Signing Posts With Your Name... Yeah...

I want to be a prig and urge people who post on this forum to sign your posts with your real name and address, not "BigBass223" or whatever. I say this because some people I respect don't take the forum seriously simply because, in short, who the hell are these people? Thanks.

I want to be a prig and urge people who post on this forum to sign your posts with your real name and address, not "BigBass223" or whatever. I say this because some people I respect don't take the forum seriously simply because, in short, who the hell are these people? Thanks.

Address??? That is a little personal.

Couldn't someone simply just put First name and possibly last, unless they're one of the few that uses that in their username.

Definitely use first name though.

Just my 2¢

Tom Glassburner
Windsor Ohio
44099

I'm not quite sure the full street address is what Bruce is looking for. It does clarify who is posting. Signatures tend to be a repository of links and quotes rather than an actual signature.

I think city and state (or province) are adequate. Directions to your door are not needed. If possible, I think it should be made mandatory, such that you can't sign up for an account without entering the information in your profile. Existing users should have posting disabled until they enter the information in their profiles. If that is technically feasible. My 2 cents.

It would be nice if, at the very minimum, the forum admins had access to real name and actual mailing address for NANFA purposes. Right now the BoD has a hard time correlating forum members to NANFA members and having such data on-hand would certainly make their lives easier.

I'm not too fond of putting real names in signatures on online forums due to search engines but on a trial basis I've adjusted my signature to include full real name, river drainage, and city/state.

Before this conversation goes too far, we will never require location and real name upon registration. Location is already required in certain sections of the forum such as the trading dock.

Matt very perceptively picked up on my meaning of "address" being your location; state or province, anyway. You should leave both street address and SS # off, would be my advice. Just as a funny question, what's the advantage of being anonymous on a forum like this? If you're that far off the grid you're probably not posting on a place like this anyway, I'd think.

what's the advantage of being anonymous on a forum like this?

A valid question. For those of us who have professions that are far removed from the native fish hobby, it makes it harder to direct potential employers/clients to the "right" web sites that have more pertinent information. If I'm searching for an Information Technology job, I'd rather people found my computer geek blog, references to my technical work on other sites, etc. before having to wade through pages of hits on my fish hobby, my gun hobby, etc.

A valid question. For those of us who have professions that are far removed from the native fish hobby, it makes it harder to direct potential employers/clients to the "right" web sites that have more pertinent information. If I'm searching for an Information Technology job, I'd rather people found my computer geek blog, references to my technical work on other sites, etc. before having to wade through pages of hits on my fish hobby, my gun hobby, etc.

True, but then why not have the website myname.com kinda like Unmack? He has his CV up there same as Todd does at his site. If a potential employer wants to look you up online, give them your website address and be done with it, no searching necessary. I usually hand a resume or submit one online to any future employer, this could include your blog address or website address.

I like knowing everyone's first name here it's more relaxed that way.

I don't know about you, but I google people before I interview them and I know that this is a common practice in Information Technology.

I may be paranoid but I already put as much personel info in my user name and profile as I'm willing. As it is, a determined person could track me down with just what's there. Put it in Google and there's my street address with handy map including satalite view. Sorry, not willing to make it even easier. This forum, although specialized and not often viewed by the general public, is still too accessable to anyone out there. I'm not crazy about potential employers or others Googling my full name and getting my fish forum posts either. If anyone wants more of my info, feel free to PM me.

I don't know about you, but I google people before I interview them and I know that this is a common practice in Information Technology.

true, I Google people too, but if they have hobbies, good. wouldn't you prefer it if a potential employee came in and said hey here's my resume and a link to my website where you can find more information about me.
Google is a great thing but if you have a common name like my friend Joe Smith ( yes that's really his name) how is Google going to know which one is him and not one of the Joe Smiths out there?

true, I Google people too, but if they have hobbies, good. wouldn't you prefer it if a potential employee cam in and said hey here's my resume and a link to my website where you can find more information about me.

No, not really. Employers bring too much personal baggage to the table. If the top hits for my name are gun related sites, and the hiring manager or HR person has a deep feeling against personal ownership of firearms, it's not going to be good for me.

Similarly, what if the hiring manager or HR recruiter is a PETA type? Or has some other philosophical disdain for my pet hobby?

I'd rather they were confronted primarily with technical web sites that show that I'm "plugged in" and on top of things that drive my field.

No, not really. Employers bring too much personal baggage to the table. If the top hits for my name are gun related sites, and the hiring manager or HR person has a deep feeling against personal ownership of firearms, it's not going to be good for me.

Similarly, what if the hiring manager or HR recruiter is a PETA type? Or has some other philosophical disdain for my pet hobby?

I'd rather they were confronted primarily with technical web sites that show that I'm "plugged in" and on top of things that drive my field.

Last interview I had, the guy asked me what my hobbies were I told him fish and birdwatching. If you google me you'll find out that I like fish and birdwatching and not much else. my granfather (also tom glassburner) comes up alot as he is a zoning inspector. I use tglassburner for 99% of the things I do online.

Tom

EDIT:

No, not really. Employers bring too much personal baggage to the table. If the top hits for my name are gun related sites, and the hiring manager or HR person has a deep feeling against personal ownership of firearms, it's not going to be good for me.

Similarly, what if the hiring manager or HR recruiter is a PETA type? Or has some other philosophical disdain for my pet hobby?

I'd rather they were confronted primarily with technical web sites that show that I'm "plugged in" and on top of things that drive my field.

That is more than reasonable as that can be a huge issue with anything internet related, but perhaps a simple solution is to misspell your name slightly by probably changing or adding a couple letters and thus you avoid the google issues. To some extent though I guess that starts to defeat the purpose though....

I guess I am surprised that that many folks want to remain anonymous given this is just a "trivial little" fish list. But that's ok, we all have our different reasons I spose.

Cheers
Peter Unmack
Provo River, Utah

I guess I am surprised that that many folks want to remain anonymous given this is just a "trivial little" fish list.

In all reality Most of those on this site that regularly post content and participate in it, already use their names and give rather close geographic information. I'm not sure why this would be an issue to the "don't take the forum seriously simply because, in short, who the hell are these people?" crowd.....(Edit: Frankly If I was not a longtime NANFA member and coming from this forum only... I'd ask "Who the hell are these E-list people and what makes them so special?)

If someone wishes to remain anonymous for some reason or another.. that is their choice. As long as this is a public site and not private we will not require any personal information to be disclosed in public and we should not ask for it to be required.

In short, it's a perceived noise-to-signal issue. Is it really that bad? I don't think so; some do. Someone will always think that, and maybe it's a turnaround and who the hell are they, anyway? But let's face it, anonymous Internet "chatroom" is synonymous with severe creepiness to many people. Just sayin'.

Personally I have nothing to hide. Heck Google Matt DeLaVega. I am everywhere. But I fully understand those who do not wish to disclose personal info. I like the idea of a general location or watershed being mandatory. It is invaluable to our work. Those who ask for fish ID's without their location are making it difficult for the rest of us. If is is not made mandatory, I stongly suggest that all members take note of this, and put some kind of locale in your profile. In this hobby, profession, whatever your place is here, A location is very important.
As for a real name. That is up to the individual. When someone googles your name, do you want it to come up like mine?
We have many forum members who are minors. How would you feel about your child being required to put out his full name and location here? I would not allow it in my house. This real name requirement is junk. If we feel that it will make the forum more intimate, then by all means voluntarily post your true name. Otherwise leave it alone. As others have said it will never be mandatory.

In short, it's a perceived noise-to-signal issue. Is it really that bad? I don't think so; some do. Someone will always think that, and maybe it's a turnaround and who the hell are they, anyway? But let's face it, anonymous Internet "chatroom" is synonymous with severe creepiness to many people. Just sayin'.

And there are dedicated people running this forum whom have our names out there watching things closely (sometimes too closely). This is not a chatroom it is a forum for the dissemination of information and to promote this hobby and profession (in some cases) of ours. It is not our desire to be a Chatroom.... I personally can tell you I'm not a fan of "chipmunk chatter" and we do not tolerate much crap and no creepyness (Aside from martin) being posted on here. Our goal is to keep this an informative and useful resource.

Well I adjusted my sig to a compromise.

I am keeping the river basin data in my profile because that is indeed very valuable for this forum.

I omitted my surname and just put my first name and last initial. That should be good enough for public view. I don't mind at all sharing real names in private or offline.