Why do you use a pseudonym?

**Michael Graves** · 9-Aug-2006, 18:17

After my daddy named me Sue, I took on this psuedonym. It looks better on the cover of my books.

**snuck** · 9-Aug-2006, 18:28

I like being semi-anonymous, especially on the internet. That said, this is a nice forum, with relatively few flamewars, so I'm almost regretting my decision.

Cheers

**JW Dewdney** · 9-Aug-2006, 18:34

Why the hell WOULDN'T you use an alias? In these times of decreased personal security due to the Final Solution - oops - I mean patriot act... we need all the security we can get!

**robc** · 9-Aug-2006, 18:45

If I use aliasing on my images in photoshop do my images lose credibility?

**snuck** · 9-Aug-2006, 19:15

Originally Posted by JW Dewdney

Why the hell WOULDN'T you use an alias? In these times of decreased personal security due to the Final Solution - oops - I mean patriot act... we need all the security we can get!

He knows too much... send for... the cleaners

**Kirk Gittings** · 9-Aug-2006, 19:56

But why should anyone care?
And why should you judge?

In all sincerity, I think everyone who uses a psuedonym is trying to avoid responsibility for their public statements. All these other excuses are pure BS.

Knowing to whom you are talking is basic to civility. I get 20 emails a week privately from people who want to follow up with questions about information I have shared on this forum. I willingly share information in general, but I often refuse to waste my personal time and experience on people who don't have the simple common decency to identify themselves.

**Marko** · 9-Aug-2006, 21:06

Originally Posted by Kirk Gittings

In all sincerity, I think everyone who uses a psuedonym is trying to avoid responsibility for their public statements. All these other excuses are pure BS.

Knowing to whom you are talking is basic to civility. I get 20 emails a week privately from people who want to follow up with questions about information I have shared on this forum. I willingly share information in general, but I often refuse to waste my personal time and experience on people who don't have the simple common decency to identify themselves.

Kirk,

We are all entitled to our opinions. I am certain that you were guided by both good set of reasons and your experience by arriving to yours, just like I was with mine. My bottom line is this: I will respect your reasoning enough to not dismiss it as BS even though I may disagree with your opinion.

Now, as for my reasoning - I find publicizing my full identity on the forum as akin to plastering my business card on every lampost in the city. While I have no reason to hide my name, that is definitely not the way I would like to make it known.

Whoever wishes to strike up a meaningful conversation with me but would prefer to know my full name is more than welcome to make use of the email address that is attached to my profile. I am on the other end and will respond to it, with a few well deserved exceptions.

If I find the request reasonable and the person on the other end equally respectable, as has happened here more than once, I will not just send my full name, but also my other, more durable email and even a phone number.

I don't think this is unreasonable or BS, it's just being prudent. If you think that I am overly paranoid, you've been lucky to have had much more peaceful life experience than me. Bear in mind, though, that our life experiences are not mutually exclusive, no matter how different.

Regards,

Marko

**David A. Goldfarb** · 9-Aug-2006, 21:30

Generally, I find that the more professionalized a site is, the less likely it is that pseudonyms are used. Take a look at the forums on this site, for example--

http://www.mycpi.com/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3277

Some participants may have short names or trade names associated with their e-mail addresses, but they sign their posts with their full names usually.

I follow a number of academic discussion lists, and no one--really--not one person uses a handle on any of them. Everyone signs their name, and if you're curious about someone's work or background, you can look up their publications and their university affiliation. To use a pseudonym in such a group would just appear ridiculous, as it in fact would be.

For 15 years I've been active on a BBS that predated the web (it's still accessible by Telnet and runs in text-only mode), where everyone is required to be identifiable by their real name, and somehow, we've all survived.

I was joking about arrest warrants, cardsharps and such, but Kirk is right. I take people less seriously online, if they use a handle other than their name.

**raucousimages** · 9-Aug-2006, 21:43

It's my company name and my web site, no real secrets. My wife had an internet stalker that was scarry for a couple of years. She never found my wifes real name but she was able to figure out what city we are in and what office complex she worked in by hacking her computer use. My wife is not happy about me useing my real name on the net but it dosent bother me much.

John Bates

**Bobf** · 9-Aug-2006, 21:44

Originally Posted by Kirk Gittings

In all sincerity, I think everyone who uses a psuedonym is trying to avoid responsibility for their public statements. All these other excuses are pure BS.

Knowing to whom you are talking is basic to civility. I get 20 emails a week privately from people who want to follow up with questions about information I have shared on this forum. I willingly share information in general, but I often refuse to waste my personal time and experience on people who don't have the simple common decency to identify themselves.

Firstly, how do I know Kirk Grittings is the name you use in your everyday life? Secondly, and far more importantly, why should I care?

A name is just an identifier. Whether you use the identifier that was chosen for you by your parents, or a barcode number if you like, it still identifies you. You are talking to who you are talking to. It's not a mystery: I'm me, you are you, and that bloke over there is him (the one with the loud tie - no, not him, the one just behind... yeah, that one).

How do you "know who you are talking to" just because they use one identifier over another? It's an absurd notion. I find the whole idea bizzare and illogical. If I ever need you to cash a cheque for me, be assured I will use my full name, but until that happy day....

David is entirely correct though: I for one would not take me seriously for a minute...

Cheers,