Weird Granny Slater
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,095
#1
howard mcsweeney1: 'The difference is when people post honestly under their real name or cower behind a pseudonym.'
Keith Sansum1:
'As you say Howard
I dont like those that don't say who they are [sic]'
It is, of course, just as likely that a pseudonymous member will post honestly and that a member with a 'real name' will post dishonestly. In any case, a 'real name' may very well be a pseudonym, and many of us wouldn't be any the wiser, let alone care. What's more, intelligent members, pseudonymous or not, are likely to have a forum persona which may resemble their 'real' self but isn't identical with it; that's the nature of public intercourse, and one of the benefits of writing. Unless you want a forum to be a closed shop for members on first-name terms who meet socially for port, stilton and a couple of rounds of cribbage in order to pat their own prejudices on the back, then these are surely good things, as they make the introduction of different ideas and different perspectives more likely. An idea's an idea, an opinion's an opinion, a joke's a joke, a spilling mestake is a spelling mistake and, though it may help us to construct our own image of the character of the poster or to gain some applause for a ribbing or a ribald rejoinder, it matters not a whit whether it comes from a pseudonym or a 'real name'.
It is worth reminding those who are easily offended by pseudonymity that, while there is no forum rule against it, there is one (3.3.8) against repetition. So maybe we could keep all pseudonym-related insults and considerations to just one thread.
Captain Haddock likes this
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#2
The thing is often unknowns will hide behind it knowing they won't be identified
For me my names out can see no reason for it not to be
I'm up front say it as it is
Take it or leave it
howard mcsweeney1 likes this
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#3
I no longer object to pseudonyms as they sometimes give an idea of what a person might be like .
How do any of you know whether I use my proper name as that could also be a pseudonym, I could even have nicked it from a gravestone like a fraudster would do.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Weird Granny Slater- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,095
#4
Keith Sansum1 wrote:The thing is often unknowns will hide behind it knowing they won't be identified
For me my names out can see no reason for it not to be
I'm up front say it as it is
Take it or leave it
But why do they need to be 'identified'? It's not a parade. If they've broken any of the T&Cs, admin will see to it. And pseudonymity is irrelevant both to saying it as it is and to taking it or leaving it. I frequently do all three.
(btw Note to Chris: I intended to put this thread in the General Discussion Forum, but failed. I think it belongs there.)
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus