Thread: Usernames versus real names

Stubear has been a nickname of mine for years, and I guess it's not too hard to work out my name is Stu! Hehe!

Ever heard the old Led Zep song ...Boogie with Stu ?

Once I have communicated with someone via PM, I actually feel that not using their real name is kind of disrespectful. But this is just me. Maybe the recipient feels disrespected when I use their real name and not their site name. I think I'm thinking too deeply about this!

My only exception is CarrieM. I still have not figured out her real name

Originally Posted by Alembic

My only exception is CarrieM. I still have not figured out her real name

CarrieM AKA Karen, I have no problem with people using my real name, In chat you will find that most of us who have been around a while usually refer to each other with our real names.. I like to think that it's because we feel more like family than strangers.

Questions of identity are always interesting. Each of us has to work through several developmental stages to get to the point where we become comfortable in our own skin and the name our mother gave us, just in real life alone.

This is not to say that someone with an alter ego online is less developed. But growth within that identity, remaining consistent and dependable I would see more valuable. Ron/Utopian's advice is as consistent as his nom de net. Sure, it's a bit more confusing perhaps than his real name would be, but once the connection between his information and his identity is made online, the information becomes more valid and reliable.

I'd rather be known for who I am than what I do. And, it's much easier for me to be me than for all the other nicknames I have related to jobs I've done. Plus I don't have to remember which identity I used the last time I was here...

I have a little bit different "take" on this.

For years I was involved in Cowboy Action Shooting, a scenario based shooting sport done in costume with old-west guns or modern replicas thereof. It's tons of fun, btw and straight shaving would be a huge hit in that crowd.

When you join the organization (SASS=Single Action Shooting Society) you register an "alias" for yourself. Most folks think very hard about their alias, the character they want to portray. Since I'm a clergyman and a professor, some of the guys started hanging "Reverend Doc" on me and so I registered that as my alias.

In this game, we have tons of fun and regularly shoot with the same folks and there are online forums, etc. The funny thing is, the aliases don't seem impersonal or evasive at all. There are people I have known and shot matches with for 10-15 years and still, only know them by their alias. We've talked about our marriages, our kids, our faiths (or lack of it), and yet never seen each other in street clothes! It's weird to realize for a decade I've shot with some guy who looks like a saloon keeper and find out he's a county prosecutor or catholic priest.

In other words, a "handle" or alias, or username, can be a fun and authentic part of an experience.

Reminds me or the scene in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly when Lee Van Cleef (Angel eyes) asks Eli Wallach (Tuco) "Tuco, why are you using the name Bill Carson?" Tuco shrugs and replies,"One name is as good as another."

My apologies to whoever, for whatever I may or may not have called him, her or them. Or even it though I doubt that applies. Just this morning, I woke up dreaming about a neighbor who in his own eccentric way, was asking all the kids (who he referred to as children) not to call each other by nicknames, i.e., Ben for Benjamin, Tommy for Thomas, etc. Then I go to the forum and this thread pops up. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.

For the record, if anyone keeps one, my first name is Patrick, my middle name is Michael and as a child, everyone called me Mickey. I never really liked it but, what the hell.

YouTube - There are those who call me Tim?