Using real names (Was Bill O"Neill's post with empty subject heading)

[mwaters@mail.wesleyan.edu (Martin J. Waters)]

>Bill O'Neill wrote:
>I am an (honestly) impartial observer to this particular string on the
>list today.  (I've been posting/lurking for a couple of yrs. or so.)
>Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we stuck to our real names?  (I
>actually thought that was a requirement for entry to the listserv.  I
>may be mistaken on that.)

        I also would appreciate it if the moderator (if that's the correct
word), Garrett Wollman, would comment on this. Gradually it seems that more
people are using pseudonyms here. These webonyms can be fun, and
informative, in themselves (like jibguy). And some people have used them
for a long time (jibguy), and their identities are usually known to the
other regulars. But there are always new people joining. Also, when someone
new shows up posting with just a pseudonym, there is an issue, IMO, in the
readers' minds about, Who is this?, especially when strong opinions are
being expressed.

        Perhaps (just an idea here) people who use handles as their e-mail
addresses or whose e-mail addresses, for technical reasons, don't include
their full names, should be asked to sign their names within the body of
their texts? Or perhaps only for a short time when they first put posts
here?

        The good news is that this group is about the most civil I've been
involved with and seems not to have to spend much time discussing
housekeeping/operational issues like this.


Connecticutguy / Scituateman

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