Question of the Day, July 8, 2010

[Unrulyhandbag]

Well my name is fairly unusual, after trying to find out how many others there are I found 9 in the UK. It wouldn't take much to single me out.

Regardless, I have a facebook account I use it for those who know or have now me in real life. Those people already have expectations of what I'll say. Others online do not, I'm not limited by preconception.

People don't generally write the same as they speak and physically present themselves, whatever you extrapolate from my writing is unlikely to reflect who I am so it's only natural to separate the two, as many authors have by way of nom de plume. It's not the Anonymity I care about it's the persona I'm free to create.

So privacy is a concern but to be quite honest I like having my on-line self separate.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

I dislike it. I'm not thinking that there will be that many cases of stalking. I think, that when the teenage boys see how many girls actually play this game, that their reactions will simmer down. And, if you don't want your private information found, don't put it on the internet (yes, I know there are sites that give out a lot of info for free).

But I do not need my Mother-in-Law, employers, teachers, etc seeing how much, or what, I post.

 

[Baldry]

my name is
Matthew David Wensley
I am British, and live in Newcastle upon Tyne
none of that information can be used against me

We could destroy Newcastle...See it can be used. And shall be!

Any way I don't really have a problem using my name as I already use my last name, sure I like being anonymous but it wouldn't make much of a difference to me.

 

[Queen Michael]

I wouldn't; I like hiding behind an avatar and a username.

 

[xavi]

First names-I'm completely fine with. Mine is Samuel.
Last names-That's when it gets dangerous.

 

[Quaxar]

Oh god, no. No chance I'll ever openly reveal my real name in an online forum. I prefer being anonymous, I can still behave like a human being.

 

[Blue Musician]

Although I'm in no social network and the only forums I'm registered is The Escapist, I would say no, since my name is hard to some people in pronunciation and hard to spell that would probably start laughing at it.

 

[EmeraldGreen]

It depends on the forum. I do use my real name on some forums, but only small ones where I feel comfortable doing so. I definitely wouldn't be happy using my real name on a mainstream gaming forum like Blizzard's.

 

[Flying Dagger]

Putting my name into facebook yields so many results, even those that know me can't find me.
But I'd be pretty pissed if I had an unusual name.

 

[oppp7]

O noes! They have my real name! Now they can find where I live and how to kill me!

 

[DSK-]

My name is petty unique, and I don't want my name out there too much.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I don't mind using my first name but I wouldn't do anything online that is both public and requires my first and last name. I have grown accustomed to internet anonymity

 

[TheScarecrow]

Not for all the nuclear warheads in Korea.
Well maybe for that.

Seriously? No.

 

[Kiefer13]

Well, my username is my first name, along with the age I was when I started using it on the internet. Mostly because I couldn't think of anything original at the time, nor have I came up with anything original since that sounds both unique and me. I also have my full name, date of birth and general location down to my town on my profile, as well as a picture of myself. I really couldn't care less if some randoms on the internet know that much about me.

But, that's all there of my own free will. I don't agree with Blizzard's decision to make it mandatory to use your real name to post on the forums. That's just ridiculous. Some people just aren't comfortable with putting any kind of personal information about themselves up on the internet, and they don't necessarily have shady reasons for it.

 

[Rafe]

I wouldn't like it if someone typed my name into google and finds out that I play World of Warcraft for an example. I like being anonymous on the internet to keep my different lives separate.

 

[Dobrev]

I AM using my real name in the forums. In fact it's been my gaming alias on every platform and I've even used the DOB initials on the old arcade games to enter my score (not that it would happen that often). But, here is to a big BUT, I would never post my full name or any other information except sex & nationality.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Well my facebook profile's already linked here so anyone can go see it, so I see no problem with it.

 

[darthmob]

Such a bad idea for so many reasons. It shouldn't be necessary to say much about it, really.