Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
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Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
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Google+ are not allowing members to go under pseudonyms http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jul/25/1 I go under my 'real' name on doc2doc but I do have pseudonyms for other w
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Forums » Off duty » News & media » Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
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Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 26/7/2011 9:45 AM BST
on bmj.com
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*Moderator*
Posts: 1493
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 19/6/2013 |
Google+ are not allowing members to go under pseudonyms http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jul/25/1 I go under my 'real' name on doc2doc but I do have pseudonyms for other websites. I read an article the other day (I can't remember where I read it now!) that said that pseudonyms enable posters to write abusive comments behind a cloak of anonymity - i.e. comments they wouldn't make face to face. I wonder whether if people used their real identities, we would see less abuse? But at the same time, pseudonyms allow people to speak freely (it's not all libellous or vindictive) -perhaps we will lose a degree of openness if we got rid of pseudonyms? Also, this is interesting - please see discussion Prof. Gillian Needham's personal views on making comments online. |
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 23/1/2012 10:38 AM GMT
on bmj.com
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*Moderator*
Posts: 1493
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 19/6/2013 |
Do fellow doc2doc'ers think that online pseudonyms allow people to be more honest in what they discuss/comment/reveal online or do you think it allows the user to hide behind a made up identity? |
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 23/1/2012 12:03 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 195
First: 14/1/2009 Last: 17/5/2013 |
I'm all for being open so don't use pseudonyms anywhere. (Oh ... I did when playing Quake III Arena but that's different surely). I can see the advantage of anonymity for those who want to be critical. However, there will always be ways of doing that. |
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 23/1/2012 12:13 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1360
First: 25/1/2009 Last: 14/6/2013 |
I think use of pseudonyms or shortened names (as mine is an extreme shortening!) do allow you a little more freedom. I would be dissapointed if D2D decide to make us all use our real and full names |
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 23/1/2012 1:45 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 347
First: 17/12/2011 Last: 18/6/2013 |
Real name for doc to doc, pseudonym for Guild Wars! and internet chess. My wife say I should be careful not to put too much information on the internet, so perhaps I should have used a pseudonym for Doc to Doc. |
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 23/1/2012 3:19 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1012
First: 15/7/2011 Last: 15/6/2013 |
I use my real name (letters muddled just a little), it just seems logical to me. I dont have any problem at all with people using pseudonyms on websites - as long as they speak honestly and politely. It is feasible to be more offensive or gratuitous with words when anonymous but I think it is rarely seen on doc2doc. |
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 23/1/2012 3:30 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2135
First: 12/3/2010 Last: 18/6/2013 |
No confusion about most people who use their own names, but Pat, I assumed you were the female of the couple in your Avatar! Names aren't always transparent! I used to write a column in a specialty mag under a pseudonym. It rapidly became transparent, but I still enjoyed the frisson of being a bit outspoken, behind a mask, even when poeple knew who I was. I think there is a freedom in a pseudonym. It is often abused - not here but elsewhere on the 'Net - but is worth that risk. Even Phil Hammond, 'MD' of Private Eye, who has been far more outspoken than I have ever been, has long been unmasked but still contributes to that column above that soubriquet. John |
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 23/1/2012 8:38 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 3005
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 19/6/2013 |
I think we have discussed this before but here goes; The names we are given by parents are not necessarily descriptors of our persona. My surname conveys nothing about me unless you know my family history. My prénom does a bit if you know some etymology. Play is an important part of life. Pen names allow for some fun as do avatars. Medicine is serious and usually un-fun. I tell a patient today he has an incurable bla, bla. There are divergent ethnicities on this site. Names limit us. Some are unpronouncable. We have the liberty of revealing our identities on our MyDoc2doc. I have. Sometimes I take it off. It's my call. Your pen names have the potential to sum up how you feel you really are, your interests or your leanings. Hence my pen name. Indeed I prefer a name rather than just an abbreviation of one's real name (personal preference). For example I know that John the Hirsute is expert at tinkering with cars and racing. He could have chosen such a name eg Steve McQueendoc but it is his call. This is not meant as a criticism. I tend to relax under a pseudonym, perhaps play more and be myself rather than some stereotype or expected behaviour as per what I do, who I really am. You may see more of the real me than my patients do or even close family relatives. That is what makes this medical version of FaceBook endearing. When I was a boy there was a children's radio programme for the whole of Australia called the Argonauts. Each child who participated was given a Greek name and the compares had them too. it was fun. One was called Phideas. It fitted with my Classical father and grandfather. The fact that the moderators ask sometimes for me and others to remove things and change them is their prerogative and part of the deal. They are the umpires. We play the game. I err. Humanus sum. PS A discussion about FaceBook on the radio today said we learn more from our weak ties ie people like you that I have not met than from our strong ties who tend not to go into uncharted waters.
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Re: Online pseudonyms - a good idea?
posted at 15/8/2012 10:15 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1213
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 14/6/2013 |
My online name was chosen for me by our head of eLearning, and it's kind of stuck. It's easy to find my real name, of course. I know many people over the internet by their Pseudonym only, and some I know by real name also. I agree with Odysseus - the names bring a little bit of insight into who we are, and why, without the constraints of what our parents thought were nice names. Names also tie us to a generation - there weren't a lot of Ethels in my class at school, nor Kylies. Never met anyone called Odysseus, to be honest, but my Nephew is called Ulysses. |
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