Forum usenames; Why?

[Pondrew]

Why do we have forum 'usernames', not our real names? Is it a way to be anonymous, so we keep our private lives separate?
Seems a little bit 'dubious' to me. It seems like we have something to hide IMHO.
I am wondering if it a throwback to the old days when the interweb started so as to protect people from whatever evils were out there. With all other social media; facebook, twitter, etc, you have your own name, so why do forums still persist with the username?

Just me thinking out loud, of course.
I just find it funny to interact with a person called '1678Z4bullet', or 'ivormassiveZ'.

I do it too. My name is not Pondrew (obviously). My name is Andrew.

 

[sp3ctre]

I guess there are lots of reasons... here are a few:

- Don't wan't the boss (at work) to know what you are into, or how much time you spend on a forum in work time
- Don't wan't the boss (at home) to know what you are into
- Don't want to be stalked
- Don't want anyone knowing you are an active member of the <whatever> fetish forum

 

[Mr Tidy]

Back in the late 80s a mate of mine started racing Saloon Stock cars on the Spedeworth ovals and a mate of his gave everyone a nickname and that's when I got the Mr Tidy one. Everyone connected to my mate knows me that way, more than know I'm actually Iain.

I'm not actually that tidy, but compared to most of the stock car crowd I was!

Perhaps slightly unkindly my racing mate became Mr Spinney. :lol:

 

[Pondrew]

I guess there are lots of reasons... here are a few:

- Don't wan't the boss (at work) to know what you are into, or how much time you spend on a forum in work time
- Don't wan't the boss (at home) to know what you are into
- Don't want to be stalked
- Don't want anyone knowing you are an active member of the <whatever> fetish forum

I guess that would have made sense 20 years ago, but with the explosion of an 'online presence', it seems a little outdated. everybody on mainstream social media gives their full name.

 

[Pondrew]

Back in the late 80s a mate of mine started racing Saloon Stock cars on the Spedeworth ovals and a mate of his gave everyone a nickname and that's when I got the Mr Tidy one. Everyone connected to my mate knows me that way, more than know I'm actually Iain.

I get that and my 'username' is from a similar theme. But nowadays it seems a little outdated to be known by a (frankly silly) name which means nothing to anyone else except you and your close friends, or just made up nonsense like 'Z4forever'

 

[sp3ctre]

I guess there are lots of reasons... here are a few:

- Don't wan't the boss (at work) to know what you are into, or how much time you spend on a forum in work time
- Don't wan't the boss (at home) to know what you are into
- Don't want to be stalked
- Don't want anyone knowing you are an active member of the <whatever> fetish forum

I guess that would have made sense 20 years ago, but with the explosion of an 'online presence', it seems a little outdated. everybody on mainstream social media gives their full name.

Not sure I agree… would you be happy if pornhub showed your name rather than your username?

 

[MikeyH]

Yes I found it clumsy replying to someone called B21 when replying to his heart breaking story about his family in Ukraine so I called him Peter because others did. But then I felt I had broken forum protocol and felt uncomfortable about that as I had never met him. Very difficult but as my name is Mike and my ‘username’ is MikeyH it is only my surname that is hidden and if I get called Mike or Mikey that’s fine. But yes these long meaningless numbers do seem strange to me also.

 

[Pondrew]

would you be happy if pornhub showed your name rather than your username?

No idea what that is TBH. Please enlighten me?

Just to confirm I am not having a pop, just find it odd that grown ups are still using silly usernames when addressing other grown ups in a 'community'. It isn't here specifically, it's something that has been the norm on forums for years.

 

[sp3ctre]

would you be happy if pornhub showed your name rather than your username?

No idea what that is TBH. Please enlighten me?

Just to confirm I am not having a pop, just find it odd that grown ups are still using silly usernames when addressing other grown ups in a 'community'. It isn't here specifically, it's something that has been the norm on forums for years.

Yeah, I was just making a point though that there are hundreds of different types of forums… fetish… medical issues… etc etc, where people would prefer anonymity. I’ll bet if I put a profile field for “real name” and made it optional, that very few people would actually fill it in.

 

[sw4nny]

Hi Andrew ,my alias is Geoff.

 

[dr_john]

I’m happy using a ‘nom de plume’ on forums, I want feel relaxed chatting informally as if in my local pub, where few people know my full name.

Also I pick my forum names to suit the forum, for example I’m on an electric guitar forum where my username reflects rock music.

 

[Bear]

It's because you've all got s**t names in real life.

Kind regards, Long Rod Von-Hugendong

 

[buzyg]

When you first join a forum you don't know if it will be a safe place for you and your views. So an Alias provides anonymity. I'm all for that. People that get to know regular forum members soon find out their real names.

I seldom use my given name on the internet. I use BuzyG pretty much every where I am able to. Facebook even through me out because I would not provide sufficient detail. Their loss. If people who know me come across BuzyG. They can hazard a guess that could be me. In exactly the same way as if they came across my given names on the internet. I don't use any other Aliases, so I guess it is more a nick name anyway. It hides nothing once a person knows me. :wink:

 

[BTZ461]

Forum user names can or may be perhaps an alter ego or doppelganger identity of the poster. Allowing this persona to express him / herself in a way that the "real" poster may not be comfortable doing in real life. After all our social interactions on the internet are quite abstract. Really :?
Neither BTZ461 or other registration numbers that I use on assorted car forums would get onto Facebook. Fortunately.

 

[engine killer]

When you first join a forum you don't know if it will be a safe place for you and your views. So an Alias provides anonymity. I'm all for that. People that get to know regular forum members soon find out their real names.

quite true.
i use "engine killer" because i really did blown my peugeot's engine a few times :lol:

 

[Ian J]

Why do we have forum 'usernames', not our real names? Is it a way to be anonymous, so we keep our private lives separate?
Seems a little bit 'dubious' to me. It seems like we have something to hide IMHO.

Some of us do use our real names

Yes I found it clumsy replying to someone called B21 when replying to his heart breaking story about his family in Ukraine so I called him Peter because others did. But then I felt I had broken forum protocol and felt uncomfortable about that as I had never met him.

I am active on a number of forums and have been for many years and this is the first one where members call each other by their given names and not their forum aliases which is normally deemed to be against forum protocols

 

[flimper]

Because my username is far more interesting than my real name

 

[enuff_zed]

Never really dabbled in forums before this one.
Whilst lurking I noticed there were not really any real names and assumed it was the accepted norm to create a user name.
I just decided to make mine something with a bit of a play on words. Many conversations end with "enough said", and since I joined and started collecting E85s some some would say I now have enough zeds. So I kinda think it fits.
I do realise though that it seems odd to address me as 'enuff', so you can all call me Martin, except Pondrew: still 'Sir' to you.

 

[flybobbie]

Put down real name, look up to see if a director, your name and address appears.
OK could just use first name.


First forum i entered was for gpz900 motorbike some 12 years ago or more. Some good links to parts suppliers.
Hadn't a clue what a username was or could be.
So just used the fault on the bike...bigendgone.

Bit of a clue in my forum name.

 

[Gazhyde]

See how well it works on places where you have to use your real name, like Facebook. I get all sorts of people I'd rather forget I'd ever met in "real" life trying to be friends with me. Even worse, family members. That said, my forum name I use everywhere is fairly obvious....