Anonymity + a 2nd layer of anonymity = Fail

Osterkraut wrote:

Rufledt wrote: When I was in college another anthro major did a study on anonymity and language use on XBOX live, I believe he came to the conclusion (or I should say I think, because I didn't read his report, only his poster) that basically, a normal person + an audience + anonymity = racist, violent, and profane language, especially in young people. I like semi-anonymity, but my name here Is my last name. It's rare, but there are still a few around, and even another one (that i know of) with the same first name as me. And i'm pretty sure we're all related And for the record, I haven't changed this name ever. Add @aol to the end and you have an email i've had since i was in 4th grade, and still use. I never change anything.

Your friend must be Penny Arcade... NSFW, but amusing: ADMIN EDIT: NO CUSSING!

LOL that's interesting! I guess I should've been skeptical of a guy who wants to do a project involving a video game. There was another guy who did a thing on people who get addicted to world of warcraft, and he did it by playing warcraft LOL. That professor was in her last year and moving away to a different job, it's good for that guy she didn't really care anymore! But, I guess it makes sense that he didn't end up getting an anthro degree. I don't know about the other guy, though, he was a year ahead of me.

jrw1621 wrote:

Big ego wrote: Here's a hint. No matter if the person changes their name... Click on link and go to their profile. their profile url will list the original name they signed up under. For example mine says.. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/community/Ignorant/ But my name is Big Ego right now.. get it?

Thanks for the tip. "Ya learn something every day" It was just the other day in the Leaderboard thread that I questioned who is "Big Ego" which was in the top 10 but I could not place the name. Mine is my initials and the address of the first house I bought. The combination was first used in setting up my first personal email address about 15 yrs ago with aol. I no longer use that email but the odd and easy to remember alpha-numeric combination has stayed with me. It was first used here on GRM about 10-12 yrs ago. -John

I do that with passwords. I know I should make a different one for everyplace I visit online..but I'm too old/dumb/lazy to recall so many different ones. So, every one I have is just slightly different than the others. It's working for me so far..been paying bills online for three or four years now, and nobody's stolen my identity yet.

My internet identity has a higher credit rating than my real identity.

My Dad used to write letters to the newspaper, or elected officials, and then set them on top of the fridge overnight to cool off. If they still made sense the next morning, Mom would punctuate them (Dad never got to the grade they taught punctuation) and mail them.

Internet and email needs a cooling off button before the send button sometimes.

My posts all have my real name at the bottom, you know where the "signature" is. There's a couple of semi-famous people with my name so it's pointless to Google search me. I've always felt that keeping my name with my posts kept me honest, as then I wouldn't type anything I wouldn't say in real life.

Just to clarify:

My name is spelt 'Luxury Yacht' but it's pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

Residence is Notacentinthemthere towers, pronounced Nawsham Taws?

Zomby woof wrote: For the record, I'm far nicer online than I am in person

Wow. That too bad.

Keith wrote:

z31maniac wrote: My lack of an internal filter hurts me in real life just as much as online. I was raise by a couple of baby boomers and always taught to think for myself and speak my mind.

Nothing wrong with thinking for yourself and speaking your mind. Just have the courage to admit who you are instead of hiding behind a pseudonym. Our local paper has a section called "you said it!" where people send in little anonymous rants - kinda like short letters to the editor without any accountability. It's easy filler for the paper but complete garbage.

Our local rag has "hotlines". Sounds lime the same thing. Mostly people saying things like "Obama really screwed up by starting TARP and other such nonsense. I mostly read it for humor but lately people are so grumpy I stay away.

Joey

friedgreencorrado wrote:

OTOH, I use a completely different nym on the atheist stuff I participate in. On such a socially "hot-button" topic, there's a lot of weirdness. Again, for me it's about the subject matter. Here, I got no problem. Over there, I want to be as berkeleying anonymous as possible, even if I'm staying away from the freaks and not trying to provoke them. There's some strange people in the world, and it seems like the internet's done nothing but give them a new hobby.

So, you basically troll almost evey society in the world and you were 'surprised' at what the outcome was? Lol

HiTempguy wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote:

OTOH, I use a completely different nym on the atheist stuff I participate in. On such a socially "hot-button" topic, there's a lot of weirdness. Again, for me it's about the subject matter. Here, I got no problem. Over there, I want to be as berkeleying anonymous as possible, even if I'm staying away from the freaks and *not* trying to provoke them. There's some strange people in the world, and it seems like the internet's done nothing but give them a new hobby.

So, you basically troll almost evey society in the world and you were 'surprised' at what the outcome was? Lol

Dude, I really don't understand what you're getting at here. I'm talking about participating in in groups intended for atheists (I am one) to talk amongst ourselves. How am I a "troll" by trying to stay on-topic over there?

The best (most highly suscribed) of such groups are unmoderated, and they attract a lot of Fred Phelps and Mohammad Atta wannabes. I really don't want any of those freaks to know who I am, or where my family lives, so I do my best to stay anonymous in them. Like I was trying to say before, the context of the place is why I'm open with my real identity in some places-and hide it in others.

Streetwiseguy wrote: My Dad used to write letters to the newspaper, or elected officials, and then set them on top of the fridge overnight to cool off. If they still made sense the next morning, Mom would punctuate them (Dad never got to the grade they taught punctuation) and mail them.

I've got one of those that I've re-written about 12 times to a teacher or the Department head. Can't decide who to send it to, and I can't decide if I should send it. I'm going to wait at least until the end of the semester, but this is some very good advice.

John Brown wrote: My internet identity has a higher credibility rating than my real identity.

Fixed that for you...

The purpose of having a username is so others can identify you, so changing it defies the purpose.

I concur with that

There are people in the world who don't have the choice to be anonymous. Before I was one of those people, I used to say "tough luck, don't be famous if you can't stand the scrutiny." but have softened my stance in the last 4 years. Probably because I'm not famous, but still somewhat of a public figure in that I can't be anonymous.

So far, no one has succeeded (or attempted) in stealing my identity, but that could also be because I'm still broke and live in an apartment. To make it a real experiment, I'll have to get rich and buy a mansion and see if anybody tries then. I'm pretty sure that's what mythbusters would do.

In other news, upcoming site changes will probably prohibit name changes for users for some of the reasons outlined above. It will at least make that option a function of the admin, not a user selectable thing. It's hard for me to keep track of troublemakers when everybody changes their names.

In reply to Tom Heath:

Yeah, what I said!

There are people who face imprisonment in their homeland for sharing information on the Internet so having an alias combined with some help from anonymous web servers allows them to interact with the rest of the world. Me... I'm not that hard to find but I like that I can be when I want to.

The old "If you have nothing to hide" line is a little naive and probably never posted from inside China.

EDIT: I said web servers... what I meant was re-routers to mask the start and end points of the traffic.

In reply to Annie Nonymous:

So is your name really Nonymous? Because you're, you know, purple.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Annie Nonymous: So is your name really Nonymous? Because you're, you know, purple.

Yes, it comes from my father's side. My mother was the former Abby Normal and took his name when they wed.

Tom_Heath wrote: In reply to Tom Heath: Yeah, what I said!

Hey, now it's time to see if identity theft goes both ways. I'm reporting "my" Mini stolen.

haha.

Rufledt wrote: I believe he came to the conclusion (or I should say I think, because I didn't read his report, only his poster) that basically, a normal person + an audience + anonymity = racist, violent, and profane language, especially in young people.

See, I look at this, and what I get is that people are naturally inclined to a certain amount of violence, profanity, and -ism, but it's suppressed by a society that says those are all "very bad things", so when the avenue arises to vent them, they're binged upon.

Look at underage drinking - no 17 year old that drinks just has a single beer. When they get ahold of booze, they're gonna binge drink as they don't know when the next time they're going to be able to.

What's that line about forbidden fruit?

bravenrace wrote: The purpose of having a username is so others can identify you, so changing it defies the purpose.

Thank you. Somehow it took 4 pages to get to that.

Tom Heath wrote:

Tom_Heath wrote: In reply to Tom Heath: Yeah, what I said!

Hey, now it's time to see if identity theft goes both ways. I'm reporting "my" Mini stolen.

Family Guy taught me that Identity theft does go both ways, and a fat guy who had James Woods' ID went on Letterman to promote his new movie 9/11 two thousand and fun.