# Is it against the rules to "out" (screen-name) a member?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [August 3, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234 "2009-08-03T23:45:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [August 3, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/1 "2009-08-03T23:45:09Z")
I think the title explains itself, but if I know that, say, **EgyptianBurrito** is really Suzie Robson from Seattle is it Ok to say so?
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/2 "2009-08-04T00:12:19Z")
No, unless she gives permission.
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### Author:  [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/3 "2009-08-04T00:13:14Z")
I don’t know about the rules, but I think it would be “bad form”
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/4 "2009-08-04T00:15:11Z")
That would be a seriously jerkish thing to do. Being a jerk is against the rules.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/5 "2009-08-04T01:05:19Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#):
>
> I think the title explains itself, but if I know that, say, **EgyptianBurrito** is really Suzie Robson from Seattle is it Ok to say so?
Why would you even want to? Is Suzie a danger to us all or something?
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### Author:  [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/6 "2009-08-04T01:37:52Z")
Definitely inappropriate and potentially dangerous behavior. If it’s not explicitly against the rules it surely falls under the no jerk clause.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/7 "2009-08-04T01:53:20Z")
Why the hell _wouldn’t_ it be against the rules? I mean, unless you have proof that a poster is somehow Charles Manson, and even then, I think you’d need to send that info to the admins.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/8 "2009-08-04T02:02:36Z")
From the registration agreement:
> [@](#):
>
> You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the SDMB to post any material that you know or should know is false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening, **invasive of a person’s privacy,** or in violation of U.S. law.
I would interpret the bolded part to mean that you should not reveal the real name of any other poster without their express consent. Doing so, especially if meant maliciously, would be a rules violation.
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### Author:  [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/9 "2009-08-04T02:08:40Z")
Definitely a big violation of both board policy and board rules.
I haven’t seen this happen in the wild, but depending on the instance, I can easily see it being a banning offense. While a lot of people here parcel out so much information about themselves that an investigative mind could easily track down who they are and where they live, it is still considered their prerogative to explicitly reveal their own identity. Having it done for them would, for starters, be a major violation of Rule #1: Do Not Be A Jerk.
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### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/10 "2009-08-04T02:09:03Z")
> [@Liberal](#):
>
> Why would you even want to? Is Suzie a danger to us all or something?
Dude, if you knew her…
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> From the registration agreement:
>
> \*You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the SDMB to post any material that you know or should know is false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or in violation of U.S. law. \*
> I would interpret the bolded part to mean that you should not reveal the real name of any other poster without their express consent. Doing so, especially if meant maliciously, would be a rules violation.
Perfect.
I started this because in a thread somebody did it a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t like it but nobody said anything about it.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/11 "2009-08-04T02:15:22Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#):
>
> I started this because in a thread somebody did it a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t like it but nobody said anything about it.
If it worried you, you should have reported it. You shouldn’t assume that a moderator has seen something just because it’s been posted.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/12 "2009-08-04T02:15:30Z")
If we see a rules infraction, we have been instructed to report the post, using the red triangle icon (with the exclamation mark in it).
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/13 "2009-08-04T02:21:55Z")
I once called a poster by her first name when I was pissed at her – just her _first_, mind you. And I was rightly slapped down for it.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/14 "2009-08-04T02:26:55Z")
I was slapped down by a poster for calling him by his first name when he \*signed \*all his posts with his first name.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/15 "2009-08-04T02:43:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> From the registration agreement:
>
> I would interpret the bolded part to mean that you should not reveal the real name of any other poster without their express consent. Doing so, especially if meant maliciously, would be a rules violation.
Wouldn’t people who try and out who **Cecil Adams** is (as if we don’t know already) also fall afoul of that clause? If I’d seen this rule before, I would have reported people who were trying to ruin the fun.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/16 "2009-08-04T02:44:18Z")
> [@Liberal](#):
>
> I was slapped down by a poster for calling him by his first name when he \*signed \*all his posts with his first name.
Huh? Now that’s just retarded.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/17 "2009-08-04T03:08:13Z")
So mote it be.
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### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/18 "2009-08-04T03:54:26Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> If it worried you, you should have reported it. You shouldn’t assume that a moderator has seen something just because it’s been posted.
I simply thought it was silly and childish.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/19 "2009-08-04T04:42:28Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#):
>
> I simply thought it was silly and childish.
Without knowing the exact context, it’s hard to evaluate how serious it might be. I can see two posters who know each other in real life calling each other by their real first names and no one worrying too much about it. I can also see it being done to goad or harass another poster, in which case it would be much more serious. In any event, it should be avoided. If people want to divulge their real identities (and some do post under their own names) let them do it themselves, even if it’s nothing more than a first name.
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### Author:  [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-against-the-rules-to-out-screen-name-a-member/505234/20 "2009-08-05T04:47:50Z")
It probably depends who does it. 😉
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