Showing your Name Online

[roxyruby]

Some people say to not give your name online, especially when you openly express your views and opinions or talk personally about your life.

Why? Is it fear of disapproval basically? Wanting 100 percent of people to like us instead of maybe 30 - 90 percent or less, depending on our particular opinions & lifestyle?

And for financial reasons? Say having a business online where you make money, and if you expressed your opinions, the people that disagree may take their business elsewhere?

It interests me that there are people that recommend for online business to make up a fake name that matches the niche like "Mr Pet Trainer" and assume a fake sort of, people pleasing personality.

I was told I have to get rid of my real first name and should put a fake identity.

But here is Steve Pavlina, just saying just about everything, and obviously his real name is right up the top, and he is very financially successful.

So I suppose it is just personal preferences then? How private do you want to be?

Is it more spiritually, mentally, and emotionally satisfying to to express personal opinions online and no-one know who you are, or to just be yourself, maybe even showing your real name, express all your opinions, and not care what people think?

What do you think?

If you want to show your real name and true self online, Why?

And if you want to be private online, Why?

[Weena]

I don't care about giving my name, my name actually IS Weena.
I stand behind my opinions, if people don't want to buy stuff from me because they read i don't go to church (e.g) so be it .

[dulaney0330]

I want my name to be private.

[Captain Drywall]

So calling yourself Captain Drywall, and you are a drywall contractor might fall under that category. Then nobody in the industry ever forgets my name.
For forums such as these i always use my real name. But wait, Captain Drywall isn't my real name. I do this name to protect the innocent, my wife.

[Piercetheveil]

If you want to be private it is best not to post online. People like me are great at connecting the dots. Once you share online and once done consistently the lines get connected very quickly.

It takes little time to do so.

The reason I do not want to use my full name here is because I do not want Steve to be in control of my identity.

[Weena]

Originally Posted by Piercetheveil

If you want to be private it is best not to post online. People like me are great at connecting the dots. Once you share online and once done consistently the lines get connected very quickly.

Well that's what i think too, someone who would really want to find me would just search for little details i let slip in conversation. So...shrug

[Donkey1]

I never do it. Someone could easily google you up if they wanted to and know stuff they don't need to know about your life. Not that I care if I share something personal on here, but something about it being my real name and having it saved for everyone to view it forever. Plus, they could potentially start gathering fb, myspace, or any other social networking records; if I was interested in hiring somebody, I would be very interested in having access to those records to see what type of person I am hiring. And if you ever get in trouble with the law, I'm sure the feds are interested too. So, careful, just because they aren't necessarily gathering records right now, they could potentially start to at anytime (if they haven't already).

At any rate, the internet isn't that anyonymous considering any site knows (and can easily record) your registered ISP account information unless you go through a proxy, but even then the proxy server can record you.

Sort of like the truman show where the camera is always running on you.

Piercetheveil, if steve wanted to know who you are, he could take a very good guess based on your IP, unless you are consistently using a proxy. Even then, he could potentially ask the host of the proxy for your information.

[Piercetheveil]

Donkey, you do not get it. That is okay. I care not if people know who I am. Many do. I care if google tells a searcher I am closer to steve then I am to my own sites. I understand this net space. Carry on.

Originally Posted by Donkey1

I never do it. Someone could easily google you up if they wanted to and know stuff they don't need to know about your life. Not that I care if I share something personal on here, but something about it being my real name and having it saved for everyone to view it forever. Plus, they could potentially start gathering fb, myspace, or any other social networking records; if I was interested in hiring somebody, I would be very interested in having access to those records to see what type of person I am hiring. And if you ever get in trouble with the law, I'm sure the feds are interested too. So, careful, just because they aren't necessarily gathering records right now, they could potentially start to at anytime (if they haven't already).

At any rate, the internet isn't that anyonymous considering any site knows (and can easily record) your registered ISP account information unless you go through a proxy, but even then the proxy server can record you.

Sort of like the truman show where the camera is always running on you.

Piercetheveil, if steve wanted to know who you are, he could take a very good guess based on your IP, unless you are consistently using a proxy. Even then, he could potentially ask the host of the proxy for your information.

[brendannz]

I want you guys to know my name's really Brendan, but I don't want to give my last name, because I want to keep my forum self private from google..

But if anyone cares, you're welcome to have my last name..

[Donkey1]

By "Steve controlling your identity" you mean you don't want to post your real name on here because you think google will rank steve pavlina forum higher than your own sites with the keywords "your name"? I would have a better chance of "getting it" if you said what you meant, lol.

[smartDad]

If your name is what sells your or your product, use it by all means.

[Rose of Cairo]

I hide nothing online. There's my real name, pictures, all my uncensored opinions and I talk about very private stuff including my sex life or my toughest emotional issues online. Why? Well... I just see no reason to hide anything! All that is me. I am what I am. I am the whole package. It's just a matter of being true to myself, I guess. If I were keeping some things secret, I'd have a feeling that in some ways I'm ashamed of myself, which I am not. If it is detrimental to my business, so be it. As for what others think about me, I have more important things to think about than that.

[Cado]

I don't particularly care if people know who I am, I just choose not to tell them.

[aelle]

There are people out there I don't want to be able to track me down. There is information on the net I don't want to make too easy to link with my real life self. So I avoid posting my full name online. I have absolutely no problem giving my real name in private to online friends though.

[Kindred]

I use to want to be private online. Last year though I started focused on being more truthful and honest. I felt like I was hiding parts of myself from the world, even assumed different identities across the net to avoid conflicts between userbases.

Now I sign my real name everywhere online and keep a consistent username, Anokorok. I'm not ashamed or fearful for having my opinions or desires. If people don't like me, then so be it. If a potential employer looks me up online and doesn't like what they see, then so be it; I don't want to work with someone out of align with my values anyway. That's the truth and I accept that.

Ironically, I've attracted tons of new friends by being more open about myself. Sure, I lost a few friends in the process, but the many new friends I've gained are much closer. I can't see myself wanting to be private online ever again.

[Piercetheveil]

bleh what people do not understand is progression.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Piercetheveil

bleh what people do not understand is progression.

Will you show us a new body part every hundred posts?

[Piercetheveil]

done. starting on my next one.

[Ted the Mighty]

It's really a case-by-case matter to me. There are some forums where I enjoy the anonymity and some where I'm very open about my identity. Now, I know this sounds like incongruent living but I have my reasons.

First off, one of the reasons I started using forums was my age. When I was fourteen or fifteen, I could have much better discussions with adults online than in real life. People just seem to assume I'm older than I am and it's made all the difference between "That is very insightful, I never would have thought of that" and "You just think that because you're a kid. Wait until you've got some life experience, then you'll know what's what."

I don't mind you lot knowing I'm twenty-one because this is really not that sort of forum and it's much easier for people to take a university student seriously than a high schooler.

There's also the fact that I don't consider myself to be my name. My name is just some syllables my parents picked out so as to make referring to me more convenient. Here's a fun game, I'll give you the English meanings of my first, middle and last names and you can guess what the full thing is. The first two are easy (if you can use Google) but you'll most likely need to have the same last name as I do to guess that one. My name is "Who is like God?" "Horse lover" "Little Arab". Cognates count (ex. Christopher, Christophoro, Christobal).

I know Ted the Mighty is a ridiculous handle but it's fun to log in as and that's what really counts. Other handles I've enjoyed are Bokuden, Atticus, Sagredo, Matthias, Alho, Drusacco (real life first name variant omitted), and simply (first name) (first letter of last name).

What I'm getting at is that I don't consider any one string of syllables to be me any more than any other. Aside from this forum, there are three others I'd say I frequent. On one I'm almost totally anonymous and at times joke about actually being a girl or an old man just to mess with my friends. On the other two, I'm very up front about my identity and use handles with my first name in them. Again it's a case-by-case thing.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Piercetheveil

done. starting on my next one.

We already knew this one! It was your profile pic. This doesn't count. We want a new one!

[Piercetheveil]

we? I have heard from no "we" people.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Piercetheveil

we? I have heard from no "we" people.

Okay you hair splitter.

:%s/we/I/gi

[Piercetheveil]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

Okay you hair splitter.

:%s/we/I/gi

Rose! Behave yourself.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Piercetheveil

Rose! Behave yourself.

What did I do??

[Piercetheveil]

wishful thinking my bad.

[Rose of Cairo]

FYI, ":%s/we/I/gi" means "substitute in the whole file all instances of "we" (or "WE", "We", "wE") with "I"". Translate, we don't want to see, I want to see. I thought a guy who runs server scripts would understand that. Damn, my nerdy flirting totally failed.

But I got what I wanted anyway! Very nice picture.

[roxyruby]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

I hide nothing online. There's my real name, pictures, all my uncensored opinions and I talk about very private stuff including my sex life or my toughest emotional issues online. Why? Well... I just see no reason to hide anything! All that is me. I am what I am. I am the whole package. It's just a matter of being true to myself, I guess. If I were keeping some things secret, I'd have a feeling that in some ways I'm ashamed of myself, which I am not. If it is detrimental to my business, so be it. As for what others think about me, I have more important things to think about than that.

I think I like your answer the best. It's comforting

[Piercetheveil]

I am aware. Again, was playing off verbage. Wow, communication is hard internationally huh?

[Piercetheveil]

But more in line with the threat...

Transparency online is not so simple
The question SHOULD be phrased where is your biggest self online and are you afraid of that?


I have no issue with people finding anywhere I post or play online (in fact there is a place that is central that is my hub that shows all my spots).

The question is do I want steveblahblah.com to be the authority for me...

I don't. I get to create and own my life. Therefore I do.

Now, if you think you can post here without it ever being linked to you...well I have news for ya...good luck with that.

Delete your account now because all your base are belong to us.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by roxyruby

I think I like your answer the best. It's comforting

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Piercetheveil

I am aware. Again, was playing off verbage. Wow, communication is hard internationally huh?

Actually not at all! But I have a particularly hard time understanding you. You often use expressions that I don't know and say things that I just don't get. You mysterious creature, you.