Am I the only one on DU who uses my real name?

[ellenrr]

16 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	real name
	10 (63%)
	not real name
	6 (38%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[MichaelMcGuire]

1. I don't hind

[Freddie]

2. The real Freddie is orange with tabby stripes

I should have thought about the name thing longer as I'm female and sometimes comment from that perspective.

[kiva]

19. The real kiva

is a long hair, multi-colored tabby. I also should have thought about it, since I'm often asked if I my name is connected to the wonderful group that make loans to the world's poorest people...I generally don't admit that no, it's my cat.

[union_maid]

27. Tell them that you named the cat for the group

or maybe you did. Either way it's just as nice.

[kiva]

43. Brillant!

I will

[dipsydoodle]

3. Possibly

[Demo_Chris]

4. Yes, my name is Chris n/t

[sufrommich]

5. Well, my name is Sue and I'm from

Michigan, hence the "sufrommich" handle .

[Flashmann]

6. Am I the only one on DU who uses my real name?

I had to vote not real name,even though it kind of is....Mann is part of my real last name,although the real has only one N...Flash is a nickname I acquired in the 3rd or 4th grade,from being the fastest runner in the class,at recess,that year..Being fastest runner didn't last but the name did..

[Robb]

7. My given name is nSYNCruleZ6969.

"Robb" just seemed more personable.

[1-Old-Man]

8. As indicated by the screen-name, I am simply one old man

[old guy]

49. Same here.

Just an old guy.

[skip fox]

9. I've never understood the desire (or need?) for a pseudonym of any variety.

I think my life is complex enough without a filter of some sort.

Obviously, at times it is meant for humor. What about the other times?

Asocial filter in which one attempts to shape others' thinking of you before they read your thoughts?

Or a social filter by which you can quickly make yourself known (as, say, a Barbara Jordan fan, or a Matrix-head), so that others might grasp an initial and quick sense of your essence using the rich language of popular, mythological, literary, historical, and political culture?

Or a social filter which allows one to be anonymous so that one does not bear responsibility for what is said. (Therefore one can be extraordinarily provocative, insulting, funny, childish, truthful, ot whatever, . . it needn't be negative.)

Or a psychological filter, some way of allowing one to look at him- or herself in a more favorable light, or as better than oneself (thereby calling upon "the better angels" of one's being).

Or a psychological filter to select a given perspective (self) from which to write, knowing (correctly) the self is multivalent, contradictory, wayward, etc.) and writing from such a position is more difficult than not.

Or perhaps it is in denial of the net as a significant arena for social discussion and argument. (Therefore, one "punks" the possibility of meaningful exchange.)

Anyway, all the reasons are not negative, by any shot, but the use of another name, even in the best circumstances, seems to bely one's own complexity.

Or perhaps this mannerism is just, like so much else in our society, simply unconsidered, or if considered only as much as one might "consider" his or her wallpaper for the screen this month or breakfast cereal.

(Am I being too harsh?)

[etherealtruth]

12. I work for a blood sucking corporate entity

Think about the three headed dog guarding the gates to hell.

Though I avoid posting anything specific about my employer or my job, I honestly believe that by merely posting on a liberal site my job could be jeopardized.

I tend to post very honestly about my life and my experience ... the information (coupled with my name or any part of my name) would be very identifying.

I would never be fired for the given reason: posting here (DU). However, one does not require a valid reason to fire an "at will" employee.

As an aside, on the rare occasions I am part of a DU mail exchange, I "sign" with my "real" name.

[skip fox]

24. I didn't, obviously, collect all positive reasons.

I certainly hadn't thought of yours!

[Posteritatis]

30. I'm currently a federal employee, so there's some restrictions there as well

I also have a few friends active in one part or another of the social justice movement who, thank you, get quite enough death threats merely for having opinions without adding a nice, trackable real name to their wordings.

[etherealtruth]

32. Our anonymity is based on self preservation

I don't think the poster we had responded too attributed nefarious intent to us ... I think s/he merely overlooked the very real possibility of real life consequences some of us could face for expressing our opinion in an open forum.

The entire office is fully aware of my very liberal views, but again, that is very different than expressing them in an open political forum where I could be identified by clients and regional/ national management.

Additionally, I don't discount threats made by lunatics reading political posts.

[Posteritatis]

28. If you've never understood the need you haven't thought about it at all

For someone concerned about people belying their own complexity your view of anonymity or pseudonymity is incredibly simplistic.

[enlightenment]

33. You left out privacy, Skip

You offered a number of reasons - most are probably valid to one degree or another - but you left out the very simple desire not to make oneself known to an unknown number of complete strangers.
Not because the person wishes to "hide", but simply because they do not wish to invite every element of society into their lives.

I find it interesting that you reject the idea that social discussion and argument cannot take place under conditions of anonymity; I should think that you would realize that is not the case. As a scholar, you must know that anonymity was a given in the social discourse of past centuries - consider the Federalist Papers; Addison and Steele's Spectator; or any of the innumerable editorials and letters to the editor in newspapers from the 18th century forward.

What makes the modern world different in that regard?

edited to correct punctuation

[Live and Learn]

46. +1 nt

[cliffordu]

10. Real name

of someone else.

[Silent3]

11. No, but the 3 in my screen name...

...is one of the digits in my Social Security number.

[rppper]

13. The first two letters of my DU name....

Are the first letters of my 1st and middle name....rppper is a play on my family nickname....Rip....

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. I use my real name

[Laura PourMeADrink]

36. lol. just kidding. but I am impressed that you get the name ! I picked

it when we caught Bush drinking in China. Ah....I thought I'd be hating on him forever.

that reminds me...we used to have a time when we could change. what happened?

[guardian]

15. Of course I use my real name

I'm even thinking of having it engraved on my shield

[a kennedy]

16. I am a kennedy.

so yes I use my real name, or at least an initial of it, as in C.A.F. Kennedy. the F is my confirmation name.

[aikoaiko]

17. I am not Princess Toshi.

[WinkyDink]

18. I do!

ME:

[brooklynite]

20. If I used my real name I wouldn't be as comfortable posting what I learn from my political sources

[Tikki]

21. The real Tikki (rip) was my sweet Chi who sat next to me..

for 11 of her 15 years and helped me read through the DU pages.


Tikki

[SwissTony]

23. Not my real name.

But I'm willing to sign it.

Groetjes van Nederland

Joseph McDonnell

[a la izquierda]

25. Definitely not my real name.

I used to use my real first name, but I wanted a bit more anonymity.

Funny how many people think I'm a man because of my screen name.

[BlueCaliDem]

26. Not my real name although my handle

does personify who I am and how I felt after GWBush stole the election a second time: a deeply Blue California Democrat.

[union_maid]

29. Not my real name

And perhaps I should have thought about it more. I am in a union and I love Woody Guthrie, but I'm certainly not a maid, except I suppose in the domestic sense, in that I clean up after the pets a lot.

[Little Star]

31. I think everyone can tell my handle is not my real name, lol.

[nolabear]

34. No, and I'm conflicted.

As a therapist I choose to be anonymous but as a writer I miss some good flogging opportunities. Ah well, people who care to read my work can find me.

[TroglodyteScholar]

35. So wait...

...is "ellenrr" your first name or your last name?

[patrice]

37. You need a choice for Cats, whose real names are secret, so they will answer ANY way they want.

[madamesilverspurs]

38. Ironically, if I used my real name

I'd be even more anonymous. 'Tis the Joneses who have to work hard to keep up with me!

[Apophis]

39. I don't use my real name in online discussion forums

Because I already have to do that on social network sites. It's nice to go on discussion forums and having the substance of my posts discussed instead of people seeing my real name and shrugging it off.

And it's nice to remain anonymous, at least in one place, on the internet.

[WilliamPitt]

41. Hi.

[union_maid]

42. I used to use my real name

Not here, but before that. On usenet, for instance. And then on a lot of messageboards I used my first initial/last name. It doesn't seem as comfortable as it used to when most people I knew IRL - like at work, for instance - were not much on the intertubes except maybe AOL. Ironically, though, with Facebook commenting in so many places I'm starting to leave my real name around more. It is a bit inhibiting to me, though.

[johnp3907]

44. I'm John P.

And you wouldn't know how to pronounce what comes after the P, so I use the numbers that some site randomly generated for me years ago. I use the same screen name on other sites, so if you see johnp3907 commenting on old time radio sites or monster movie sites that'd be me.

[backwoodsbob]

45. I guess you could call it my real name

real name is Robert...handle is backwoodsbob

[JaneyVee]

47. Janey is my real name Vee is short for my Russian last name beginning with V

Although Janey is pronounced Ja-Nay by my mother of French/Spanish heritage (even though she was born here, she's tri-lingual) I've gotten used to everyone else pronouncing it as JayNee.

[Dash87]

48. My real name is dash87

I'm one of 87 other siblings with the same name.

[Kalidurga]

50. I can't think of a single good reason to use my real name.

If I didn't have to use it in real life I wouldn't use it in real life either. For some reason we have become people that think we have the right to know another person's name as if that tells us something about them. In a way it might, it may indicate the culture of their parents and by extrapolation give us an idea where they might be coming from. But, most people have no idea what a name means, where it originated and neither did the parents of the namee in most cases. My real first name is of French origin, we haven't had a French person in our family that I know of for over 1,000 years. My last name might be English, yet my Father was of Scottish or Irish origin. Of course his ancestors may have lived in the foot hills.

So, names for identification of a person might be handy. But, any agreed upon name can do that. Names for identification of what that person is or is like, not so much.

So, if a name serves only to identify who is being addressed, I see no reason to use a given name.

[OldDem2012]

51. Why no....my last name really is 2012....

....

[Democracyinkind]

52. As a former victim of cyberstalking... NO, just NO ;)

The best of intentions.. Can ruin the best parts of your life!

[2naSalit]

53. Me too

and not just cyber stalking but other ugly things like finding out where you live and haunting you at home and threatening you in public etc... Doesn't work for me. If I could, I'd be a chameleon.

[SwissTony]

55. Yes, I can see there are situations where you wouldn't use your real name.

And cyberstalking is one. And it may lead to actual stalking. Yikes.

I doubt that anyone would cyberstalk me...oh, wait...sent an email to a former GF asking for a PDF of her PhD thesis and got this tirade of nonsense back. I had expected a three email conversation along the lines of

Me: Congratulations. Can I have a copy?
Her: Thanks, Here it is.
Me: Thanks

Instead it developed into an email "conversation" (I won't go into details - you'll be happy to know). When I blocked her email, she immediately switched to another email address and the "conversation" continued. I then blocked that email address, she switched to a third one!!!!

And that was someone I used to love and respect.

So, I've had a whiff of cyberstalking - but no more than a whiff. I'm sure many have had experiences 10^6 worse than mine.

Sorry you had to go through that sh*t.

[Callmecrazy]

54. My name is Michael...

And its posted in my profile.
Pleased to meet you!

[alcibiades_mystery]

56. I use mine