Burger King Freakout

[Mark Suszko]

When I joined the COW, I made a conscious choice to post my name “in the clear” from the beginning, but I also belong to other sites that allow psuedonyms and such as well, and at those I can maintain a “secret identity”, perhaps more than one.

I think there is room for both; sometimes you can open up and share more if you’re anonymous and not afraid of what your bosses or clients might see you saying. That is of course a double-edged sword; some forum sites are practically unuseable because of exceptionally rude and obnoxius posters hiding behind a fake name that chase others away like thugs around a shop door. You can still make a site work with fake names but it certainly increases the overhead for administration, spending much more time and work moderating. I know several moderators (not here) that would say it’s not worth the hassles, their poor forums resemble USENET on a bad day.

I know for a fact it is more polite here and more self-regulating than other forums, most likely because of the peer pressure and use of real names.

I can see where it would sometimes be handy for a famous pro to post under a fake name so as to be able to share ideas and opinions without a lot of annoying fanboy chatter coming back at them, or people bugging them off-topic for jobs, etc. Whatever your choice, each site sets a policy and you can like it or lump it. Unless it’s a paid membership, it’s kind of hard to complain about this one little detail considering all the free benefits you get. Like being invited to a friend’s house then complaining the free drinks are not cold enough.

[Greg Ball]

I have to say that I understand wanting to use our real names, but often I ask a question where I don’t want my direct competitors or perhaps a client to know that it’s me asking that question or making that comment. Also the fact that your name can be associated a search on a google search makes it more uncomfortable. I’ll give it a shot for a while, but I may hesitate when it comes to a sensitive situation with a client, or a stupid question on another forum.

[Mark Raudonis]

I’d argue that if you can’t “sanitize” a question enough to be benign, then it doesn’t belong in a public forum.

That’s what a telephone is for!

mark

[Greg Ball]

Not to argue, but it’s not a matter of “sanitizing” a question. It’s a matter of seeking help from well respected members of the cow without your competition or clients knowing that you’re having an issue. I’m not against using real names for registration purposes and I’ve always used my first “real” name.

[Jess George]

Peter Thomas narrates the show Forensic Files on Court TV (well, now TruTV.) His voice is my favorite part of the show! I think he works great in these BK spots, too.