I understand pseudonyms and nom de nets; the need to protect friends and family; the need to protect oneself from employers and corporations; the right to privacy and the dangers of being a public blogger…
Still, I like real names (or consistent web aliases) because I like to know that there’s a real person, who is willing to take responsibility for what they are writing, on the other side of that post.
Especially on a place blog or a community blog.
We all share the same streets and avenues, whether its physical space or cyber space. We live together and we choose to do it in an openhearted, respectful, generous and graceful way.
Our community is a healthy mesh of opposites. That’s what we love about Brooklyn, right? It’s an energetic, diverse, creative, messy, expressive, sometimes explosive, sophisticated and opinionated place.
Express your thoughts and opinions in a civil and respectful way. That’s totally fine. Leave your real name. And definitely don’t use someone else’s name (which someone has been doing).
Use your real name and be yourself. Warts and all.
But hiding behind masks and spewing insults? That’s pretty weird.
Just because I don’t like reading Brooklynian, for instance, doesn’t mean I feel the need to hide behind a pseudonym and leave insulting comments.
I don’t believe in that. I’ve got my own blog, with my name on it, where I can express myself. How cool is that?
dear louise (aka smartmom) i love to read only the blog, because I know there is a name and a face. screaming kittens, pop-up cats with cut-out orange helmets, dogs french kissing, lots of animals with alias posting not just opinions, but using the message board for collective nasty comments, are truly not taken seriously….how many aliases and animals can one conjure up. listen mean spirited people with unconstructive criticism, take the plank out of your own eye, before you judge the speck of wood in your brothers eye.
perhaps the message boards would start taken some responsibility if their advertisers started to pull their ads…
“You can also hold unregistered comments for approval. This will prevent random idiots from defacing your blog.”
Pshaw. That would require “smart”-mom to actually know something about blogging and the internets.
Not sure this post needed to be so cryptic, as evidenced by all the head-scratching going on here. “I like real names” is pretty much a direct response to some obscene comments posted on this blog under two different pseudonyms. One of the pseudonyms was the stolen name of Louise’s editor at the Brooklyn Paper; the other pseudonym was the stolen name of a well-known (and quite civil and respectful) individual that many of us know “in real life.” We’re investigating, and if the name-stealer turns out to be a user of the Brooklynian boards, he/she will be banned (or be told to sit in the corner for a very long time out).
Louise, if you really “like real names or consistent web aliases”, then maybe you should configure your blog to prevent name-stealing and bad behavior. You can change the TypePad commenting setup so it requires registration or use of a TypeKey identity. You can also hold unregistered comments for approval. This will prevent random idiots from defacing your blog.
go tell that to Mark Twain….
Dear Ms. Crawford,
With no disrespect intended, I must disagree with you. While I believe that this particular post was intended for a specific anonymous audience or commenter, I do think that when you speak about in anonymity in a general way, you should choose your words a bit more wisely.
The Internet is the place for anonymity. And, while I do think that remaining anonymous in certain contexts can be wrong, disrespectful, heck, even illegal, I do not think that these indiscretions makes anonymity negative in all contexts. In fact, I think the power of the anonymous person is very great. Especially in the blogosphere.
Whether you have a light-hearted blog, or a brutal political debate forum, its important to have a space that is designated for the people who want to have a voice, but not necessarily a face or “name.” I think it would be ludicrous for everyone to put their name out there just for the sake of their….? I’m not even sure what kind of credit your real name entitles you.
I go by Brooklyn Bitch, but if you must know, my name is Sarah. Am I somehow a more legitimate blogger or commenter now that I’ve spilled the beans? If I left my whole name, for someone to google, they’d find a picture me dancing in a production of Signin’ in the Rain from ages ago. And that’s not something I’d want particularly. Not because I’m afraid to show my “warts and all,” but because, when I’m blogging, I’m Brooklyn Bitch, not Sarah. It’s the part of me that I want to bring to the table. And, I do have something to offer, in a respectful and creative way, without using my given name.
We don’t always share the same streets, and, even if we do, that doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone is entitled to know who I am and everything I represent in my own life. The blog is a way of documenting anything from a piece of who you are, to the whole she-bang, and it’s for the blogger and the commenter to decide how much they want to disclose.
Anonymity is something that brings people out to speak, who might not have if they’d had to put their name on it. And anything that gets people’s beliefs, opinions, art….the list goes on, out there, well…How cool is that?
Sincerely,
Brooklyn Bitch
I’m sure Tabloid Mom, Groovy Architect Mom and Brain Lawyer all agree with your oh-so-noble stance on using real names.
Pot, meet kettle.
Yes, mom.
This coming from someone who writes mostly in the third person (and in doing so spawned some devastating parody) and gives psuedonyms to many. Ha!
That is very cool indeed! Here here. Taking responsibility for one’s written, verbal and material productions is the hallmark of a true adult, one who truly beieves that his or hers thoughts and feelings are worthy of expression and are representative of who they really are. Not wanting one’s true intentions known is a sure sign of immaturity, insecurity and paranoia. I always use my real name in this blog and any other blogs or magazines or newspapers or books in which I am frequently published or quoted. Why wouldn’t I? Because some people will disagree with me? Because some will get angry? What’s to fear in that?