Is it bad practice to use your real name online?

http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/46569/is-it-bad-practice-to-use-your-real-name-online

by anuragramdasan • 13 years ago

167 161 13 years ago

security.stackexchange.com

mrspeaker• 13 years ago

When I got on the intertubes, oh-so-many years ago - the rules were simple: the ONLY piece of information you could freely give on public forums, or IRC, was your nick. Now, the only piece of information you are supposed to withhold is your credit card number.

I'll say this about the new ways: I'm extremely glad that I didn't have my teenage years documented and archived. Dodged that bullet!

noja• 13 years ago

So you changed your nick to become mrspeaker?

vezzy-fnord• 13 years ago

Interesting. If you go further back into the days of the intertubes, using your real name was standard practice.

wyck• 13 years ago

Internet .1 - Finger protocol - Real Names, everyone pretty much knows each other (or the organization where you work) and is atmosphere is generally very friendly.

Internet .2 - Finger is no longer used, malicious users and hackers exist, social networks become very personal (Usenet, IRC) pseudonyms make sense, not just for privacy but to usher in a new sentiment of power and respect through anonymity. Computer security is very low.

Internet .3 - WWW becomes a thing, people still use pseudonyms and generally don't trust anything for good measure, computer security is very low.

Internet .4 - WWW evolves for the masses/commerce and social networks re-emerge on the web (Myspace, Facebook), people start to use real names everywhere. - A new generation exists that was never on the internet before .4. Computer security is much better.

Internet .5 - Pseudonyms don't become popular again thanks to the general ignorance of the tube watchers.

..not entirely accurate..just my 2C

dredmorbius3• 13 years ago

It was less "your real name" than "your well known userid". Hence: rms, dmr, ken. Often but not always your initials, first name, or first initial + last name.

Enough for your friends (and early on everyone knew everyone) to know who you were. But comprehensive archives weren't generally available (there's a reason kibo was so notable).

lelandbatey4• 13 years ago

I felt the same way about nicknames, but at some point I realized that I had a digital trail attached to my online-name that was a mile wide. I figured I might as well just start using my real name (which is rather unique already).

Also, I find your story of rules interesting. When I was first introduced to the internet (when I was about 7 years old, in school), the one "rule" I remember being told to us over and over again, by parents, by teachers, by anyone in authority was:

    Everything you do online *can* be traced back to you. Communicating online
    requires the same etiquette as communicating face to face. Don't do or say
    anything you wouldn't do or say in real life.

That was the "one rule" of my day, and of the people I knew. It's one of the things that made switching to my real name easy, since I didn't have to change how I wrote.

danso• 13 years ago

Wow, you must be very young, i.e. 10-12, or have very perceptive teachers. I feel that teachers and other authority figures still don't get it, especially those above 40 who aren't in a Internet/computer-heavy field. And even young folks in the tech field still don't realize it (basically everyone who uses something like SnapChat too enthusiastically)

spc476• 13 years ago

I've been on the Internet since 1989 (second year of college) when practically everything on the Internet was public (even every computer---NAT wasn't done until the mid-90s) and that if you didn't want it known publically, you didn't put it on the Internet. And what you did put on the Internet you must accept responsibility for.

Even today, I treat everything I post to the Internet as public. Even on MyGoogleFaceSpacePlusBook, I don't bother with privacy settings, because of 1) the above, where I treat everything I put on the Internet as public, and 2) the people who run MyGoogleFaceSpacePlusBook really love mucking with the default privacy setttings.

sliverstorm• 13 years ago

I feel like there's still value in hiding real names, if only to block the low-hanging fruit. A 1337 hacker can surely trace me no matter what name I use, but using an alias is practically effort-free and can slow down Joe Sixpack.

It also depends where I am posting, and whether I want to "own" what I say on that particular site. It's nice when my real-life compatriots don't necessarily know every darn thing I say or do online. They could find out if they really wanted to, of course.

pilif• 13 years ago

When I joined the internet, there was Usenet. And Usenet etiquette (at least for de.* which is what I had to restrain myself to due to the general lack of English) required you to provide a real name, so that's what I've done.

This made me much less reluctant to use my real name later on.

However, just as my real name, my pseudonym also stuck and I try to get it whenever I sign up for a service. That way I'm twitter.com/pilif, github.com/pilif, even facebook.com/pilif, though I don't use that.

Unfortunately, on G+, I can't be /pilif. I have to be pilif123459 or whatever. Too bad.

ams6110• 13 years ago

Definitely my recollection as well, most people on usenet (ca. late 1980 -- early 1990s) used real names.

badclient• 13 years ago

I think the trend until mid 90s was to use your real name. Then it kind of changed at some point in 90s to nicknames. Now we seem to be going back to the early 90s when it was common to use your name.

voltagex_• 13 years ago

At a guess, you're @mrspeaker on Twitter which means you and I met at a local event a few years ago, but I still don't know / can't remember who you are! Funny how that works.

DrStalker• 13 years ago

DrStalker is based on my real surname and would be very easy to trace to my real name/employment details/the city I'm in with a few minutes of effort. I'm sure someone with a bit more time could get a lot more information than that. This helps remind me that everything online can be traced back to me, so don't be an asshole in situations where you wouldn't be an asshole face to face.

I settled on this after going through lots of different nicknames in the 90s, when the internet was a very different place.

tomphoolery• 13 years ago

I think part of the flight from Facebook and Google+ into smaller social networks which don't require such identifying details is due to this desire for pseudo-anonymity. That said, it's no IRC. And many forums I frequented years ago have long since been destroyed. Perhaps that's why teens are also digging Snapchat, and services like it. A way to communicate without being tracked.

XorNot• 13 years ago

I use my real name on IRC. 100% of my IRC is dev related or similar on things I want people to know I'm involved in in some way. Just use a simple letter.surname handle.

Casseres• 13 years ago

There is no undo button when using your real name on the Internet.

With a nickname, you always have the option of associating it with your real identity at a later date if you so choose.

DanBC• 13 years ago

Most people do a lousy job of keeping the names separate.

You can usually follow a chain of pseudonyms back through time to get to the early embarrassing posts.

Meatball wiki changed my mind about real name posting. First I thought "always use an obvious nym", then "always use a realistic, but false, name". Now I just post using me real name on a few places, and a bunch of nyms (realistic and otherwise) in other places.

My writing (especially my appalling use of punctuation) is distinctive. I think it'd be easy enough to tell if a post is mine or not by counting the weird commas.

Perhaps privacy advocates need some method of making writing more anonymous? Lower-case everything, convert full-stops to new lines, strip out all out punctuation?

spindritf• 13 years ago

Yes, but most people's e-reputation has to withstand only the most cursory of google searches so using a nickname, even without air-tight OPSEC, is often enough.

mason2403• 13 years ago

My writing (especially my appalling use of punctuation) is distinctive. I think it'd be easy enough to tell if a post is mine or not by counting the weird commas.

It's very much an NP problem.

potatolicious• 13 years ago

I dislike using my real name online - though in some cases (like HN) it's pretty trivial to discover my identity.

My real fear isn't having my more rant-y posts associated with my IRL life, but more extreme possibilities like 4chan/Reddit doxxings and abuse.

I also no longer use the same handle as when I was a kid, so I've got that going for me.

diminoten• 13 years ago

I feel like the Internet has gotten the same treatment that hitchhiking has gotten - stories make it seem dangerous, but when measured, the danger is much lower than expected.

bmelton• 13 years ago

Agreed. Above and beyond that too, humans are naturally paranoid animals, and bad at seeing probabilities when assessing personal risk.

If a child that looks like yours is abducted, it makes you more paranoid that your child will be abducted; even if that other child was halfway around the world; even if that child was abducted by a relative; etc., etc. Despite the fact that abductions are rare, and that they're even more rarely done by strangers, blah blah, the brain gloms onto the perceived danger and isn't very good at letting go of it.

09F911029D74E35• 13 years ago

more extreme possibilities like 4chan/Reddit doxxings

I've actually had that happen to me. I was generally respected but had rather strong opinions on (relatively uncontroversial) subjects, so one day someone who didn't like me that much decided to go all internet detective on me and dug up various data about me, like my name, address, phone number, names of relatives, Facebook pictures... Up to that point I had been generally pseudonymous (though I had been a bit careless with my info - some domain whois data was my undoing, and while my Facebook account is shut up tight for strangers, this isn't the case for some of my less technical relatives).

Luckily enough it didn't turn into any abuse in real life, as most people thought the doxxing was a stupid move. Now I just get some idiots occasionally spamming my name and picture and insulting my family in front of me. It's easy enough to ignore, but it's also kind of sad that my pseudonymity is basically dead by this point. The genie is out of the bottle, and I can't really put it back unless I start completely over - which I just can't do. As a result, I tend to avoid talking about some controversial issues altogether, as I don't want to "taint" my name by saying something that could be perceived negatively in the future. There's also some things that I just feel rather uncomfortable to talk about with my name and info out there, like the doxxing itself, which is why I'm using a throwaway account for this post.

eikenberry• 13 years ago

This seems pretty obvious to me. When you are working to build a positive reputation online you use your real name. When you are taking part in things you don't want associated with your reputation you use an alias.

You don't want to never use your real name. You want to be googleable, but you want it to be mostly positive.

BillyMaize• 13 years ago

The only account I have so far used my real name on is my stackexchange account so I can potentially use it in interviews to show I am active in the community and in my own learning.

epochwolf• 13 years ago

I go by epochwolf online and I very much care about the reputation I have under this name. Somewhat by accident there is an entire group of people that only know me as "epoch" in real life. My reputation among those people is just as important as my reputation among people that know me professionally under my real name.

I do try to keep my professional and personal relationships separate which part of the reason I have a pseudonym. In a bit of irony my company uses github and I use my epochwolf account at work. The seperation is less important than it used to be but I will always be epochwolf online.

aestra2• 13 years ago

You want to be googleable

I do not want to be Googleable.

unicornporn• 13 years ago

If things were that easy. The things you want to be associated with your name today might not be the things that you want to be associated with in 5, 10 or 20 years.

Zigurd• 13 years ago

I use my real name and my first name is enough to find me. I probably don't fit the legal definition of "public figure," but everyone I work with and many other people, mostly in the field I work in, know who I am.

So I can't really avoid it. I'm not black, or gay, or Muslim, and I don't have non-mainstream political views compared to people I live and work with, so I'm lucky enough to not experience the negative effects of being obviously identifiable online.

I can definitely see why many people would prefer to be pseudonymous, and why maintaining multiple online personas is useful. But I can barely keep up with my blog and product pages on multiple social media, and I'm still learning how to best use those to my advantage.

mattholtom• 13 years ago

A few years ago I tried to eliminate every possible trace of my real name online. It just doesn't work, there will always be something.

So I gave up. Now I just try and make sure there is an accurate representation of my personality, views, and so on associated with my real name, online. Hopefully this gives a bit of balance to my profile in case I miscommunicate something in the future.

ScottBurson• 13 years ago

Shit, I hope not!

daniel-levin• 13 years ago

I don't mind using my real name online because it is stupidly generic (Daniel Levin). If someone wanted to identify me, my name wouldn't be of much help to them. This is interesting because my real name is less useful in being identifying than a screen name used on multiple websites

mixmastamyk• 13 years ago

My name is also highly generic (one notch below John Smith) to the point where good friends haven't been able to find me on facebook.

rhaphazard• 13 years ago

I believe there was an article a while back that showed it was trivial to track a person by their use of vocabulary and grammar style. But it's probably still better to use a pseudonym, even if only to deter the laziest of tracking.

Diederich• 13 years ago

For me, it's perfectly fine, even desirable.

It firmly roots in my mind that my words here will be seen as words from my person. That's a good thing.

anaphor3• 13 years ago

I use my real name, and I quite frankly do not care if I get passed up for a job or something like that because of something I said online. I'm pretty sure any employer I would actually want to work for wouldn't care about me ranting about the NSA or something (might even get me a job, who knows). That being said, I do not say anything online that I wouldn't in real life (except perhaps on IRC channels where I use a nick) and it's seemed to work out ok so far.

tokenadult• 13 years ago

I use my real name

[Accessing anaphor's HN user profile, which is basically blank]

Your real name is anaphor? I have disclosed on my HN user profile what my birth-certificate name is, and I have put up links to a bare-bones explanation of where my screen name (which did not originate on this forum) came from. Eventually, I think, all roads from my various screen names, some of which were mandatory, and others customary, in the online forums where they originated will lead to my real name. I have always used my real name on every page of my personal website, since 1995.

anaphor3• 13 years ago

I haven't gotten around to writing much here, but this is my SO profile which has my real name and the school I attend: http://stackoverflow.com/users/903589/wes

clarkm2• 13 years ago

I do not say anything online that I wouldn't in real life

But do you say things in real life that you wouldn't online?

twobits5• 13 years ago

"quite frankly do not care if I get passed up for a job or something like that because of something I said online"

That's because you can still find other jobs. That may not be true for ever.

mason2403• 13 years ago

We lucky that we currently live in a time where there are less programmers then there are job for them, but that situation could be reversed in a decade from now.

fantastical• 13 years ago

For me, I find myself scared to participate using my real name. I think it's mostly a lack of self-confidence. I actually just registered this username last night, hoping that anonymity will help me get over my fear of posting. Maybe in the future I'll be more comfortable/confident and use my real name, but for now, an anonymous username will be my crutch.

return07• 13 years ago

I am prejudiced against people who use their real names when the website allows them to use a nickname: I automatically assume they will be uninteresting, their opinions sheepish and will always avoid confrontation or controversial ideas. I feel like they are always talking in the presence of their mother.

AndrewKemendo4• 13 years ago

Here is a n=1 for you: I just forcefully argued against male circumcision on Reddit. Check it out if you like.

chongli• 13 years ago

I guess you have a different idea of controversial than return0.

gaius2• 13 years ago

That is not a particularly controversial point; I think pretty much everyone agrees now that genital mutilation of babies is wrong.

return07• 13 years ago

If I used my real name, you would probably guess I m uncircumcised, and unlikely to support genital mutilation. Glad I didn't, though, I learned an interesting thing about you and your beliefs.

bsamuels2• 13 years ago

The problem is that circumcision isn't a heated controversy, it's not like someone is going to dox you because you made an argument against it.

Here's a few arguments off the top of my head that someone might dox you for:

-Whether or not feminism is the cause of the recent emasculation of men

-Whether or not Israel is committing crimes against humanity in Gaza and against the Palestinians

-Whether or not transexual persons should be medically referred to as their original gender or new gender.

-Whether or not affirmative action should exist.

Pretty much any debate that is emotionally charged has the potential for people to try to screw with your real life over it, circumcision is not one of them.

bsamuels2• 13 years ago

I have to agree with you. The beauty of anonymity is that people speak their minds, unrestrained from social impetus. Although anonymity is a double edged sword, I believe that the blunt, raw truth is much more valuable than a veiled, politically correct, socially acceptable response. This is one of the reasons why 4chan is such a popular place, everyone speaks their mind without having to worry about karma/internet points or how their opinions will impact their real lives from doxxing and such.

I maintain two identities on most social sites/chatrooms/hn; one that uses my online alias, and one that uses an abbreviation of my name (bsamuels). Whenever I feel like voicing an uncomfortable or controversial opinion, I use the online alias.

lucaspiller• 13 years ago

I'm happy to use my real name, and if you are talking shit I am happy to tell you. I assume pretty much the same as you, but the other way around: If people use their real name and confront me I am a lot more likely to take on board what they are saying, than someone who uses a pseudonym. I assume they are just trying to be confrontational and start an argument.

Edit: Actually it depends on the community. I would not use my real name on 4chan, but here and Reddit I am happy to. I don't get involved with any communities where there is a risk of really pissing someone or law enforcement off however.

Edmond• 13 years ago

Saying controversial things while hiding behind anonymity isn't exactly what I call brave. People are People, meaning not being anonymous has a modulating influence on people's behavior and that is a good thing.

If you doubt this just descend into the comment section of any news article to see the vile stuff people post online because they are anonymous.

return07• 13 years ago

You are confusing controversy with confrontation, rudeness and hate. Also, the inanity of comments has more to do with the reach of the audience rather than anonimity. The anonymous trolling in news sites is not worse than the author-signed YouTube comments. And we all know the best comments are here on HN, anonymously.

twobits5• 13 years ago

There is a fine line between "brave" and "stupid".

simonh• 13 years ago

What complete and utter rubbish.

Simon Hibbs

return07• 13 years ago

Case in point, eponymous comments tend to be content-free and rude.

matthewmacleod• 13 years ago

That's an interesting view - I comprehensively use my real name online, and I don't think it causes me to avoid confrontation or controversy, though it probably does make me consider what I'm saying to a greater degree. Along the lines of "hey, maybe I should think about my opinion of this topic in greater detail, rather than going on a rant," which I might otherwise do.

ryanthejuggler• 13 years ago

I have to argue against that. Many people want to make themselves heard and become known for their opinions, so they attach their real name to their work.

return07• 13 years ago

Which is why they're likely to be crowd-pleasers rather than original contributors. The various karma systems only exacerbate this behavior.

philwelch• 13 years ago

You've never gotten into an argument with me, then.

pbhjpbhj2• 13 years ago

How do you know they're using their real name? Do you research it or do you assume that people using what looks like a real sounding name are using their own real [legal] name?

nairteashop• 13 years ago

On the surface, yes, I suppose if you use your real name you may be tempted to tone down your opinion a bit (presumably the reason why youtube switched to G+ commenting with real names, etc).

But on HN, I've actually seen the exact opposite - people with handles derived from their real names seem to make more serious, well thought-out comments. I don't know about "most controversial", but certainly the most useful, which to me is more important. (I have a made-up handle, so I'm not one of these people :)

You'll see this reflected on the HN leader board as well; I assume that - like any online discussion board - made-up handles are the majority on HN, but real-name based handles figure quite prominently there. Not sure why.

return07• 13 years ago

real-name based handles figure quite prominently

My ( controversial) idea is that people often upvote persons, not their opinions. Many of HN top have curated well known internet personas with separate blogs (either by their real names or nicknames). A familiar handle (either real or famous nick) is downvoted less frequently than an anonymous handle.

twobits5• 13 years ago

HN is technical. You yourself put "most controversial" in quotes. Worst case, you are wrong. It's measurable and it's done. Try saying controversial things about politics or social or theological issues, and you can get killed, mobbed, thrown to jail, your life totally destroyed. "Reputation" for technical things is nice. "Reputation" on political things can be "the 10th anniversary since his execution".

VLM4• 13 years ago

This assumes the purpose of the internet is trolling and confrontation. If you feel like my mom is watching us talk about Scala programming, the only relevance is she'd be bored out of her skull (its not her kinda thing)

greenwalls• 13 years ago

It's a good idea to have some information online for your real name that you control. Otherwise eventually someone else will write some things about you that you can't control and that will be what comes up first in Google.

AndrewKemendo4• 13 years ago

I stand firmly behind everything I do on the internet or otherwise knowing full well the capability for people to take things out of context or cherry pick.

Having it out there allows for a full audit of what I am doing on the back end. On the front end, it ensures I am thinking through what I am writing so that I can ensure it reflects what I intend it to even if it is not all positive.

loceng• 13 years ago

The issue is when people will go on a witch hunt for something you say without being compassionate and helping you understand their or a different point of view - whether it is something you said in the present moment or well in the past.

a3n• 13 years ago

It's bad practice to require someone to identify themselves completely merely to participate.

dhughes• 13 years ago

It never used to be but it's rapidly getting to be, I use mine out of habit but I'm slowly changing to gibberish. Then again at some point it's changed from a "nickname" to "username" to "your real name".

In the olden days using numbers in a username was considered bad now it's becoming as necessarily as using a mix of characters in a password.

naner• 13 years ago

I don't use my real name online in most cases. Being pseudoanonymous allows for more free flowing casual conversation[1]. Much like two buddies sitting in a bar allows for different conversational avenues than the same two buddies chatting in a crowded office.

I have no real reason to curate an online identity or reputation and I don't want my online words to be only of a "professional" nature.

Also, I have no trouble being civil. Even if I was inspired to be a jerk, accountability need not be tethered to identity.

1: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/11/the_future_of...

aaronbrethorst7• 13 years ago

I use my real name everywhere online. The reasons why are pretty straightforward:

1. It reminds me to be civil and think before I post.

2. It makes it easier for other people reach out to me based on things I've posted (I have a fairly unique name).

Pseudonyms are relatively easy to 'decode'. If I wrote something particularly dumb, offensive, or stupid, and someone wanted to pin that on me, I'm sure they could given enough time and effort.

eshvk• 13 years ago

One thing that fascinates me is Linkedin Groups/Forums. People post the most outrageously sexist opinions or have kindergarten level fights with other people there; all connected to their real names. It is not as bad as Youtube comments but it is not clear how all these people don't have a filter. I guess only time will tell if Youtube comments get moderated due to the real name connection.

randomdata• 13 years ago

However, the most effective way to learn is to make bold statements based on your current level of understanding and wait for people to correct your errors. Sometimes you even need to play devil's advocate to properly model the information in your head.

Our great folly as humans is in assuming statements connected to names actually mean anything.

tw8888• 13 years ago

Use of real name isn't problematic as long as you don't have unpopular opinions. I'm not foolish enough into thinking that the work world is like college when it comes to free expression. My employer wants to be popular in the market place, therefore they don't want to be associated with unpopular opinions.

If Gawker writes a hit piece on me because I held down an unpopular opinion in a discussion on feminism in tech I know I'm out of a job. I would likely be out of most jobs in Silicon Valley.

stfu• 13 years ago

Absolutely! OP comment sounds a lot like the "I use my real name, because I have nothing to hide" argument.

As long as your viewpoints are completely aligned with the mainstream opinions held in your extended peer group, you have nothing to loose using your real name.

But in all other cases you never know when some HR minion thinks he became a data mining genius because he dug up some comment you made 10 years ago on a random message board,

dredmorbius3• 13 years ago

"Unpopular opinions" can change. There was a time when sexist, racist, and homophobic ribbing were de rigeur in society, entertainment, and business. They still are in some political circles. You might have friends, neighbors, or associates who turn out to be murderers, inside traders, political rebels, questioned for terrorism, whistleblowers, accused of partner battering, or of immigration irregularities (all drawn from my direct personal experience). It wasn't so long ago that a prominent political figure was accused of "palling around with terrorists".

Moreover, with profiling tactics, implicit signals can be leaked of your preferences and habits (isn't that precisely what all the heavy marketing support of all these "social" sites is about?). Subject of a current HN item:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6871033

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/shameful-pr...

MatthiasP• 13 years ago

Out of most jobs in the Valley? Is it really that bad? I still have the illusion that being an IT professional gives you more freedom of having an 'unpopular' opinion than any other industry. As long as your work is in high demand, that is.

gngeal• 13 years ago

1. It reminds me to be civil and think before I post.

That sounds very much like "I don't kill people because I'd get caught". Why can't you be civil (whatever that means) and think just because?

jkrems• 13 years ago

Sociological studies bla, bla - TL;DR: You are more civil when people recognize you. You are more likely to act in the "interest of the group" when you sign stuff with your real name. At least that's the state of the research to my best knowledge.

robbrown4514• 13 years ago

"I don't kill people because I'd get caught" is probably true for most people.

If you lived in a society where killing didn't tend to be punished, you'd probably kill. Because if you didn't you'd be dead. Don't underestimate people's tendency to adapt to their environments.

I get what you are saying, but I think if you look at it in the big picture, sites which require real names (and sites that otherwise reward you for gaining a positive reputation over the long term) tend not to degenerate into cesspools of ugliness. It may be partly because the non-civil go elsewhere, but I think it also is because it encourages civility from those who are there.

damon_c• 13 years ago

Maybe he would have been relatively civil, but it reminds him to be even more civil...

mturmon• 13 years ago

Alas, it seems to be the human condition.

jrockway• 13 years ago

Why do you care how someone achieves a positive result? If we're all being nice to each other because of the fear of punishment, I think the system is working as intended! If I'm not being killed, I'm happy!

goggles992• 13 years ago

1. It reminds me to be civil and think before I post.

This may be true but it inevitably makes you dishonest. There are things that you believe or feel about certain things that you will never post. These omissions equate to a lack of honesty (you are not voicing your full opinions)

The internet is one of the last places where people can say what they feel. Sure some are jerks about things but these people are just being honest. They really are jerks. They might hold it all inside when offline but this is because of sensitivity conditioning and political correctness. These things only hide the true problems of our society. Do you think that because racism is repressed by PC and an agenda of a few in places of power to impose swift public embarrassment and isolation those honest enough to express their opinion that it does not exist?

If anything, this exacerbates the problem. It is funny that many want to legalize drugs so that those with drug problems can come forward and receive help without being demonized, yet those same people just want people dealing with hatred and bigotry problems just to keep it inside until it eats them (and their lineage) alive.

2. It makes it easier for other people reach out to me based on things I've posted (I have a fairly unique name).

This simply is not true. What forum or internet based messaging means today does not have email, twitter, Facebook ETC. where anyone who just read your info can contact you?

aaronbrethorst7• 13 years ago

This may be true but it inevitably makes you dishonest. There are things that you believe or feel about certain things that you will never post. These omissions equate to a lack of honesty (you are not voicing your full opinions)

Disagree. I wouldn't post them anyway given that I assume a sufficiently dedicated person could link them back to me one way or another...And we're always dishonest somehow or another. Only a person dishonest to themselves would ever claim they're entirely honest online.

This simply is not true. What forum or internet based messaging means today does not have email, twitter, Facebook ETC. where anyone who just read your info can contact you?

Hacker News.

guidolang• 13 years ago

I'm currently running a survey to better understand perceptions and attitudes towards anonymous online communication. Feel free to contribute -- every response is greatly appreciated.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/onlineanonymity

jbrooksuk• 13 years ago

I use my name when signing up to things (not as a username, but when First/Last asked for) because:

1. Builds a brand of me. 2. Following from #1, it reminds me to post things I want to be read that I would want my family and myself to be proud of.

whyme• 13 years ago

Everyone should just use some form of a Pig Latin user name. Maybe then add some spice to the name as well.

This way we can reasonably claim our good reputation if the result of our actions turns out ok, but if not we can borrow from each other and all get second chances.

I'm pretty sure Pig Latin will fool the NSA too. :)

callil• 13 years ago

I choose to use my real name on many services, it really doesn't bother me because I feel that I should be able to stand behind my words wherever I say them. It's also a unique name and usually not taken.

I will admit there have been times I have been hesitant to say or post things, but more often than not it's fine. If there is something I don't want associated with me, I use an alternate account.

codezero• 13 years ago

Most people are very bad at consistently using a pseudonym and it's been my experience that even an unskilled "snoop" can very easily tie a pseudonym to a real person. The same goes for nicknames and for other forms of identity obfuscation. Very few people do it right, it's great advice, but in practice, it doesn't work.

It's much better to control the content you create and manage the distribution of that content in the way you are most comfortable with.

city41• 13 years ago

My main concern with this is account security questions like "what was your first car?". With how much information people put online these days, these questions are often pretty easy to crack. Some websites allow you to change your password after simply answering a couple of these.

I personally avoid this problem by generating "answers" as passwords in 1Password. But the vast majority of people don't do this.

wtetzner• 13 years ago

I agree. I think security questions are a broken idea. Sites will validate that you have a strong password, and then have you fill in the security questions, which are often either easy to guess or easy to google.

mverwijs• 13 years ago

At some point I figured: why pretend to be anonymous when I'm obviously not?

jonnathanson2• 13 years ago

I use my real name here and in a few other online communities. The choice wasn't intentional. I'm just really self-critical about the dorkiness and unoriginality of any usernames I'm able to come up with. (Pop culture, video game, and sci-fi references tend not to age gracefully beyond a certain period in one's life.)

HN has been my first major experiment with RealName™. It's gone fairly well so far. People who want to talk shop can get a hold of me. People who want to talk trash can get a hold of me, too, but fortunately those people seem few and far between. Prospective employers are free to search my corpus on HN, and in doing so, they'll probably find better content than they would on Facebook or elsewhere. In fact, I've had some opportunities come my way via HN that probably never would have elsewhere. (AngelList is the one possible challenger in that respect.)

Most important: using my real name forces me to think before I post. That's not to say everything I post here is a gem. Far from it, as the record shows. But I don't mind that the record shows something here.

saber_taylor• 13 years ago

I first tried using my real name back when blogging started (around the same time as Journaling file system buzz on Linux). It was difficult to switch gears from attention seeking.

I "lurk more" when using my real name since I try to use communities where other people are more insightful than me.

Also I noticed a common pattern of "20 questions" when I was using aliases about innocuous Questions Answered Frequently that over time eroded my confidence in my anonymity. e.g. vim versus emacs is one of the 20.

jonnathanson2• 13 years ago

"I try to use communities where other people are more insightful than me"

Those are the best kinds of communities! Maybe that's part of the reason why I use my real name here: this community keeps me honest (and on my toes). I'm not sure whom to attribute it to, but the old quote applies: "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room."

Let's just say that, on HN, I never feel as though I'm in the wrong room. :)

minor_nitwit• 13 years ago

The rule for me is to give the least information required for the interaction to take place.

If someon is considering me for a job, it's reasonable to give my full name.

If someone just wants to chat with my on reddit, they don't need to know my full name.

If someone knows me outside of the internet, but we communicate through the internet, then I don't need to provide my real name.

steven2012• 13 years ago

I used my real name until 1997, when I was posting questions on newsgroups. When dejanews.com came out, I realized that everything I wrote was forever, and since then I've never used my real name, except on linkedin and Facebook. But both of those use one-off email addresses. I really don't think having a permanent internet profile is necessary and is likely more detrimental than beneficial.

I know I'm not anonymous, and I'm sure the NSA can figure out exactly what all my posts are, but at least it makes it hard for regular companies to track me.

gaius2• 13 years ago

Yeah Dejanews was a bit of a shock to many of us.

forgottenpass• 13 years ago

If you're bland enough or rich enough that nothing you ever do online could be held against you, no. Otherwise yes.

CurtMonash• 13 years ago

I use my real name. But then, I'm an analyst, blogger and columnist, so I'm going to get flamed one way or the other. :)

There is one or the other forum at which I post anonymously, and participate in the vitriol of anonymous political discussions. I make no effort to conceal my real identity, however. If I'm ever found out, I'll claim that I'm not the one who started the intemperate excess.

(Yes, that phrase is redundant -- it deserves to be.)

robbrown4514• 13 years ago

The advantages of using your name can often outweigh the disadvantages.

Reputation is a valuable thing. You don't gain a good reputation by hiding away. You build a good reputation by making a positive impression on lots of people over a long period of time. You can't do that if you are always anonymous.

If I was hiring someone, I'd google them. And if nothing turned up, that would give a somewhat negative impression. Better than seeing them being a jerk or idiot or criminal, of course, but still.

On the other hand, if I saw a long history of them behaving intelligently and diplomatically, going back a long time, that would make a very good impression.

I say use your real name, but don't be a dick, and don't be stupid.

gtz59• 13 years ago

by "somewhat negative", do you just mean that less information makes you less confident about a decision? Or do you mean that being quiet is bad?

VLM4• 13 years ago

Anybody can write that they're a genius with "insert buzzword" but google for their name and the topic and a result of nothing is confusing.

robbrown4514• 13 years ago

"Somewhat negative" in the sense that it suggests that they haven't made much of an impact on the world, or that they don't have much to say. They are much more of an unknown quantity.

Quiet isn't "bad" per se, but I'd rather hire someone who is confident enough in what they have to say, to say some stuff publicly.

icebraining2• 13 years ago

How do you distinguish from the person you're hiring and some jackass with the same name when Googling? Not everyone has an unique name.

ruricolist• 13 years ago

There is one very strong practical justification for pseudonyms: some people have very common names. There are thousands of people named Paul Rodriguez, probably hundreds named Paul M. Rodriguez, but there is only one person who goes by "ruricolist". To the extent that I have one, my nickname is my reputation.

simonebrunozzi• 13 years ago

As you can see from my username here on HN and everywhere else, I have decided to go with full disclosure. I think there are a lot of pros, and a few cons, some of them very annoying.

clarkm2• 13 years ago

Like when your children start going through your post history and reading stuff about you they weren't supposed to know (yet).

VLM4• 13 years ago

What about the worlds most pitiful one way hash function, like the nickname I'm using here which is "obviously" my initials?

Another classic in this genre is for decades I've watched the comedy of people advertising their ham radio callsign, then not realizing people can look them up, then realizing that almost no one knows how to look it up or cares, then figuring out it doesn't really matter at all. So ham radio callsigns are yet another pitiful wanna be one way hash function.

alan_cx• 13 years ago

Using your real name makes the inevitable online abuse harder to take. It feel more real. Using something else makes it seem more abstract, its easier to handle such abuse.

I only use my real name when I have to, buying on line and government services for example.

etfb• 13 years ago

So much awesome cluelessness in the replies on that post. "It's definitely safe to use your real name," says WHAMM (White Heterosexual Able-bodied Middle-class Male) #1 confidently. "Nobody ever suffers from real-world social and legal consequences as a result of what they do online. No gay teenager from a small town has ever been bashed to death by homophobes after he got outed for his online activities. No woman on the run from an abusive husband ever got tracked down and 'punished' as a result of profile details on the internet. No activist fighting an oppressive regime ever got 'disappeared' after the authorities tracked them down using a web forum profile. It's all perfectly safe. Don't inconvenience us!"

twobits5• 13 years ago

Yes.

NateDad• 13 years ago

HN is about the only place I don't use my real name these days, and I wish I could change my profile here so it was. If you're a professional and try to be nice online, I doubt it'll hurt you with anyone you care to be associated.

aestra2• 13 years ago

If you're a professional and try to be nice online, I doubt it'll hurt you with anyone you care to be associated

You are incredibly short-sighted if you believe that. Imagine if you have been or are being stalked or harassed or your children or spouse is. Victims of abuse.

Other people who are hurt by using their real names:

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Who_is_harmed_by_a_%22Rea...

acheron• 13 years ago

I mostly don't, though I ended up using my real name on Twitter, which I post to regularly. Generally I try to avoid it whenever possible -- I hate being Googlable. Not really sure why I changed my mind for Twitter.

I have an unusual name combination, so there aren't many others with my name. However, about 5 years ago, one of the few others started playing college football, so the search results are mostly for him, though I'm guessing he's graduated by now.

Just now googled my name for the first time in a couple years probably. Still mostly about college football, with a few of my things scattered throughout, including my Twitter account and an archive of a mailing list where I used my real email address (which is my real name). Also at least a couple things still surfacing from the mid-90s, when I didn't know any better.

My first Internet lesson to my kids will be: never use your real name online. I am glad most of my teenage real-name-using happened on local BBSs or things like AOL, and so it has vanished into the ether; my kids won't be as lucky.

macNchz• 13 years ago

I have an uncommon name—as far as I can tell there's only one other person using the internet who shares my name right now. That raises the stakes quite a bit...even using full real names, the majority of people have a small extra layer of obscurity: there are a bunch of other people around the world with the same name.

I liken using my real name online to having all of my in-person conversations be recorded and broadcast on TV. If I go to a bar down the street and meet some strangers from my neighborhood, I'm fairly anonymous, and our conversation is decently private. I can express unpopular opinions and have no record of it. I'm not on the record, and I don't have to wonder what everyone I know and everyone I will ever know might think if they Googled me and found that conversation. If I go on a neighborhood blog and have the same conversation in the comments with my real name, I have the ear of, potentially, the entire world.

So I use my real name some places, and pseudonyms in others. Just how I might talk to coworkers, new friends, people at a party or business contacts without them instantly knowing everything I've ever said or done, having a pseudonym makes it possible to isolate your personal spaces online to some degree. It's usually possible to gauge the scope of how many people are privy to a real life conversation, so I try to achieve a similar setup online. I don't pretend that any of my user accounts online are at all truly anonymous, but they present a small barrier between online spaces. Much like meeting strangers in real life: they can probably find out who you are, but you are in control of how much information they have about you at any given momemt.

dredmorbius3• 13 years ago

Information has value.

Posting everything under my username doesn't create sufficient value for me. Managing my real-name profile is of some interest, and I do this to an extent, though largely it involves keeping my real name (or well-established) userIDs limited, while conducting most of my online interactions under various pseudonyms. These give me freedom of movement and expression and some freedom from tracking (though I'm under no illusions a dedicated national actor would have trouble finding me should it choose to do so, nor, quite likely, others).

What I've observed having been online for several decades is that most people seem to go through a lifecycle of online activity: early exploration, a wide-open persona, and often, starting once "life gets real" (usually somewhere in their 30s or 40s), either a withdrawal or a far-more-managed persona. I can point to numerous "public figures" of the 1990s whose online profiles are vastly more constrained: Jenny of Jennycam, Eve "pi girl" Astrid Andersson, Philip Greenspun (actually fairly active), Xeni Jardin, and many others. Even those who are still active are much more ... controlled in their presence.

If you're in your 40s or older and have a significant online presence, odds good are you're in marketing.

Even the principles in social networking have ... limited exposure. Sergey Brin's most recent public G+ post was February 20, 2013. Larry Page posts something banal and/or product-related once or twice a month. Page's wife and girlfriend (may they never meet) have been conspicuously absent of G+ since news of status changes (not posted to G+) broke in August. Curious in the case of the girlfriend who's in Google marketing ... but has been posting of late to Twitter.

Yeah, life has a way of getting real.

ElongatedTowel• 13 years ago

I always used a pseudonym and even change it from time to time. But if I want to have a job in software development, what choice is there? If you can't rely on past experience you have to build something from the ground up.

I feel forced to have something on the net that screams "me".

I'm unimportant. But who knows what the future brings? I don't want to feel like _why. And to be honest, the whole archiving is beyond annoying. Barely anything we write is relevant in 10 years. Archive.org saves 99.999999% stuff that will not be looked at or even be of relevance, but might be enough to discredit you or even find you. Why does the internet even need to be this way? For me the internet was always about the present and the future.

jebblue• 13 years ago

It's a psychological thing, a perception, on the part of the users of your nick. I know people who publicize their nick and real name, still post under their nick and their nick gets more attention by far. There's something about human nature, I prefer to read stories about Notch more than Markus Perrson. I don't know why, it's just that way with the human brain.

I may have just had an epiphany, political figures use their real names (well mostly), maybe this is why their lives seem a bit characiatured to us. Perhaps this helps insulate them to a degree.

visakanv• 13 years ago

I've used my real name pretty much everywhere, and on the rare occasion that I use a nick of some sort, I link it to my blog and online presence. Intentionally or otherwise, I've led a very public online existence. I find it liberating. Maybe I'm narcissistic, but I've always enjoyed the idea of people being able to reach me. I think this only becomes a problem if people are camping in your garage to take pictures of your children... and I don't anticipate that being a concern for me.

I do believe that access to anonymity is very important- it allows the oppressed, etc to speak up. But as a person in a generally privileged position, I find that leading a fully public life makes me more accountable, think harder, etc. I have all the upside with little to none of the downside. So it's a simple decision for me.

I've been very outspoken about local political affairs, and I have strong opinions on things. Sometimes I've said things that have gotten me into trouble, but I make it a point to constructively engage the criticism I receive. I've always placed a high premium on having the space to speak up for what I believe is right, and I am headstrong and naive enough to declare that I wouldn't want to work for or with anybody who thinks that's an outright problem. It's not in my nature to be secretive. It would end badly for both of us.

Do I have absolutely nothing to hide? Meh. I don't want to make such a bold claim. I'm sure I've said and written some embarrassing stuff.

I can think of a few things I'd like to say from the cover of anonymity, but these are usually fun little sideproject-y type ideas, far down my priority list. I'd prefer to work on things publicly that get me into interesting circumstances as a person.

yuhong• 13 years ago

Personally, I prefer to aim at fixing the problems with using real names. I was the one who mentioned the irony in this Slashdot submission for example: http://slashdot.org/submission/1778830/google-is-gagging-use...

paraiuspau• 13 years ago

I found that my particularly malicious ex-gf (restraining order was eventually required) was using my online realname-based content to "haunt" me somewhat. I am also from the 90s internet where nicknames were more the norm, but I actually felt somehow "mature" (for lack of a better word, and no offense intended to anyone) when I decided to switch to my real name back in ~04 or so. Since then though, social networks have become ubiquitous to the point where some services only allow you to login with social network credentials.. It's all gone mad; pre-interviewing and therefore pre-judgement based on your Google hits, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria.

I say head back to the 90s and obfuscate/omit your ID where possible.

jasonkester• 13 years ago

For what it's worth, take a quick spin through the top voted commenters here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/leaders

Notice that the entire top 10 are using their real name or a trivial abbreviation thereof (apart from 3 accounts that got there through story submission and have essentially no comment history).

Notice the top 30 or so, where real names clearly dominate, with a few well-known strong pseudonyms in there.

Smart, interesting people with nothing to hide, offering good advice and participating in good discussions. That's what this site is best at. And that's the sort of thing one doesn't generally need to hide behind a fake screen name to participate in.

At least, that's why I only have this one real-name account here.

happen_io• 13 years ago

I'm surprised no one has brought up that it depends some on what your real name is. Some names are more searchable than others, and some names are unique where others are shared with lots of people. If you are the only "Klandon Forzuth" on the planet then your online activities are much more easily found than if you are one of a million "David Smith"'s.

And sometimes people want to avoid being pre-judged, so Saheed may want to use a psuedonym when participating in an online discussion about 9/11 regardless of his views.

If your name because something of a brand or source of credibility, you'll probably want to use your real name. But if you're well known in one domain but want to participate in another domain without the baggage of the other domain, you may want to not use your real name. Same reason why some writers use different names when they write in different genres, even if it's not secret that they use multiple names.

I suppose there are several famous people participating in online activities that we are all unaware of because they don't use their real names. It's like avoiding being mobbed by fans on the street.

It you have an abusive spouse or stalker, you may not want to make your online activities so easily discoverable using your real name.

So it's not just because people want to be rude that they use a pseudonym. It's more complicated than that.

Is it bad practice to use your real name online?

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