# The poster formerly known as . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613 "2012-02-03T02:34:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/21 "2012-02-03T23:50:31Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > FTR, I used to be known as **SHAKES** … I thought capital punishment belonged in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/22 "2012-02-04T01:19:19Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Tedious, cumbersome and time consuming but it does work. Unless you can’t find a thread where that user is quoted. [Unless you get lucky!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=399590) (posts #5 & #7) ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/23 "2012-02-04T12:51:41Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Nosey? On a public board? With their name(s) archived on old posts? By your logic, it’s nosey simply to notice who writes/wrote _any_ post. You seemed to have missed this part:“Some people do it for various reasons, one of them (unsuccessfully since all previous posts will change but they try anyway) privacy.” It shows that although privacy is imagined, they do it for that reason anyway. You also seemed to have missed the part about “who cares”, “YMMV”, and “guess most people feel the same way.” If someone doesn’t want that history shown, it really makes no sense to do it for some and not others. If someone wants to announce it, fine. If they don’t that’s fine too. They shouldn’t be forced to acknowledge an old name just because someone else can’t remember them. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/24 "2012-02-04T21:54:00Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You got decapitated? I’m the other way around. I used to be **tbg**. Does that meant I got capitated? > [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I thought of emailing a mod, but couldn’t quite figure out how to phrase "hey, I know this is nosey, and if the poster wanted to quietly change you don’t need to tell me who he was, but has _X_ always been _X_? But every time I wrote it out it came out all stalker-ish and I never sent. You could always try to PM the poster him/herself and ask. They still might not want to tell you, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/25 "2012-02-04T22:04:02Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I’m the other way around. I used to be **tbg**. Does that meant I got capitated? No, you [capitulated.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitulate) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/26 "2012-02-05T02:23:33Z")
As someone who has changed his name twice and who isn’t hiding, but still did it for general privacy purposes, I am totally against this idea. If you’re curious, either do the research or just PM the poster. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/27 "2012-02-05T04:44:32Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I used to be **Dooku**. > > I changed mine b/c someone from my office forwarded an internal email with a link to a thread here in which I was identified as working there, (not a big deal), but I was worried at the time about my boss finding something inflammatory I wrote in some other thread, as I have been critical here about the company. Ha! I’ve finally tracked you down, all these years of patiently engaging in threads in an attempt to flush you out and I’ve finally accomplished my goal…unfortunately I don’t work there anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/28 "2012-02-05T05:36:12Z")
I’m still amused by the lady OP a few years ago who did one of the periodic “tee hee, I’m cheating on my hubby and he doesn’t know, I can’t help myself does anybody understand” threads. She was widely catching flack for her her attitude, and possibly freaked out by how many personal details about herself (her city and neighborhood, her line of work, her _hubby’s_ line of work) posters here were able to offer up based on her past posting history. She promptly changed her user name and then started talking about the exact same stuff as she did before. And of course her old user name was appended to all of her old posts. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/29 "2012-02-06T21:55:53Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > No, you [capitulated.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitulate) I never capitulate, only masticate. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/30 "2012-02-06T22:45:22Z")
> [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](#): > > Perhaps an easier solution would be a thread (maybe stickied in ATMB) where people who change their username have the option to post the change. Then you could just look in the thread for recent changes. This issue has come up before, and i think that i actually argued at the time that name changes should, by rule, _always_ be accompanied by an announcement, either by the poster in question, or by the mods. In principle, i still think this is a good idea. Some people act like the name and the content can be somehow completely separated, and i think it’s true that we should try to judge the content of the post without prejudging it based on the poster. The fact is, however, that this is a community, and while we don’t use our actual names, we all have names by which we are known to other members of the community. Changing those names without notifying anyone effectively hides who you are on this message board. If we were a face-to-face community, it wouldn’t matter, because you could look at someone’s face and know who it was, even if they changed their names. But our usernames _are_ our identity here, and we form understandings of other people based not just on the posts they make today, but based on our interactions with them over a period of time. We all know the names of members who we think are dicks, members who we think are good people; we know the names of members who agree or disagree with our politics; we know the names of members who support the same or different sporting teams; and so on. I don’t think that anonymous name changes are the end of the world, but if i ran the board, name changes would have to be announced. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/31 "2012-02-06T22:54:08Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > \ The fact is, however, that this is a community, and while we don’t use our actual names, we all have names by which we are known to other members of the community. Changing those names without notifying anyone effectively hides who you are on this message board. > > \ our usernames _are_ our identity here, and we form understandings of other people based not just on the posts they make today, but based on our interactions with them over a period of time. We all know the names of members who we think are dicks, members who we think are good people; we know the names of members who agree or disagree with our politics; we know the names of members who support the same or different sporting teams; and so on. Nicely put! (I wish I were as articulate) ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/32 "2012-02-07T00:04:36Z")
BTW, I was **erictelevision** in my former incarnation here. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/33 "2012-02-07T00:55:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I don’t think that anonymous name changes are the end of the world, but if i ran the board, name changes would have to be announced. Posted as my personal opinion, but colored by my role as a mod. We sometimes, but a minority of times, allow a name change because the poster is in some difficulty in a real-life situation. I wouldn’t allow that to be public. You probably wouldn’t either. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/34 "2012-02-07T01:17:32Z")
I used to be **Poor Black Child**. Well, not really. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/35 "2012-02-07T11:37:56Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The fact is, however, that this is a community, That is an opinion, not a fact. Not everyone here may feel that way, and don’t think that everything should be as open as you think it should be (even though a name change isn’t going to do anything to “protect” privacy, some may do it for the sense of that protection). Because of that, if people want to announce a change of name, fine. But don’t force everyone to reveal their history so easily if they don’t want to do so. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/36 "2012-02-07T17:25:31Z")
> [@srzss05](#): > > That is an opinion, not a fact. Nope, it’s a fact. Sorry. > [@srzss05](#): > > Not everyone here may feel that way, and don’t think that everything should be as open as you think it should be (even though a name change isn’t going to do anything to “protect” privacy, some may do it for the sense of that protection). Things on this board are exactly as “open” as the people posting here make them. The only way that anyone knows any of your personal details here is if _you_ make those details known. The board rules, which people should read before joining, warn against posting too much information that might allow others to identify you personally, and also make clear that any personal information you choose to post is your own responsibility. It should not be the board’s, or the other members’, responsibility to save people from their own excessive sharing. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/37 "2012-02-07T18:52:23Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Nope, it’s a fact. Sorry. No, it’s not. You may really want it to be one, but that doesn’t make it one for everyone here. People post on message boards for various reasons, and some of them have nothing to do with “community”. The rest of your post has nothing to do with changing names and privacy (as all old posts will have the same name), and also has nothing to do with someone wanting to know who this “new” poster is that and is wondering what their posting history was. If someone wants to announce a name change, fine. If someone doesn’t, that should be fine as well and anyone who doesn’t think that way is simply being nosey\*. \*if this really were a community, that would make those nosey people like Gladys Kravitz ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/38 "2012-02-07T19:03:37Z")
> [@srzss05](#): > > No, it’s not. You may really want it to be one, but that doesn’t make it one for everyone here. People post on message boards for various reasons, and some of them have nothing to do with “community”. You’re adopting a stupidly narrow and ignorant definition of community. It is a community because it’s a place where people get together to discuss things and interact with one another. The explicit reasons that people join are really not very relevant to whether or not it’s a community. It’s not a community in quite the same way as some other communities, and different communities have different characteristics, but it is a community nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/39 "2012-02-07T19:04:12Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > No, you [capitulated.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitulate) Okay, what does that word [capitulate] mean??? – _ **I GIVE UP!** _ 😉 - The poster formerly known as… _ **True Blue Jack** _ ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613/40 "2012-02-07T19:10:53Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > You’re adopting a stupidly narrow and ignorant definition of community. It is a community because it’s a place where people get together to discuss things and interact with one another. The explicit reasons that people join are really not very relevant to whether or not it’s a community. It’s not a community in quite the same way as some other communities, and different communities have different characteristics, but it is a community nonetheless. Fine. I’ll (grudgingly) accept that, but it still doesn’t mean that if someone wants to change their name that their old name should be displayed as well just because someone else is too lazy to do the research if they are nosy, and want to remember what their past posts were. As someone else said, each post should stand on its own (or at least each post in a thread). That kind of mentality is more suited for the snark board. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-poster-formerly-known-as/611613.md?page=3)