you prefer they stay anonymous?
As for my answers, first, to prove they are who they say they are, I’d want them to admit it on TV. They could write something on their own website or blog, or something like that, but those things can be hacked.
And for the second question, mostly for their sake, if a hated, or looked down upon celebrity was on the board, I’d hope they’d stay hidden
The internet is a place we go to become someone where it’s what we say, not who we are that matters, imo.
I could be a six year old kid, and as long as I have something intelligent to bring to the conversation - why not? (Albeit, this forum has a none-under 13 policy, unless it also has one of those ‘send your parents signature’ clauses in)
If I’m a 45 year old Ph D who does nothing but spout obviously ignorant stuff like the LHC is Satan’s Stargate, does the fact that I’m a 45 year old Ph D and celebrated publisher of renouned <insert discipline> texts change your opinion of me?
It would be a lot easier to just post a picture of themselves with a paper sign that says “Sarah Jessica Parker aka “Nobody” ~ hi SDMB!” like people do on myspace. or post a picture of themselves in a specific pose like with one hand touching their nose and the other one giving a peace sign. I would think a celebrity would be pretty reluctant to do a shout-out on TV or their website because then fans who are not already members would know right away where to find and talk to them.
Maybe during a talk show appearance or magazine interview, the celebrity could throw out a reference that only we’d get. For instance, if the host/interviewer asks something like “what have you always wanted to do before you die?” or something, the celebrity might say “Well, I’d really love to do a fake funeral while I’m still alive. Then I’d pop out of my coffin right before they bury me and say ‘Gotcha ya!’”
If someone said they were a celebrity, I’d probably say “that’s nice” and then move on. It wouldn’t matter all that much and I’d respond to him or her just like I do anyone else.
Of course, there are venues where I’m a celebrity, and I’m used to hanging out online with some big-name science fiction and fantasy writers. But the discussions are no different than discussions here with no famous names.
I suspect it would be foolish for a celebrity to identify themselves on a board they wanted to post at regularly unless it was their own. No matter what you and I think of a celeb there is a good chance some crank will start bothering or harassing them.
Besides unless the celebrity was specifically addressing an issue about their area of celebrity how would their status as a celebrity help them? I would probably be far easier for them to maintain a low profile.
If they were the type to do shows like Letterman maybe they could give a shout out to the SDMB without identifying their user name. That would drive dozens of dopers nuts guessing for weeks if someone did that.
Anthony Rapp went on a theatre message board and started kicking people who didn’t like the Rent movie. When someone figured out it was him, he was blasted for treating people who didn’t like the movie so poorly.
I remember seeing an interview of Halle Berry and she talked about going to some game site where she played a few games and posted on their message board. At one point, she mentioned that she was Halle Berry and everyone laughed at her, and then people were so cruel and sarcastic that she decided never to do that again. She said she was hurt by their reaction.
So that would probably be people’s reactions here too, so just drop the shtick if you plan to keep posting here Sarah… I mean Nobody.
