How many different pseudonyms? #59735

[vorpal blade]

I trying here to help out Hypatia. Also Arandur. The questions were "How many different pseudonyms has the average reader used? And how has this average changed over the life of the Board?" Hypatia replied:

Dear Arandur,

The old system (Board 4.x) kept a record of reader's nyms. In order to streamline 5.0, the web masters decided not to keep track of those stats. I'm sorry to say, but we really don't have a way of answering your question. Perhaps you can hop over to the reader board and see if anyone is willing to divulge the information you seek.

- Hypatia

I started asking questions in January 2006. In the first half of 2006 I used a total of seven pseudonyms, including Vorpal Blade. I believe I didn't use any new nyms after that.

So, there is my divulgation. Anyone else willing to divulge the information Arandur seeks?

[C is for]

I use two. One is my main one and the other is the one I use if I'm really embarrassed about the question I'm about to ask, or I don't want it traced to me.

Even when we did use the sign-in alias, I only ever used the one, just had a different signature.

[Marduk]

I also only have two. I'm very proud of my secondary one, but like C is for, I use it when I wish to remain incognito. Hence no one here may know how clever it is.

[Unit of Energy]

I have one consistent alias. There are only two questions I can think of that I asked under a different alias. One of which I went so far as to use a campus computer and create a new email address and board account to ask.

[TheAnswerIs42]

This is my only consistent name. The others are throw-aways I use, specific to each question, if I don't want it attached to me. There is no trend on that, though.

[ahem.]

Let's see... I asked a few questions back before we were required to have an account. I can't remember which 'nyms I used, but they were mostly throw aways. Like this one. After I became a serious reader, I decided to establish a recognizable 'nym. I started signing everything as "Heretical in Heritage". I kept that one for a long time until deciding to switch it up when I moved out of Heritage Halls. I became "Rejected in Regency" because... I had moved in to Regency Apartments. I was "Baked Alaska" during my embarrassingly brief tenure as a writer. Then I retired and moved out of Regency and decided to use the 'nym "Camouflaged in Cambridge" (I switched off using "Chic" during this time period as an abbreviation). Here and there I have used "ahem." to sign off, but that was never really a 'nym I associated with the Board anywhere but here. And finally, any questions recently have been signed "Fanatical in Phoenix."

If I ever asked anything terribly, horribly personal, I probably used a throw away 'nym because my main ones were never much of a secret to those who knew me. So six main 'nyms that I have used over the course of the last five years. But please don't go through and look up questions based on my 'nyms, as I'm sure there are things you probably don't want to know about me.

[bobtheenchantedone]

When I first started asking questions, I wrote up a list of the different slightly-connected names I was going to use for all of them. The only one I actually used was theenchantedpenguinslave. Since then it has bobtheenchantedone for all of my normal ones and throwaways related to the question when I didn't want to be known. I also shied away from using bob when I was considering leaving the Board and BoardBoard and everything. (I'm glad I didn't, though.)

[thebigcheese]

Dear Hypatia and Arandur,

I've never used a consistent 'nym for my questions. Makes me feel like I'm writing to Prudence or Heloise or whoever else does that stuff. Also, I don't really care about establishing a "reader personality" for all the world to analyze.

-Numerous Nyms

[NerdGirl]

I have apparently used 27, most of which were throwaways for embarrassing questions or random things I came up with before I started using Nerd Girl all the time.

[Kissables]

I have one consistent one, and there are 5 others I have used. So a total of 6 since 2007.

[Emiliana]

I've used the name Emiliana for about three years. Before that I had a variety of one-use names, and still occasionally use throw-aways for questions of a more personal nature. (Incidentally, the first question I ever asked with the name Emiliana ended up having a ridiculously obvious answer. I was so embarrassed that I almost changed my mind about keeping this nym, but I couldn't think of another one I liked as well.) So of my 45 questions/comments, I've used 14 total nyms.

[Indefinite Integral]

In my time on the board I have only had one consistent nym, namely this one. Though I did ask one question before I decided on this nym, and I have asked a couple with throwaway nyms when I didn't want the question connected with Indefinite Integral.

[Dead Cat]

I am prone to whimsy. I like signing with something that associates, however remotely, with the questions I ask. I originally chose the 'nym "Dead Cat" because curiosity killed the cat and I was feeling curious (definitely not anything to do with a morbid fear of pillows--props to anyone who can figure out the inspiration for that question). Now, I mostly use this 'nym for when I can't or don't feel like thinking of anything clever.

I am currently in the process of indexing my questions for times like this. If I get it done and this thread is still active, I'll tell how many throw away names I've used. Oh, and I also use two other 'nyms somewhat frequently and once used the same throw-away name again by accident.

[krebscout]

I first asked questions as "sunshine," because that was the nickname Uffish gave me on her blog, and I asked pregnancy/family questions as "The Oven." People who are not me have used both of those, though. I've asked some as krebscout and some as Waldorf, but almost all of my sign-offs are something I think is funny at the time.

[ahem.]

I almost forgot I also had a few throw-away accounts because I was paranoid and hated the editors for a brief period.

Has anyone else done that? Gotten a whole extra account to ask a certain question or two?

The more I got to know the Board, the more I learned there is no such thing as anonymity.

[thebigcheese]

I asked pregnancy/family questions as "The Oven."

That's pretty funny.

The more I got to know the Board, the more I learned there is no such thing as anonymity.

What do you mean exactly?

[Craig Jessop]

The more I got to know the Board, the more I learned there is no such thing as anonymity.

What do you mean exactly?[/quote]

It takes creepy people like my brother about two and a half seconds to figure out peoples' identities. For the life of me, I can't figure out how he did it. But the day after I got home from my mission, he showed me all of his favorite writers' Facebook pages. I personally don't care who they are. I'm sure they're lovely people, but other than the occasional Board party and this MB, I actually have an outside life.

[ahem.]

I actually have an outside life.

See that was probably my problem. I've said before almost all of my friends in college came from some connection the the Board.

What do you mean exactly?

Rooming with an editor was probably what made me so paranoid as I got to see exactly how easy it was for them to see the real name of the person asking the question. (I don't know if any of that has changed with the new version; I kind of hope it has.) It honestly bothered me to see the (occasional) casual disregard for reader's privacy. I know they try not to abuse their power, but even editors let their curiosity get the best of them sometimes.

[The Editors]

It honestly bothered me to see the (occasional) casual disregard for reader's privacy. I know they try not to abuse their power, but even editors let their curiosity get the best of them sometimes.

May we recommend being a little more cautious about making assumptions about people you do not know and have never met? We dedicate many, many hours a week to making the Board a positive and secure place, and accusations that it has been neither positive nor secure (based on your posts here and your post regarding the podcast) obviously come across harshly. If you have concerns about the present, email us directly. If you had concerns about the past, try to qualify your remarks more specifically.

We apologize if our writing team has been aloof or holier-than-thou lately; we've tried to take steps to avoid that completely. If any readers have concerns about that, we welcome them to email us as well.

All our best,

-The Editors

[ahem.]

Hm, I considered tempering my response a bit, but I don't see it as all that caustic. Perhaps it came across harsher than intended. These are actual concerns I have had in the past, I see no reason why I should not express them in an open forum like this one. I'm honestly not sure what exactly got you all up in arms. It's not like I'm accusing you of doing anything particularly nasty, just idle curiosity.

But as to my concerns, your readership is made up from your peers, who often ask sensitive questions. What safeguards are there in place?

If you feel reader privacy is not a problem, then please feel free to correct my assumptions. I am in no way certain of how things work these days, having been out of the loop for quite some time. But honestly, don't editors get curious on occasion about the identity of question-askers sometimes? And do they not have the ability to view real names if they want to? If there are safeguards to protect their identities against idle curiosity of those in power, I would love to hear about them! In fact, in lieu of actual policies, I would even accept an on-your-honor pledge that you would never take a peek at reader's profiles unless absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the Board. Easy-peasy! Problem solved.

I don't know why this conversation would need to continue over email, as opposed to an open forum full of people dying to giving you the benefit of the doubt. But if you have additional concerns about what I have said here, my email is theahem (at) gmail (dot) com.