Anonymity on the board?

[Leon]

Ok....maybe I acted too quickly on banning Sportscardtheory and I have unbanned him. He does now know to be careful on the board. A work around solution might be to only email members, when warranted, the names of those they are arguing with, if the member doesn't want their posted. There are valid reasons to not have it posted.....For me, I could care less but I do understand others' situations are different.

[Jay Wolt]

Leon, I thought when the board switched over from the old format to this one
anonymity was a thing of the past and that we can see who the poster is
(if he chose not to have his name on the posts) via the "profile" feature.
Not sure why this isn't the case anymore. I for one like top know who the
person is that I'm reading or commenting to.

[tbob]

Leon, I appreciate your effort on the board and the fact you try to do the right thing. You have made this board a place to not only pick up cards otherwise not available to most, but also a great place to learn about cards in general, stay current on trends in the hobby and meet some really nice people within the hobby. Just use your best judgment on this anonymity issue.
I also agree with Barry, anonymity sucks if someone flames you and you have no clue who the evildoer is who is causing trouble. That's troubling...
tbob

[Leon]

Thanks for the kind words Tbob.

Jay- I don't think there was ever a place on the board that you could see someone's name. That information isn't even captured in the software it's captured in my email box, upon the 2nd part of the registration. No where in the back end of the registration IN THE S/W is there a place you have to put your full name. I do have them on file though.

As I said, I think a work around will be that I will privately email folks when there is a need. I have already done that this evening and will continue. That seems like it can satisfy everyone. (though I realize satisfying everyone is impossible)

[teetwoohsix]

I think identity theft is a legit reason to have concern. Awhile back I read in a couple of threads about people hijacking ebay accounts.I still do not understand how someone does this, but because I pretty much stopped buying on ebay, I removed my ebay ID from my profile page. If for some reason a board member would like to know it, send a PM. About the same time, I removed my last name, and replaced it with my last initial.

Clayton

[Peter_Spaeth]

I pretty much agree with Fubar.

[bcornell]

How many times in the 9-year history of this forum have we had to endure someone saying they needed to be anonymous, only to quickly discover that they were pulling some shenanigans? I lost count a while ago.

There's a difference between anonymity and privacy that escapes some people.


Bill

[FUBAR]

I dont think anonymous people should be allowed to participate on the BST either, but thats just my opinion!

[T206Collector]

I've never understood why anyone would either want to share his real name or know another poster's real name on an internet chatboard. Who cares if you are fighting with Johnny Tacos or BaseballCardGuru69? It's still fighting with a random dude sitting at a computer somewhere.

For all you should care, my real name is T206Collector. I don't hide behind any other names and I never change my Net54 name. I've never met any of you and have no immediate plans to meet any of you anytime soon. To me, Net54 is not an Internet man-dating service!

I don't even know or care if Barry Sloate is a real name or a pseudonym for Jimmy Cheeseburger. Either way, I know where he stands vis-a-vis his Net54 personality.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by bcornell

How many times in the 9-year history of this forum have we had to endure someone saying they needed to be anonymous, only to quickly discover that they were pulling some shenanigans? I lost count a while ago.

There's a difference between anonymity and privacy that escapes some people.


Bill

This is a very good point, Bill. I guess what I/we have already said is you can have privacy but not anonymity because we will let folks know who others are in private correspondence. There is, and never will be, total anonymity on this board again (since the last board s/w). There have been less than a handful of registrants who didn't want to give the 3 required pieces of information and they are not members. I can't see that rule changing or me bending on it. Privacy, is another matter and really is what is being debated here. I think, and hope, the solution is the emailing of names when warranted, in a private manner. This is one of those issues that will never be perfect, it can't be. Everyone has a bit of a different opinion so, it's not been broken, and I doubt it will be fixed. regards

[Tsaiko]

Ideally, everyone should use their real names when getting together as friends to discuss a common passion. But, from my personal standpoint, I came here looking for answers and even though I read the board before joining, there was enough bickering and accusations flying about that I wasn't sure who could be trusted.

As I have mentioned already, I'm not a collector, but an appreciator who knew nothing about the hobby at all when I first joined. I do know of other forums where people have been personally targeted through their online personalities and information that they have given throughout their membership. Pieces of info that by themselves offer nothing too personal, but over years of posting, enough little pieces that allowed them to be targeted in their home.

Now here I come along, trying to determine the value of something I own and yea, I'm a bit nervous about revealing specific details about who I am.

I really liked the way Leon runs this board, so when he insisted I had to provide my real info, I did. He called to confirm, we had a nice chat, and he told me that if I merited him outing me he would. Since I'm not about to tell any of you guys any lies or piss in the hands that are feeding me the info I can't look up on my own, this is not a problem.

I can only lightly participate in certain threads, that I feel I might contribute something or make a joke, cause I'm a funny f@#%er like a lot of you guys, but mostly I listen and learn.

It's been a fascinating journey so far, so much so that I will terribly miss my cards once they are all sold. And that is my intention. However, in another life, who knows, maybe I would've been a collector.
Or as Marlon Brando might say, "I could have been a collector".

Now, if I inadvertently step on any toes or cause a ruckus (he said ruckus ), I will be glad to meet you in person where we can then exchange information and fill out an accident report.

I have no problem letting you know who I really am, if need be, and can only let everyone here know that everything I say is truthful and I will never ever try to deceive anyone.

[Chris-Counts]

I don't like anonymity at all. Everywhere I see it on the internet, there are nothing but problems. People seem to be a lot nicer to each other if they know who they are communicating with ...

[Chris-Counts]

Wow, this is a tough crowd. I've been accused of a few things in my 35 years + of collecting vintage cards, but nobody has ever suggested I'm not Chris Counts. Here, T206 Collector, is a scan of my drivers license, minus the stuff identity thieves are after. I think I have a copy of my birth certificate around as well. Does it need to be certified?

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

nobody has ever suggested I'm not Chris Counts.

Sorry to pick your name as an example. You chose to block certain info from your Driver's License. That's where you (literally) draw your line. I draw mine a bit earlier is all.

[Al C.risafulli]

My name is Jeff Lichtman and anyone who has a problem with me or my posts can go pound sand.

-Al

[carrigansghost]

Rawn Hill, who wants to be me?

Rawn

[steve B]

I find this thread interesting.

I'm on a mailing list for one of my other hobbies (Collecting old racing bicycles)
And the guy that runs it insists on everyone knowing who everyone else is.
We have to sign off each message with our actual name, and location, spelling out the state so non-U.S. members can understand it. I know of exactly 0 identity problems in 10 years.

But I can understand some of the security concerns. A wonderful bike collection is less altogether than some high end cards or memorabilia.
(My most expensive bike is maybe in the league of a t206 green Cobb for a rough idea) so there's less financial risk.

Identity theft is a concern, but rarely from having ones name on a board like this. I know I'll never convince those who don't think so.

But I will say this, there's FAR more risk of identity theft at the local restauraunt. Usually the card is out of your physical possession, and it's very easy to copy the imprinted info as well as the validation code. This can be done in under 20 seconds by nearly anyone. And with a skimmer that figure falls to under 5 seconds.

You also give up far more info of a personal nature any time you use a credit or ATM card to make a purchase or use a shoppers discount card. Most of them store purchase and demographic info that's mostly used for targeted marketing. That's how the hardware store can send me a coupon for sawzall blades or a $10 gift certificate for my birthday. And almost everyone considers that to be a benefit rather than an invasion of privacy. (I won't even get started on your bank turning the computer loose on your purchase history to "look for fraud" )


Personally I find it interesting to know who I'm talking to, and what their hobby background is. On the bike list, one member has raced internationally in 6 day races back in the 40's -50's he learned from guys that raced in the 30's, and he's in the US cycling hall of fame. His opinion about how the racing was done and how the racers treated the bikes (Like any other tool) counts a bit more than say...Mine with my one season of beginners racing which included a whole lot of DNFs.

Steve B
or as the bike guys get to see it
Steve Birmingham
Lowell, Massachusetts
USA

[sportscardtheory]

First-off, thank you, Leon, for re-instating me. I know you want things to be a certain way here and I apologize if I caused any waves. It was not even close to being my intention.

I was corresponding with Leon through e-mails after being banned and explained my mind-set. Initially, I specifically asked Leon not to post my name, and that if he must, to delete my account instead. The "rules" here call for names to be exposed for some reason and I just couldn't, and still don't, understand it. But that is for future discussion. For anyone interested, I didn't threaten to sue over being banned. I said I would to talk to my lawyer if someone ended up doing something that lead to my identity being stolen, or something similar. I don't want my name posted on message boards, not because I won't back up what I'm saying, but because I simply don't trust anyone. Why should I, really. When someone is pissed at you on a message board, I find it rather concerning that they would even WANT your name. What good can possibly come of that.

Anyway, I will certainly watch my tone in the future. I post on a political forum with relaxed TOS, so sometimes I'm jumping back-and-forth and my etiquette follows me from there. I'm sorry if I offended anyone who's original intent wasn't to offend me. ; )