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4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

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Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#51

Post by Periodic »

pnathan wrote: post #4
jeffool wrote: post #2

We present ourselves differently in different contexts, and that's key to our creativity and self-expression. "It's not 'who you share with,' it's 'who you share as,'" Poole told us. "Identity is prismatic." moot just kinda blew my mind. And it makes total sense. I'd go so far as to say it's almost painfully obvious once it's pointed out to you. I hope someone's got it on video and posts it somewhere.

ShawnJG posted this, I liked it. It's dead for some reason... ShawnJG 1 minute ago | link [dead] I agree completely. It does seem really obvious now. But anyone who's had a pre-Google/Facebook online life remembers that you had different handles for diff sites. My aol name was not the same as my underground name, wasn't the same as my regular email name. At first what seemed like a good idea, "mirroring" yourself onl…

I have always to have three areas of identity online. I've had my professional persona, which I try to associate with my work and professional interests. I have a different identity that I present to my friends, which is a lot goofier, complains about work and plays a lot of video games. Then I have my third layer of handles which I use to identify with others in games or specific mediums such as discussion boards. I don't want potential employers looking at my Reddit post history, or my gaming clan looking up details about my personal life, or Reddit trolls looking up pictures of my wife.

I like that Google+ made some efforts to let you keep those lives separate through Circles, which prompted Facebook to make their lists more prominent, but I still prefer to have multiple identities.

I acknowledge that with a little work you could probably connect all my identities together, but I'd rather not make it obvious to the casual observer. Let's keep honest people honest.

Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#53

Post by skeptical »

benbscholz wrote: post #8
jarin wrote: post #6

As someone who used to post a lot on forums, I agree that being able to have multiple pseudonyms is great. On the other hand, I also appreciate the value of enforcing real names in online discussions. If you've ever read the comments on news articles on Facebook (MSNBC/Breaking News/etc.), it's amazing the hateful, racist, bigoted shit people will post under their REAL NAMES. I can only imagine how bad it would be if…

You may want to visit Mr. Poole's first website, 4chan, which requires anonymous posting on some areas but allows a limited identity in others (through tripcodes). The effect of anonymous posting on content quality is immediately apparent.

I will play the devils advocate here...

I've browsed 4chan every now and then during the last year I will totally disagree with you.

If anything, the post quality is deceiving, not immediately apparent. I couldn't understand at first, but then it became obvious. 99% of the posts are striped from any real content, they are irrelevant single words, offenses, f*ked up puctures, funny pictures, etc. But then, in 1% of the comments lies the real value of 4chan.

I've seen very insightful comments in there. Many topics that would be taboos on pretty much any other place on the internet are discussed there openly and with innovative views. I'm not sure about the purpose of the huge amount of useless fluff, but if you want to get the real content you need acknowledge that crazy people will post tons of stupid things while serious discussions take place.

If you have a totally new way of looking at a subject, if you expose it to a place where your identity is valued, you will for sure get it damaged. So everybody refrains from posting potentially controversial opinions. Going the opposite direction and totally remove identity ties, will attract trolls, but you get the real stuff, what people really think, no bullshit, no political correctness.

Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#54

Post by Thasc »

moot wrote: post #15
joshu wrote: post #11

Heh, he spent the evening at my house working on and fretting about this presentation. While my dog watched: http://yfrog.com/hsokxkwj

THANKS JOSHUA

He's ruined your hard-earned reputation as a slick, suave James Bond-type operator.

Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#55

Post by jeffool »

Periodic wrote: post #50
jeffool wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahhh, thanks for the link! "It took me four hours to pick my AOL screenname." Same here. And I've been using it ever since. I'm not sure what, if anything, that says about me. But yeah, it's the name I've chosen to associate with.

The thing is, that AOL screenname I chose 15 years ago isn't how I want to be seen now. I've changed a lot since then, and it feels right to me that my handle should as well. Over the last 8 years or so I've been moving away from that handle and to something a little more... professional. I'd really like the things associated with that handle to stay in the past, and not be easily accessed by anyone who has my curren…

I can absolutely understand what you're saying. I don't have so much of a problem with having the same name I chose in 1996, at the age of 16, though. (That's what I meant by "I'm not sure what that says about me.")

And actually, my problem is different. I worry not about my past overlapping with my present, but my "real life" crashing into my digital one. While it certainly doesn't take much to piece together who I am, I do get oddly disconcerted by people who I grew up with who are only now getting online. I've mostly avoided it by not visiting Facebook anymore.

I like to compare the Internet to a swimming pool, only, it operates exactly the opposite as you'd expect. Normally adults would be wary of children getting into the deep end, as it's less safe. But on the Internet, not only are the younger ones far better swimmers who live in the deep end... The adults stay in the kiddie pool/inlet. One scary run-in with the deep end, and they never want to "swim" again.

I'm very curious about the effects this is having on society. I can't wait to see what parents and children are culturally like in twenty years. (Of course, who knows what'll be around then.)

Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#57

Post by gnu6 »

molesy wrote: post #44
gnu6 wrote: post #29

Chris Poole operates the world's most popular child pornography web site. Let's all listen to what he has to say.

"The National Security Agency operates the world's most popular child pornography web site, originally founded by Chris Poole. Let's all listen to what he has to say." Fixed.

You're thinking of facebook.

Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#58

Post by qq66 »

gujk wrote: post #36
socratic wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there some difference between this and what Danah Boyd et al. were saying 8 years ago regarding "Faceted Identity"? http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/danah/thesis/

Danah boyd doesn't capitalize danah boyd's name.

A person can choose to brand his or her name with lowercase letters but it's perfectly reasonable to use the convention. http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?TRID=948

Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#59

Post by FaceKicker »

jeffool wrote: post #2

We present ourselves differently in different contexts, and that's key to our creativity and self-expression. "It's not 'who you share with,' it's 'who you share as,'" Poole told us. "Identity is prismatic." moot just kinda blew my mind. And it makes total sense. I'd go so far as to say it's almost painfully obvious once it's pointed out to you. I hope someone's got it on video and posts it somewhere.

> We present ourselves differently in different contexts, and that's key to our creativity and self-expression.

Isn't this pretty much exactly what Google+ tries to reflect with circles? It almost sounds to me like the marketing speak they had going when the product first came out.

Re: 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong

#60

Post by molesy »

gnu6 wrote: post #57
molesy wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The National Security Agency operates the world's most popular child pornography web site, originally founded by Chris Poole. Let's all listen to what he has to say." Fixed.

You're thinking of facebook.

You're thinking "successful due to its remarkably high level of cooperation with", rather than "wholly operated by."

Insert Twitter, Google responses below.

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