User names

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DickL
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:59 pm

User names

Postby DickL » Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:14 am

You advise against using one's surname as one's username, for security reasons. This has prompted a rash of witty alternatives. But members won't know which other members are posting messages, unless they know who uses which soubriquet. This will be irritating to the regular user, and positively off-putting to the newcomer.

Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 581
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:31 am

Re: User names

Postby Administrator » Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:58 am

We advise against having your full name as the user name for security reasons. We also made some points about this in the report.

I suggest you might want to put your first name in your signature, why don't you set that up. Go to your User Control Panel, then the Profile tab (above), then Edit Signature (on the left). You can type whatever you want in there and press the Submit button. Your signature will automatically be added to every message you post, however you can control this when you post, there is a tick box for Attach a signature which you can untick when required.

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Rumpelteazer
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:30 pm
Group: Cheltenham
Location: Gloucestershire, UK

Re: User names

Postby Rumpelteazer » Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:33 pm

There has been some talk about whether forum members should be able to choose an 'anonymous' user name (as I have) or whether they should use their own first name plus the first letter of their surname so that everyone knows who they are. My own views are that in most instances, an anonymous name is preferable:

  1. It encourages people who are shy to participate in a discussion if they can be anonymous and they see that it is the normal thing to be anonymous
  2. It encourages all of us to judge each contribution on its own merits rather than on the basis of the individual who made it and our personal prejudices about that individual. As such it is a useful exercise in 'seeing' someone as if for the first time
  3. It helps to break down hierarchical barriers within the Society
  4. It helps people who have an important position in the Society to participate without their ego interfering
If you need to let some specific people know who you are, e.g. if you are working together on something via the forum, you can send a private message to the other people involved in that activity telling them your real name.

Post a reply and tell us what you think!

CliveH
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:51 pm

Re: User names

Postby CliveH » Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:54 pm

If any discussion reached a significant depth of meaning, one cannot be open in conversation with an unknown voice, because what would be reasonable with one person, a known person, might be harmful or hurtful with another. In a simple analogy, many of us have discovered that in the long run a painful experience can be profoundly instructive, but that it is an inappropriate subject to raise with someone who is actually experiencing such pain at present. It will rarely be productive to blurt out a deep truth to a stranger. So, obscure nicknames simply limit discussion. Mind you, until there is a members only forum space, discussion is already limited, for the same reason.

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Rumpelteazer
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:30 pm
Group: Cheltenham
Location: Gloucestershire, UK

Re: User names

Postby Rumpelteazer » Sun Oct 18, 2009 8:38 pm

CliveH wrote:If any discussion reached a significant depth of meaning, one cannot be open in conversation with an unknown voice, because what would be reasonable with one person, a known person, might be harmful or hurtful with another.

That is true, but (unless you are sending a private message, or mentioning a username specifically) the usual assumption is that you are talking to a large group. Looking at the forum member list, it seems we already have over 40 members (ignoring users with 'test' in their names which I think probably aren't real people) - any of those may be reading your message. When someone posts a message it is like saying something in a group or in a large meeting at Colet House. It might be prompted by the remarks made by one person but it is directed at everyone. Even if you know the real name you may know nothing about the person or their circumstances - I understand that quite a few of the forum members live overseas. I think it's mainly a question of using the same kind of sensitivity as one would in a real meeting.

If you suspect from their message that someone is having problems and you want to find out more and have a private discussion with them to see if you can help, you can always send a private message. The person may or may not then wish to reveal their real name if he/she is someone who knows you.

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Mungojerrie
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:28 pm

Re: User names

Postby Mungojerrie » Sun Oct 18, 2009 9:57 pm

One advantage of anonymous names is that people feel free to say what they really think.

In the case of a controversial subject this makes all the difference between keeping silent or contributing to the discussion.

Diogenes
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 10:25 am

Re: User names

Postby Diogenes » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:01 pm

I think that, for the purposes of the forum (and the etiquette and customs observed by this medium of communication) anonymity is extremely valuable. It's what is said that matters, not who might or might not have said it.

billymole
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:34 pm

Re: User names

Postby billymole » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:30 am

Diogenes wrote:I think that, for the purposes of the forum (and the etiquette and customs observed by this medium of communication) anonymity is extremely valuable. It's what is said that matters, not who might or might not have said it.

Regarding the issue of anonymity, yes or no, there is nothing wrong with having a pseudonym/nickname provided it is a thoughtful one, and appropriate for the site. A pseudonym/nickname will gather to itself an entity according to the quality of respectful concerns, ideas, impressions etc that it proffers, and I have to say there is a certain freedom to be had in stepping outside the name one is generally known by, with all the expectations or not that that imples.
I am not very fond of the smilies. Are they really necessary? They seem to me to reflect too much the notion of personality.

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Rumpelteazer
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:30 pm
Group: Cheltenham
Location: Gloucestershire, UK

Re: User names

Postby Rumpelteazer » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:52 pm

billymole wrote:I am not very fond of the smilies. Are they really necessary? They seem to me to reflect too much the notion of personality.

I don't like them either. So far no one has used them, but they are built into the phpBB software so they appear on the right hand side of the 'message creation' area when you write a message.

I suspect most people in the Society will agree with us and therefore they won't get used much, if at all. But maybe there will be flurry of replies to this message disagreeing, and worse still, containing lots of smilies!

Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 581
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:31 am

Re: User names and signatures

Postby Administrator » Fri Dec 04, 2009 1:05 pm

Some people may not be happy to make their names known in areas which could be read by people who are not society members, but are happy to show their names when they write messages in the Members Only section, for example in the forum called "The Study Society", which is about the management and administration of the Society. Here is a reminder of how you can set up your signature to contain your name, and then choose whether it is visible each time you make a posting.
I suggest you might want to put your first name in your signature, or perhaps your first name and the first letter of your last name. Go to your User Control Panel, then the Profile tab (above), then Edit Signature (on the left). You can type whatever you want in there and press the Submit button. Your signature will automatically be added to every message you post, however you can control this when you post, there is a tick box for Attach a signature which you can untick when required.


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