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Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

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241–250 of 307 posts

Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

#241
I wish people would give up on the argument that not using your 'real name' causes bad behaviour.

In fact, what encourages bad behaviour is lack of consequences. This is easily avoided by having mechanisms that enable pseudonyms to build up (or lose) reputation.

One of the great benefits of the internet is that as online characters we can be abstracted from matters of sex or race or age. Discrimination is instinctive in huamns, but we can help each other by removing irrelevant signifiers and deal with each other as our actions and our arguments deserve. Why would we want to lose that by signing our posts with an identifier that was forced onto us by others and over which we have so little control?

I believe everyone has the right to construct (and reconstruct) their own identity as they wish. Power over what you reveal to others and how you reveal it seems to me to be one of the more fundamental rights. To force people to use their 'real name' i.e. a name that has been assigned to them by a government organisation is at once creepy and ignorant of the fact that my 'real' name is actually however I choose to be known.

Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

#242
I have my contact info in my profile. You can find out my legal name by looking at my web site, which is linked in my profile.

Voted as "no" because I felt like following the letter of your request.

I really value the option of anonymity and identity play that the Internet gives us. In no small part because it was very very useful to be able to play around behind a female identity while I worked out that I was transsexual. I've had a bunch of different names on the net that corresponded to different stages of my life.

Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

#246
Here is a talk by moot, founder of 4chan, about identity online. I think that he argues that having multiple identities is part of human nature, that it makes us richer, and that forcing users of a web-site to use their official identity is misled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Zs74IH0mc

Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

#247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree the old saying "dont throw stones and hide your hand" applies here I think thats why blogs and comments on the internet are so nasty at times you can make some crazy screen name and lose all responsibilty for yor words and it brings out the worst in people

Nonsense. Anonymity doesn't bring out the worst in people. The attitudes and opinions and intelligence of the person behind the comment is what brings out the worst in their expression, or style of expression online. Don't blame the presence or absence of a number on the letterbox of the house for the behavior of the occupants inside the house.

Strongly disagree. Anonymity comes with the promise of zero responsibility. You don't need to be a natural dickhead to find that tempting. Anonymity means you don't have to think too much because even if you're wrong nobody will know it's you

Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

#248
Recently I have wondered if forcing posts and comments to be anonymous might be worthwhile to try. Perhaps there would be less fighting about ego?

I have my contact info in ,my profile, but I worry more and more asbout being identifiable on the net. My opinions are not always aligned with the majority. Also, I worry more about fanatics than about the government, for example publicly discussing religion seems dangerous.

Another thing: my cleaning lady signed up to Facebook recently, and was immediately confronted with my Facebook account.

Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

#250
I guess I do now. I've wanted to transition to a real-name based usernames for some time now, but the universality/inertia of my current user-name is too nice to give up. I guess I'd need just reboot my whole online identity thing one day.
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