This is a sig line I’d actually use (although to be honest, I also liked “Remember: King Kong died for your sins”)
I put my name at the end of each post for two simple reasons. First,I was taught to end most written forms of communication with my name even though the person reading my memo or letter knew who it came from. And B, signing my name serves to let readers know that the message is officially over. How anyone could find it annoying is beyond me but then I guess we’re all annoyed by silly things from time to time.
Marc
On a MB it comes across as pretentious and self-aggrandizing.
Could you please explain to me how ending a post on a message board is pretentious and self aggrandizing? Because I honestly don’t see how ending a post with “Marc” makes me appear greater or more important. Please, illuminate me.
Marc
Largely because you name is listed at the top of the post already, repeating it serves to draw attention to yourself above and beyond others. Secondly, it has an effect of punctuating your comments in a way that attempts to add false authority. Hancockian in a way.
That’s how it seems.
I compare it to visiting a lesser message board which allows obnoxious sigs with avatars and gaudy animated images. It screams “Look at me! I’m so original! I’m an individual!”.
So you know when to stop reading, of course.
A friend asked me the same thing about emails. As long as there is a return address on a letter you could ask the same question. It’s a traditional, polite form, although for MBs and e-mails I guess it’s not entirely necessary. Sometimes it is useful to know that the mail/post was completed.
- Shibb, who usually doesn’t sign his posts except to add strange little comments like this.
PS Plus you can’t add a postscript without a signature.
It really serves to draw attention to myself above and beyond others? After posting my last message I checked out several other theads and realized that a lot of people didn’t sign their posts. It wasn’t something I had ever noticed before and it doesn’t really bother me one way or the other. How can “Marc” be interpreted by anyone as an attempt to add authority to a post? Thanks for answering my question. It is plain that you’ve put more thought into this particular subject then I ever imagined but I think your attitude says more about how you view others then those who sign their posts. Ah well, that’s what I get for asking.
Marc <----notice it’s not the same as my username.
That is how it seems to you.
To me it just seems slightly formal. Also, on a large post it can serve as a reminder of who the poster is, you don’t have to scroll back to the top of the post for the poster’s name.
Meant to add this:
It is no different from signing off an email even though you may have your name in your email address as well as having an auto signature with your name and contact details. It is also a way to indicate how you would like to be addressed. E.g., I would guess that MGibson is happy being referred to as “Marc.” In the same way, I might sign of as “Ray.”
Enjoy and Regards,
Ray
I’m sorry, but I don’t get this at all. I’ve never signed a post, although I almost did once, simply because I’m used to signing all my other written missives. Which is why I assume other people do it. To me, it just comes off as a formality, sort of like the “I [candidate] endorse this message” at the end of political ads. How does it “add false authority” to sign a post?
I, Abby, endorse this post.
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about sig lines. People use them for various reasons, and hey, I’m not here to judge. My original OP was more about two questions:
- Since I can see your username, why do you bother to type it again at the bottom of your post?
- If you sign a different name at the bottom of your post, why did you bother with a username in the first place?
I was just curious. It doesn’t really “bother” me, per se.
Now that is a great sig line!
Courtesy of Emo Phillips.
I sign my posts out of habit. On another message board where I’m a bit more active, people used to call me D.E.S.K.Top668 and usually got it wrong, so I started signing to let people know it was OK to just refer to me as DESK. Just the word “DESK” at the bottom confused some people (obviously not the Mensa board) so I started adding something (usually “Peace” or “Thanks in advance”) to make it a bit clearer.
Oh, it also gives me a place to hide the fnord
Peace - DESK fnord
I don’t always sign my posts, but when I do, it’s for a couple of reasons.
I guess because I think it makes the post more ‘personal.’ Yeah, I know that my username is in the header, but, when I actually take the time to respond to someone’s question in a helpful way, I think it makes sense to put something that says, ‘I actually thought about this.’
I also sign with “Geek” beacuse there are a number of different ways one could shorten my obviously too long username. I would prefer to not be refered to as “JAG” as I am neither a military lawyer nor (I hope) a jag-off. 
-Geek
As I explained, I am signing off with my real first name to personalize my post and clear up Gender. It is also somehow more polite to me to sign off a large post. On really short ones I often don’t. I am sorry if it offends but maybe you can work through your issues with it, I don’t believe it is intended by most users the way you stated above. Of course I could be wrong, but I don’t intend it the way you stated above at least.
Jim
Once in a while I sign with my username because I’m adding some tidbit of info I couldn’t otherwise fit in the post, such as:
WhyNot, mother of two
or
WhyNot,
who loves kumquats
or
your firespinning weirdo,
WhyNot
But generally I don’t bother. It only occasionally bothers me. Sometimes I forget, for example, whose username “Daniel” belongs to (Left Hand of Dorkness), because I’ve come to think of him as Daniel.
And I do have to say I find Shodan’s “Regards” a little annoying, but it’s because, to me, “Regards” is what you say to close a conversation, like “Out” on a radio. It seems like he’s trying to get the last word in, rather than encouraging response.
WhyNot,
who’s often ambivalent
FWIW, I almost never notice who writes what unless their name appears in the body or
[quote]
tag of a post. So the signers will get noticed by me more, and really, what else is anyone here for?
Yer pal, Satan.
Really! Cool…
Dave
So lets see, must remember for now on that **Troy McClure SF ** is Satan 
Jim who was forced to modify Satan post as
[quote]
screws up replies.