# The real life of posters: Private or public? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 19, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798 "2013-02-19T15:40:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/1 "2013-02-19T15:40:12Z")
Re: [This thread in The BBQ Pit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682351&page=3) Is there an official policy concerning the gathering and releasing of personal information about another poster without their permission? If not, shouldn’t there be? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/2 "2013-02-19T15:46:44Z")
Not sure what the Board could have to say about gathering information. I mean, our Mods are the most competent jackbooted thugs around but I can’t see how they can prevent googling. _Releasing_ information, sure. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/3 "2013-02-19T15:52:09Z")
Should fall pretty firmly under the “Don’t be a jerk” rule. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/4 "2013-02-19T15:56:02Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not sure what the Board could have to say about gathering information. I mean, our Mods are the most competent jackbooted thugs around but I can’t see how they can prevent googling. > > _Releasing_ information, sure. I just googled “how they can prevent googling” and this thread was the first hit. Also the second hit was that thing you did to little Susy Breckinmayer in third grade. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/5 "2013-02-19T15:57:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not sure what the Board could have to say about gathering information. I mean, our Mods are the most competent jackbooted thugs around but I can’t see how they can prevent googling. > > _Releasing_ information, sure. That’s why I used the word “and” instead of “or”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/6 "2013-02-19T16:01:23Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Should fall pretty firmly under the “Don’t be a jerk” rule. \ Sarcasm ?? \ ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/7 "2013-02-19T16:01:31Z")
Who the person actually is in real life or other personal details. Don’t do it IMO. Even if its easy for you to do, don’t throw it out there for other folks not so inclined. On the flip side, “Hey, I figured out who this dufuss actually is and trust me he doesn’t know squat about quantum physics and is NOT a physics professor…trust me on this”…okay IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/8 "2013-02-19T16:06:21Z")
How about a post like “I won’t tell you who she is, but I called/am going to call her”? Fall under the “Don’t be a jerk” rule? The admission would be on-Board, but the action would be off-Board. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/9 "2013-02-19T16:08:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That’s why I used the word “and” instead of “or”. Referring back to the thread in question, I don’t really see how anyone but **SL** did anything wrong (and what he did wasn’t related to gathering or releasing information). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/10 "2013-02-19T16:15:40Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > \ > > Sarcasm ?? > > \ Why would my post be sarcastic? It was pretty straightforward and appropriate. Posting personal details would be a jerkish thing to do, and therefore would violate the “Don’t be a jerk” rule. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/11 "2013-02-19T16:24:11Z")
Could someone summarize the issue? That thread looks really stupid and I’d rather not have to read it. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/12 "2013-02-19T16:29:49Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Could someone summarize the issue? That thread looks really stupid and I’d rather not have to read it. AClockWorkMelon found and linked to posts from pchaos on another board where he also claimed to be an attorney and got accused of trollery. The forum those posts came from included pchaos’ real name. Simple Linctus did some internet detective work to find more personal information about pchaos (something I’ve certainly done in the past, though not for pchaos) but took it a step further and actually called a phone number he found and left a voicemail with a “password” for pchaos to share with the board to prove he’s the attorney he says he is. Overwhelming consensus is that SL went way over the line in attempting phone contact off-board, and I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/13 "2013-02-19T17:12:53Z")
I’ve opened a discussion of these issues among the mods to make sure we’re on the same page. But my understanding has always been this: a poster’s personal information is rarely relevant to discussions on the board. That’s the case here even though I will admit I also had my doubts about this poster’s claims about himself. Our main piece of advice is that posters should be very careful about posting this kind of information about themselves. Once it’s out there, other people can find it and they may do things with it that you don’t like. Even if we didn’t allow people to post it here it can be shared privately or on other boards, so banning it here wouldn’t do much of anything. We also generally don’t moderate off-board behavior. I think that would include **Simple Linctus** ’s dumbass stunt, but like I say, I’m confirming that the other mods agree with me. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/14 "2013-02-19T17:24:09Z")
A random thought using the Golden Rule of Ethics. If YOU aren’t willing to have your personal info spread far and wide here on the SDMB…ughhhh…don’t do it to someone else…even if they are the worst poster here. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/15 "2013-02-19T17:24:52Z")
Suggestion: if your e-mail address includes your real name, don’t put it in your profile. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/16 "2013-02-19T17:27:15Z")
Suggestion: don’t stalk other posters. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/17 "2013-02-19T17:33:24Z")
That too, but it’s going to happen, so protect yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/18 "2013-02-19T17:34:19Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > A random thought using the Golden Rule of Ethics. > > If YOU aren’t willing to have your personal info spread far and wide here on the SDMB…ughhhh…don’t do it to someone else…even if they are the worst poster here. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Suggestion: if your e-mail address includes your real name, don’t put it in your profile. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Suggestion: don’t stalk other posters. All good suggestions. And **Czarcasm** , **Really Not All That Bright** ’s post isn’t a defense of “stalking,” however you’re defining that. It’s a suggestion that posters who are concerned about their privacy should be careful about the information they make available. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/19 "2013-02-19T17:38:00Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Could someone summarize the issue? That thread looks really stupid and I’d rather not have to read it. Does anyone else who lives at your address, which is 1234 Bluebird Lane, feel the same way? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798/20 "2013-02-19T17:39:16Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > \ > > Sarcasm ?? > > \ No. It’s being a jerk, and creepy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-life-of-posters-private-or-public/650798.md?page=2)