Real Name Policy
- This topic has 14 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated Jul 22, 2010 at 5:30 pm by
.
-
Posts
-
This is kinda geeky but it’s also interesting. I got this from Fark.com (I don’t play any kind of online video game):
http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041
Basically, the Blizzard corporation, which is responsible for World of Warcraft and a lot of old-school games, has decided to adopt the real first and last name policy that we’ve had on this site for a long time.
Here’s their rationale:
“The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players — however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before.”
I agree 100% with their thinking on this. I would also point out that this forum has now been open for five years as of May 2010 (I started it in May 2005). From the beginning, this has been a civil place to talk fly fishing. However, and I think I can say this without any sort of qualification, I believe this is the least combative, most open, and friendliest web forum of any kind in fly fishing.
I have seen members of this site recommend these forums on other sites (I can follow links that link here from other sites, by the way). In almost every one of those recommendations (which I really appreciate), the poster has mentioned the civility of this site.
Obviously we have a great group of guys and girls here; that’s number one. But I also believe the names policy has been the key to keeping the trolling–not just to a minimum–but to an absolute negligibility. There basically is no trolling here; people do not get flamed. I delete about four posts a year, almost always pre-emptively when people get a little carried away with politics.
So thanks to every person who has gone with their whole, real, first and last name on this site. And more importantly, I think we’d all really benefit if this policy spread to other sites. If you’re a member of any other forum at all, please feel free to use this site as an example of what can be achieved when real names are used.
Thanks,
ZachZach,
This is a double edged sword, and I do not agree with your point of view.
Your policy is fine for this website. A lot of the guys here have an interest in getting their name out to the public, or at least the flyfishing public, in order to promote themselves…their photos, blogs, webzines, whatever. And this is perfectly fine; its works for the soul of this site; and it does promote civility.
Now let me preface the coming with a couple points: 1) I am NOT a privacy, “everyone is out to get me” freak. I have nothing to hide, and I will give my full name to any member of this site (everyone of you has shown a maturity and decency a step above the majority of other flyfishing BBs); but this is a forum open to the public, anonymous lurker, and I am simply not comfortable having my name out there for all to see. And 2) I had a brief, couple month stint in World of Warcraft. Being in the tech field, its difficult to get away from colleagues saying, “You should give it a try; it really is fun.” It is somewhat enjoyable, but in the end its a big timesink and waste of time (though no more than our passion in the eyes of outsiders). This second point has no bearing on my coming argument, but I thought Id get it out there. 😉
This ReadID stuff Blizzard is pushing is not new. It is in place with any of the social networking site, Facebook, Myspace, etc. These places started with a good idea of linking friends together, but they have warped into nothing more than a money making, marketing scheme.
Take a look at Facebook…they are now sharing your personal information with their ‘partners’. This personal information is more than just your likes/dislikes to generate advertisements on the page that might fit your interests. Things such as you name, marital status, spouse, hometown, even birth date, income and much more are now considered public domain simply because you are a member of their site. Even your friends information is linked to you–as is your information linked your friends–and shared with these ‘partners’.* There are actually sites out there that crawl these social networking sites, compile this information and store it for the general public to see.**
Now Blizzard is going to require full names to participate on their site. What is you are one of those professionals–a teacher, for instance–heavily restricted on the type of “internet presence” you are supposed to maintain? Should you have to make a choice between revealing personal and private information to the entire internet – IN a context that will make it easier for your current or future employer who would get a negative impression easier to find you…just to get the full range of services, including forum assistance?
What about one of the couple million young users under the age of 18? What if you are one of the woman gamers who are already subject to unnecessary harassment? These groups are already prime targets for web stalkers. What if you have a stalker on the internet just looking for extra clues to find you?
Privacy issues abound. If you have a unique or very uncommon name, Google can lead straight to you. More common name? Someone who’s never even heard of the game could get harassed in your place, just for being the unlucky #1 search result on myspace or facebook. And should you need to get help in a tech support forum, much of the information requested there for help–such as traceroute and ISP provider–could help lead someone right to your door.
In this day and age your identity is simply not safe. Identity theft is a rapidly growing crime, and any pieces to the puzzle just make it easier for the criminals to get what they need. On top of that, corporations (and these social networks do indeed fit that description) are using and sharing information you willingly and often unknowingly give them to make their profits. I, for one, honestly do not think the driving factor of Blizzard’s move to require real names is to combat trolling; I think it is more about moving towards a new business plan to generate even more of the almighty $$.
There are downsides to web anonymity, but, in my opinion, the upsides greatly outweigh them.
I guess that’s it. I realize this probably isnt a very well formed argument as I just read your post and type what I could thing of instead of doing the research, but I can come back later when I have more time with a better argument.
*Ive had this conversation and debate before. It shouldnt be too difficult to find the information (it is everywhere, though you might have chosen to ignore it), but I will find it for you should you not wish to look yourself.
**I will give you a link or two tomorrow when I can get them from one of the guys at work. I cant remember off the top of my head. Needless to say, youd be surprised at what they can tell you about yourself…Interesting post and thoughtful reply. I still favor full names. My name and profile are out there for anyone to search. I don’t post (or say) anything I would be reluctant for my wife, children, parents or clients to read.
Generally speaking, I don’t care to interact with anonymous people. While I do participate in a few other boards, I know the people behind the “handles.”
I suspect that this board is a refuge for people of a similar mindset. There would probably be more traffic if anonymity was allowed, but the problems of anonymity would surface and detract from the community of like-minded fishermen and photographers.
While I respect alternative views on the issue, I respectfully disagree with them, as well.
Hey Aaron,
As I said, this policy is perfectly fine in the context of this particular message board.
I like having a forum where (almost) everybody uses their real names.
I plan on living forever, so far so good.
I use to visit a forum where user names or handles were the norm. That forum imploded over attacks and harassment by members. They formed groups and launched attacks against others who did not agree or support the groups views. It got to a point where the forum had to be shut down and recently re-opened in the last year or so. I have re-visited that forum as a vistor, not signing in under my screen name and it’s not the same. The content is not where it was under the old system and there is still some bashing occurring(but not to the degree where it was prior) and the information you can gleen from it is not worth the time or effort. And that was a fly fishing forum believe it or not. I’ll stick with this one and post under my name.
By starting with a name on this forum, I was able to find out when they were going to be out of town, their office address, their home address, their wifes name and their occupation. It took be about 5 minutes and I’m not great at internet research. Given an hour, a good researcher could have their life history.
I have no problem posting under my real name on this forum because I believe it is populated by honest people with a common interest, but there is nothing stopping a crook from posting under an alias that looks like a real name.
As I said, I can see Zach’s point, but recognize it is a double edged sword. I try to be careful about posting anything that has to do with my schedule on this forum. For example, I just got back from two weeks in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, but could not post my plans on this forum in advance.
The real name policy here is great and should be adopted on all boards.
In fact, I think it should be mandatory on all net use.
IMHO a lot of the scam attitude would go and it would be a better place.
As it is now, the www is like the old New York city and needs a zero tolerance policy to clean it up – real names would be a good start.
As ever, I’m willing to bring my rap music, rope and baseball bat to lend a hand cleaning up should anyone require.. ;D
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Did you see Blizzard has issued a retraction statement regarding this policy?
They will not be adopting a first name, last name policy on the forums, but your forum account will be tied to your Battle.Net id (or something) to remove all the alt accounts (or whatever).
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.