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Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?

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

#301

Post by edh649 »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #277
edh649 wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most useful thing I find is just to contact friends. If I need to chat to someone then I know that if I send them a facebook message they'll most likely read it and reply within the day.

This - it's a dynamic contacts book for the extended group of people I know, don't speak to on a regular basis but might want to at some point.

Yep. Also what's strange is that although I do have phone numbers for many of my 'extended friends' through facebook (synced to android, facebook downloads everyone's numbers to your contact list). I would be much more comfortable contacting someone on facebook out of blue than texting out of the blue. Maybe it has something to do with that they can immediately see who I am on facebook whereas with texting they can't?

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

#303

Post by gradstudent »

exodust wrote: post #299
gradstudent wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It's cool you disagree. When it comes to publishing our credentials, I hope it's okay to have variety in the community. Your handle is another name for you in this moment. Relative to this discussion, to this forum, one's username is the cornerstone of each post. Perhaps forgotten easily between threads. But in $this thread is often where it counts. In the beer garden, should all chatter be recorded and archived? Sur…

My username on HN is not tied to my personal identity. The difference is I can jettison this persona, and all comments associated with it, at a moment's notice. It is difficult to do the same with my real identity.

That's what I mean when I say anonymity comes with the promise of zero responsibility.

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

#304

Post by diminoten »

cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #300
cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had too many friends who "weren't reachable" other than Facebook. I'm not sure how they were getting the Facebook notifications - apparently over email, or on their phone, which also has SMS, but I could never get in touch with them unless I sent them a Facebook message. I don't have those friends anymore. I deserve better. If someone can't take the time to reply to a simple email or text unless it's through Facebo…

Choosing friends on their refusal to communicate with me via anything other than Facebook is somehow wrong of me? I don't care what you use to communicate with, but if I don't have access to that, I do expect someone to "go out of their way" to send an email/text. I was saying that I had friends who I couldn't ever contact once I left Facebook, despite them apparently having a phone and email address.

You shouldn't have left Facebook.

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

#305

Post by [deleted] »

networked wrote: post #256
bigiain wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kinda miss the old days of usenet, where I'd often post sarcasm or devil's advocate type comments with an x-planation: Yes, this is sarcasm type header. Web forums generally don't have a way to attach metadata like that in a way that's not _normally_ seen, but is easily discoverable or demonstratable on a per-post basis. The "Ha ha! I was only joking" defense is much more credible if you explicitly (but initially i…

You can do this with cryptographic hash functions. Here's how: 1. Write whatever "meta" comment you want to attach to your post and add some random characters at the end. 2. Calculate the MD5 or SHA-1 hash of that comment + random characters [1] and add it to the text of your post. 3. Save the comment + random characters to a text file somewhere for future use. Should questions arise as to whether or not you were, e.…

[deleted]

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

#306

Post by jdpage »

spiffytech wrote: post #208
loup-vaillant wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An alternative could be to stick to a given nickname in related communities. HN, r/programming, and one's tech blog could form such a cluster. Sure, it's not your "real" name, but it will get a reputation regardless. Pseudonym or real name, people will shun you if you displease them too much. Simply remembering that may be just as effective as keeping one nice. To make that even more effective, one could even make a…

I have been doing this for many years now. I am "spiffytech" everywhere on the Internet, and that identity has extended to my physical relationships. In my college LUG, everyone knew me pretty much exclusively by my handle. This topic once came up there. I asked a friend who I'd known for four years if he actually knew my real name, and he had to stop and think for several minutes before he could respond with my name…

I've seen this bleeding over happen fairly regularly, actually, not just in the LUG. It seems to be fairly common in groups where people interact heavily online and less heavily in person.

(Also, hi spiffy!)

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

#307

Post by benrhughes »

kybernetikos wrote: post #237
benrhughes wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do a similar thing. As Epictetus said: "When you do anything from a clear judgment that it ought to be done, never shun the being seen to do it, even though the world should make a wrong supposition about it; for, if you don't act right, shun the action itself; but, if you do, why are you afraid of those who censure you wrongly?"

"if you do, why are you afraid of those who censure you wrongly?" For the obvious reasons - that they are in positions of power over you.

In the context of Epictetus' writing, "they" in fact do not hold power over you. That is in large part the entire point of Stoicism.
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