I've gotten bitten before for using my real identity (no, I won't say where, when, or what), doing something that at the time I considered in good faith. It is what it is, and there's little to gain from me in putting myself in that situation again.
Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
41–50 of 307 posts
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#42Yes. I wish I could change my username, though- I used it on a whim when signing up for what I considered to be a dummy account at the time. Woops.
I too thought it was a dummy account & now really wish I could change my user name to be my real name. I don't really care about the Karma, but every time I've tried to create a new account & start over, I get an error about too many new users.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#43For some reason I'm extremely hesitant to post things under my real name. I don't really care if people know my name on an individual basis (and it's not like I'm a high profile poster anyway), but I am squeamish about it generally, and feel too self-conscious to post anything if my name is associated directly with it. I've tried blogging under my real name and always went back and deleted everything, it caused me to…
I've tried blogging under my real name and always went back and deleted everything, it caused me too much anxiety.
Same here. Burned already 2-3 blogs that way. Absolutely hate the idea of somebody judging me by my opinion from last year. Much easier to start from scratch and create a new first impression.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#44For some reason I'm extremely hesitant to post things under my real name. I don't really care if people know my name on an individual basis (and it's not like I'm a high profile poster anyway), but I am squeamish about it generally, and feel too self-conscious to post anything if my name is associated directly with it. I've tried blogging under my real name and always went back and deleted everything, it caused me to…
That's me, as well. I think it's come from chronic Googling of Craigslist users that naively sent me emails under their real names, or even just searching by their emails, and I easily found information such as: one guy was listed in a court order with drug related gang violence, one guy had blog filled with info about his adventures "mail order bride-ing"...Some of the stuff was more embarrassing and less incriminating, but still. I've Googled people I've met before and been overly turned off by say, a small stupid youtube comment, or something like that.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#45I use my real name as a way of keeping myself accountable as I've noticed that I'm much more inflammatory when under the guise of a pseudonym.
I am not going to go so far as to say someday you will regret it, but in the end you can't control how other people use your words. A pseudonym is a defensive mechanism.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#46I have to say I use my real name, but 1) I feel relatively safe because it's a really common name 2) I actually lost my job over my online postings, so maybe I should not feel that safe. Or maybe I should police myself (not gonna happen), or find a job where I would not feel the need to vent, or stop having a boss altogether.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#47my real name isn't listed here, but my username is about as real as my identity gets online. my username here @gmail is my primary personal contact email that all my other addresses forward to, and although i don't list a name it would be easy to track back to my real name should anybody care enough to try. my username is a pseudonym, but it isn't a disposable one.
I'm in the same boat - I've been BruceIV nearly as long as I've been on the 'net, and it would be pretty trivial to find my actual name, location, etc. if anyone cared to look. I used to take more care to avoid links from BruceIV to my meatspace identity on the public Internet, but I don't care so much anymore.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#48For some reason I'm extremely hesitant to post things under my real name. I don't really care if people know my name on an individual basis (and it's not like I'm a high profile poster anyway), but I am squeamish about it generally, and feel too self-conscious to post anything if my name is associated directly with it. I've tried blogging under my real name and always went back and deleted everything, it caused me to…
I think the future will be one where we're split on this - not as a society, but individually. You will have your public persona and your private persona. I have to be public because I'm in news, but not everything I do has to be associated with my real name, and I take advantage of that when I feel like it. That ability and that habit will only become safer and more accepted over time.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#49I try to keep my postings professional on here so I have no problem linking to my personal identity. Anything I say here I'm willing to openly discuss with a stranger should I be caught with them on a plane, at a bar or otherwise. My opinions aren't something I'm ashamed of.
That said, on sites like Reddit where I'll spend more time calling out people for dumb things or participating in circlejerk karma threads I prefer to stay detached from my professional profile. I used to use an alias that could easily be linked back to me but now I prefer to use usernames that are unique and un-googlable.
Re: Poll: Do you use your real identity on HN?
#50my github user name!
Ditto.
If I were to post something that I wouldn't want coming back on me, I'd use a throwaway.
In general, I'm rather snarky but that's just who I am and if someone doesn't like it they can stuff it.