Death of anonymity online

Ataahua

Ataahua

Super Moderator
stuff.co.nz has an interesting feature about Google+ and Facebook trying to get people to ditch anonymous names in favour of using their real identities.


He (ABC commentator Stilgherrian, who had his name legally changed to a single word about 30 years ago) believes Google wants your real name because it makes it easier for friends to find you and allows for Google to do data matching for advertisers.
"But the problem with [forcing people to use their real name] is that many people are not known generally by their real name: they're known by nicknames, they're known by a pseudonym, they're known by a variant on their name.
"... it's almost like some of these people running social networks want to impose a new kind of social order without taking into account how people actually do use their identities already in offline communities."


...or other online communities, as the case may be.

This article made me wonder about TORN's board members and their nicks. Do you use your TORN nicknames elsewhere? Are you known by your nickname in real life (as if TORN is a false life, but you know what I mean), or did you bring your RL nick to TORN?

Has your online life shaped your real life identity at all?
 
Unless you have to pay to use their sites, how will they know the name you give is your real name? I could just as easily register the name "Jane Smith" and they'd never know it wasn't real.

If a social site wants me only to use my real name, I probably wouldn't sign up for it anyway. I like living in Gondolin. [;)]
 
...even if you're not charged. IMDB tried it for awhile, trying to cut down on trolls. You didn't have to apply for this special status but you got some kind of posting perks (IIRC) if you did. Since IMDB is owned by Amazon, you could just connect your IMDB account with your Amazon account which 'verified' who you were. (Don't ask me for details, I don't have them). You were not charged anything for this, however.

Also, they were not trying to enforce anyone to use their real names. Only trying to keep people from creating (I think) multiple sock puppets for spamming and trolling. As far as I know, they no longer do it... at least I can't tell that some people seem to have a status that other people don't.
 
http://forums.e-democracy.org/

This is a forum that allows neighborhoods to create boards for communication. Our neighborhood is quite active and it was a great asset a few weekends ago when 150 car windows (including two of our cars) were broken by three minors driving around in a truck with a baseball bat. One strategy for keeping conversation productive is to require everyone to use their real names:
Participants use their real names and agree to be civil. This builds trust and increases the agenda-setting power of our dialogues.
​

I have mixed feelings about this. I am actually less worried about people here having my real name (which is readily available with a little digging) than I am posting on a neighborhood forum with my real name. I love my block but there are some weirdos in every neighborhood and some are quick to anger, take offense, and hold grudges.

As to your questions:

I use Magpie - or some form of it - in most forums where I feel a kinship with people and where there is some overlap of interests. For forums where I want to separate that identity from the more well known 'Magpie', I'll use another nick. Sometimes it's another corvid... sometimes it's my initials.

People who know me online will often use my nick in real life situations. But no one else (outside of friends made online) knows me by this nick nor uses it as a nick.

As has been discussed before... I earned my nick and it was a label (not really a nick) given to me by my husband before I had my first online identity. But I do think creating the persona of 'Magpie' has shaped my real life identity. I now use a magpie for my personal identity. When I was job hunting, it was on my stationary. I've toyed with the idea of trademarking a phrase using the word 'magpie' for business purposes. And really... my whole life is the life of a Magpie. Putting a name to this lifestyle and personality was kind of confirming.

I am fairly free with my real name - it's published on my website and I will sign every email or PM I write (in association with this nick) with my online name and real name. That said, I don't think I would freely post using my real name. I've been the online target of wacko personalities and I'm not ready to live life extensively on the net using my real name.




 
over your "friend" categories. Google + is emphasizing the "circles" idea where you can essentially create lists of friends...work, club, family etc. which is a good idea. Facebook needs to adopt something similar.

As far as sites like TORN or any other special interest site there are many reasons to use a pseudonym...privacy regarding your interests may be important...employers, potential employers, schools etc. don't need to know everything about you. In addition, a site like TORN is perfect for a unique user name..be it elven, dwarf or Vulcan for that matter.

I picked my TORN elven Sindarin name because it is almost identical to my real first name in meaning.
 
There are a lot of theories as to why FB and Google might want to do this. One glaring ommision would be to shift the burden of illegal activity from the service provider to the actual perpetrators of a crime. It would also save them being put in the uncomfortable position of breeching user privacy when sharing user data with law enforcement agencies, such as in the case of say investigations into riots.

I am conflicted over this. My online identy is not at all different from the way I am in real life. Part of my nickname is my real name (the Sir part). That helps govern my behaviour. I was an early adopter of FB and back then it was implied that you had to use your real name. Slowly over the next little while nicknames, fake accounts and multiple accounts became apparent. It was all down hill from there.
 
One glaring ommision would be to shift the burden of illegal activity from the service provider to the actual perpetrators of a crime.
Click to expand...


I don't think that's quite right, as the publisher of an illegal activity can still face legal action - which is one reason we have clear rules about not posting copyrighted material on TORN.

One section of the article had a commentator questioning whether Google genuinely misunderstood the social side of pseudonyms or deliberately misunderstood them, which I thought was an interesting question. I would have thought that a company so entrenched in the use of the internet would have a solid understanding of something like that.
 
Even her facebook name isn't her real name. Apparently, there's a porn star with her real name, and she doesn't want to be associated with that. Plus, her name is so common (her last name is Smith, if that gives you an idea), she'd just be one of many with her name online. I know there's another girl online who has the same first and last name as I do, and it's weird to see what she writes, as she's a teenager in England. I wonder if people mistake her for me and vise versa, unless they compare photos.

I set my profiles as private as I possibly can, and I've gotten really specific about what I post about myself, especially after a blowout with someone who put me through probably one of the most incredibly difficult experiences in my life, and the backlash came against me instead of him (blame the victim, right? First he puts me through hell, then he puts me through another kind of hell by stalking me online.) I also have to watch it because I don't want past counseling clients to get involved in my personal life, because that would be on the unethical side. My former supervisor actually uses a pseudonym on facebook for the same reason.

I don't think social networking sites can ever fully enforce people using their real names. If people can fake a driver's license or passport, people can fake their names online.

I do use my TORN nickname elsewhere. I never use it in person, though it is derived from my real name. I used to use it solely online, but have changed that due to the bad experience I mentioned above. I'm still cautious of people online potentially being connected to him and using the opportunity to stalk me so that he can get his jollies off.
 
Their interface is just terrible, so hardly anyone knew about it. [;)] I've been using FB's friends list/groups thing a long time, and it had problems before, but it is getting a little better (probably due to G+).
 
It's a nick I made up exclusively for Torn, and it's stayed that way. I made up a new one rather than use one of my normal ones, because Tolkien-themed nicks seemed the norm on TORN. And since this is the only Tolkien-related sites I've ever joined, I've had no cause to reuse it.

Notta
 
Not that I'm embarrassed about what I post on TORN or anything, but I also don't really want it coming up when one searches for my name. In fact, the less that comes up about me, the better, as far as I am concerned. My first name/last name combination is unusual enough that I used to be very easily findable; several years ago one of the few others in the world with my name started playing college football, so he very quickly took over the Google rankings, which was fine by me. It's pretty easy to tell us apart, so I'm still somewhat findable, but a lot of the results for me have dropped off, so I'm happy.

Some people in real life know I use "acheron" -- it's on my license plate for one thing -- but it's generic enough that one can't search for that to find me either.
 
You should be able to group people for specific info..I know you can create groups..but it is clunky and if you create a community page I have not seen any control options. For example, in investigating options for a Family / Family Reunion type of page Facebook is just not ideal. There are other options but the Facebook model appears built on exploiting your lists with secondary marketing...be it games etc. I understand it is their way to make a profit, but if somebody comes up with a more user friendly site it will cut into Facebook. I am sure they will respond in similar fashion to stay competitive.
 
one being a published author and free-lance writer/editor who WANTS to be found through Google for her serious work, and the other being someone who posts on message boards, which is more likely to attract the attention of troll-types. So I use my real name for the first and nicknames for the second. I do use my real name on Facebook as I primarily use it as a way of communicating with distant friends, my school cohort, and my brothers who don't communicate much but WILL respond to FB posts. But I also severely limit who I "friend" on Facebook.
 
... at least, not in social settings. The only people who know my real name are those I have to get money from or pay money to (ie, the bank, government, credit card company, doctor, etc.). Otherwise, I try not disclose it.
 
... I've always hated my name. I got tired of people massacreing it and using it for mean purposes, and because of its meaning, it's been hell being expected to live up to it all the time.

And I didn't even get a second name to fall back on! [:(]
 
on Facebook. Similar to SirDennis, I jumped on board when the user was somewhat expected to use their real name, so that old highschool/college/gradeschool friends could find said user and know it was them. I don't know if I have any of those friends here on TOR.n....I doubt it, but I don't know and am fine with that. As for my user name here 'Donry' is the short form, the long form is 'Donry Fetor'....and that name is a Jedi name. It was a bit of fun that circulated the internet many years ago, and I have kept using it ever since. I use on whatever sites need a name. And I'd say its actually 'me' online and not a persona.
 
I cannot believe how much people share with the universe....I guess it is a fantasy to be sharing your life like Lindsay Lohan or a Kardashian etc. I also limit posting photos of living family etc. Sadly, it is a dangerous world....the Shadow remains very active.
 
And if I go anywhere else (like when I use chat or something) I usually use WB. In RL though, I'm always known as Danielle. Although, some prefer calling me Dani or Yelly (not sure how I should spell that so I'll just spell it like it sounds[:P]) along with a lot of variations to my name.
I have an alias name and email. Mostly so that if I want to play an online game where they want your name and email I don't get junk promotions later. [:)]
 
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