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Poll

What's your opinion of people who use their full real names (with other uniquely-identifiable info) online?

Positive - I always do it!
- 5 (8.2%)
Positive - I do it sometimes, including this BBS.
- 6 (9.8%)
Positive - I do it sometimes, but not this BBS.
- 3 (4.9%)
Positive - but I don't do it.
- 2 (3.3%)
Neutral - who cares.
- 31 (50.8%)
Negative - aliases are more fun.
- 4 (6.6%)
Negative - they're idiots / don't understand the power of Google
- 10 (16.4%)

Total Members Voted: 46


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Author Topic: RealNamesPlease?  (Read 32791 times)

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Alex Libman

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RealNamesPlease?
« on: September 27, 2008, 12:25:29 PM »

A long time ago, back when your "lighting-fast" 300-baud modem could fill your 24x40 character screen in under 30 seconds, a lot more people in what eventually came to known as the cyberspace used their real names.  It started out because most users where connecting through professional institutions and their accounts were created from their student / employee files.  This lasted through the 1980s, when most hobbyists connected through dial-up BBS'es that were local and people knew each-other IRL (in real life), but was already starting to fade out, and disappeared with the popularization of online games and chatting with dogsAs using your real name in your online identity became less frequent, it became more of a deliberate social statement.

A quote from the C2 (Web's oldest real wiki) RealNamesPlease page, which became a meme-name for this concept:  "In general, it is observed that people who use online nicknames care less about what they write.  The discussion is usually taken more seriously when people do not use NickNames, but use their real names."

In the political context, I believe it also shows dignity and desire for constancy in your convictions.  It's one thing to argue for decriminalization of marijuana or kiddy porn while hiding behind an alias (an illusion of anonymity that the government can see through in vast majority of cases), and it's a completely different matter when you're using your real name, that your past acquaintances, relatives, and future employers are likely to Google.

It lets people know you're not just having a one-night-stand with this philosophy, you are married to it.  It tells people:  "Here I stand, and I don't want to do business with anyone who wouldn't want to do business with me after Googling my name."  In my opinion, this shows courage and integrity.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2008, 12:52:25 PM by Alex Libman »
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John Shaw

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2008, 12:34:16 PM »

While I don't expect anyone else to do it, it's what I do.

Of course, I'm not afraid to say anything IRL that I say online. I'm pretty much just "me" wherever I go.

So I agree with you on most of your point.
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Alex Libman

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2008, 12:44:20 PM »

I'm wondering who else voted "I do it sometimes", so I added the word "full" to the poll question.  Just using your first name doesn't count, unless of course your first name is even more unique than most people's full names are.

There are of course degrees of anonymity even if you claim to be Joe Smith.  This poll implies sufficient transparency to fully identify who you are, as is the case with John Shaw and myself.  In my case, the Ron Paul donation removes all doubt.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2008, 12:48:41 PM by Alex Libman »
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AntonLee

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2008, 02:43:06 PM »

when is your birthday I'll send you a card. 
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Laetitia

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2008, 06:08:14 PM »

I don't really care whether people use their full names or not. I don't use my full name, but if somebody wanted to find out who I am, it's not hard. As a woman who runs & rides alone on a semi regular basis, I'd rather not give my full name out on every single post I make. Just seems like that would fall under the "bad idea" portion of "Good Idea / Bad Idea"
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Osborne

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2008, 06:17:54 PM »

Yeah, I would totally be stalking Joy if I knew where to find her.
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mikehz

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2008, 06:54:52 PM »

I don't care. I don't do it myself, although anyone really interested can find it out easily enough. But, I got tired of using handles, both because I had so many different ones I couldn't keep them straight and because I could never think up clever ones. Now, I just use my first name.

There are just too many wackos online.
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Russell Griswold

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2008, 06:57:34 PM »

Ian Bernard III

(I'm the fattest of the Bernards)
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John Shaw

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2008, 07:03:43 PM »

(I'm the fattest of the Bernards)

Weighing in at 102 pounds!!
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"btw its not a claim. Its documented fact."

Russell Griswold

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2008, 07:08:07 PM »

(I'm the fattest of the Bernards)

Weighing in at 102 pounds!!

Yeah, I'm a heavy guy. My lovely wife, Jezebel, has a degree in the culinary arts of exotic vegetables.
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bakerbaker

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #10 on: September 27, 2008, 07:13:13 PM »

Big surprise.  The leading option to this poll posted on this [largely] libertarian forum:  "Who Cares?"
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YixilTesiphon

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #11 on: September 27, 2008, 07:55:07 PM »

I use my real name when I post on blogs and this when I post on forums. It's easy enough to find out who I am, but I like that divide. It's probably pointless, but why do you care?
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MacFall

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #12 on: September 27, 2008, 08:16:50 PM »

"Neutral." It's probably easy enough to find out my real name, but since MacFall is a professional pseudonym I tend to use exclusively. Except for Facebook.
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freeAgent

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #13 on: September 27, 2008, 09:44:43 PM »

I've used my real name when doing professional activities online (I take that back...I use part of my real name), but I separate that from my non-professional activities where I use aliases.  It seems like a bad idea to mix your professional life with your personal life, at least in certain fields.  With enough work, you could figure out who I am...generally.  You would probably only find part of my name though--not enough to steal my identity.  Most of my friends don't know my full name :P
« Last Edit: September 27, 2008, 09:47:50 PM by freeAgent »
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BonerJoe

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Re: RealNamesPlease?
« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2008, 09:57:08 PM »

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