Anonymity on the board?

[Al C.risafulli]

A few years ago, someone that was not a part of my hobby life started asking me questions about things I'd posted on this board. I found that incredibly creepy, since I'd never even told this person that I collected.

When I googled my name, I discovered that my posts here were easily searchable. This person had googled me and apparently felt that the fact that my posts here were public, that gave them the right to insert themselves into this part of my life.

I found that it was pretty easy to prevent that from happening just by sticking a period inbetween two letters of my last name. Now my posts here don't show up in google searches.

At the same time, I like that people know who they're talking with when I'm engaging them in threads here. And I like knowing who I'm talking with as well. This is a small hobby, and we've seen plenty of situations where anonymous posts here turn out to be posts that are driven by an agenda.

I almost always take a post more seriously when I know the name of the person making it.

-Al

[Peter_Spaeth]

I agree with Al dot C, I can't articulate why, but to me it makes a difference knowing who someone really is.

[Section103]

Is it calm enough to do the "my phone number is 867-5309" joke yet?

[FUBAR]

Originally Posted by Section103

Is it calm enough to do the "my phone number is 867-5309" joke yet?

thats means your real id is richard jenny! lol

[Section103]

Originally Posted by FUBAR

thats means your real id is richard jenny! lol

Crap, I didnt think about that!

[FUBAR]

Originally Posted by Section103

Crap, I didnt think about that!

that's because you don't live on my planet! it's special, we wear tin foil hats!

[Lordstan]

be careful Jim D, you don't want to let everyone know where you live.
We all might want to come for a visit

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

A few years ago, someone that was not a part of my hobby life started asking me questions about things I'd posted on this board. I found that incredibly creepy, since I'd never even told this person that I collected.

When I googled my name, I discovered that my posts here were easily searchable. This person had googled me and apparently felt that the fact that my posts here were public, that gave them the right to insert themselves into this part of my life.

I found that it was pretty easy to prevent that from happening just by sticking a period inbetween two letters of my last name. Now my posts here don't show up in google searches.

At the same time, I like that people know who they're talking with when I'm engaging them in threads here. And I like knowing who I'm talking with as well. This is a small hobby, and we've seen plenty of situations where anonymous posts here turn out to be posts that are driven by an agenda.

I almost always take a post more seriously when I know the name of the person making it.

-Al

The insertion of a "." or a "_" or other character in a name is well-known, and it may not prevent a savvy searcher from finding your posts with a bit of trial and error.