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Thread: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

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    Avalon Member Maia Gabrial's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    Using real names and faces makes it easy for psychic attacks and tracking, even possible harassments.... No one wants that, Bill.

    Beside, it's fun to use pseudonyms.... If anyone's interested in pursuing a real friendship, they can take it safely outside the forum.

    I prefer the anonymity myself. So, if anyone hates what I've said on the forum, they can attack the pseudonym and not the real me....

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  3. Link to Post #42
    Romania Avalon Member Anka's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    This is an Emperor's New Clothes question.

    I wonder if anyone familiar with the history of social media knows the answer.

    Why do posters on forums use anonymous usernames? And how did this start?

    We all take it for granted these days, of course. But just consider it all for a moment.

    When at a meeting, a social event, a party, or even chatting to someone on a bus or a plane, we introduce ourselves with our real names.

    If someone says: "Hi, pleased to meet you, I'm John from New York", we don't reply: "Hi, I'm Galactic Warrior, and I'm certainly not going to tell you anything else."



    How did this insanity all start? (And do think about it: I do understand all the personal safety thing, but a lot of this is just nuts. And it is indirectly responsible for a large amount of abuse and toxicity that's prevalent on the net, simply because it's so easy to hide behind a mask.)

    If we on Avalon asked members to please post their photos and real names, just as if they'd met someone in person (at least their first names, as they're called by their friends) — who'd be comfortable with that? (Don't worry: we're not actually going to do this! But it's quite an interesting theoretical question.)
    I apologize but this "has reached me" in such a way that, I am almost "forced" to write, this being extremely seriously fun.

    For a quick answer, we can only read the last sentence of the post.

    If I said that this is the first forum I write on, some would say "yes right…". I chose to use almost my own name, Anca, precisely because what I am transmitting is really from me.
    I also "met" avatar names that express the idea of beauty and well-being (that convey the wave of goodness right from the "beginning" of the name). I have nothing against avatar names, but I'm still learning to adapt to the character that it is “ behind” any kind of name, and for that I always gather written words and reactions, which I put on a shelf for later, to really understand the person, not the name.

    I know it's hard, and sometimes it's hard work for me, to be able to prove that I'm a good person too, so somehow, "the thing" goes both ways.

    Then, others intervene to say something about other avatars, and when I haven't even started to adapt to them, I have to explain that I don't care what is said about others, I need time and understanding to gather and complete my faith for them, and for that, of course I say over and over again: "I don't need to know you just to appreciate you in the first place. It's something about my own love for people."

    Some people always say, "Yeah, but there's a crazy world out there!" I'm not saying it's not, but I feel ready to "be hurt", it's a risk I take at a "normal" level, not happy, just satisfied with all the values I hold.
    I don't like gossip, and many times, for this in my life, I was put "outside the ring" (I often excluded myself) and to the question "why?", I have extremely many answers that define the same thing. "When I walk into a store, I don't need to know the owner's name, what his turnover or income is, what his story is and what kind of life he leads." I just want to buy something and if I know the store owner, I'm happy to I tell her my need, being ready to pay for it too

    You can skip the "paragraph below"...

    When I moved here to the country, I had some old neighbors (they died a few years ago) and even from the first days, the neighbor (I didn't know his name), was entered on our property right next to us saying "I brought you some nuts " then I was somewhat intrigued and I said civilized:" Thanks for the nuts! But please, don't enter my garden anymore, that's my privacy, and besides that I have my own nuts .. "
    One morning we woke up with another lady in the house (I didn't have a locked door because there was no need in such a secluded area) ... she had brought some news about the community, and my husband asked. " Ma'am, I'm dressed in pajamas, do you please, let me change into other clothes in the first place? "
    …then came the "man responsible for reading the electricity meter" arguing with my husband, without any introduction, that the meter is broken, and even if my husband explains that we just moved and we will buy another,he doesn't stop
    At one point we had to warn him: "You sit there in my house and you quarrel with me out of the blue, and I, the owner, sit outside my house trying to calm you down. Is that normal?"

    After the neighbors died, now, sometimes, I feel the one "bringing some nuts" out of pure goodwill for people , and it often seems like an increasingly difficult task, people no longer trusting anyone at all.
    Also, the people around us and neighbors, are often amazed at our goodwill, and even if we do good things in a way they have never met before, they are still distrustful, saying a quick "thank you" almost impersonal for all our effort, and leave us.

    We have friends for over 30 years, whom life has transformed them so bad that no matter what we do and no matter how much heart my husband and I would give, they still can't let go of the mask..and it is somewhat sad.
    I know what it's like in the "real world" where so many times, known people have hurt me, but I don't know what it's like in the "online world", because I've only met special people, being ready to offer anything about me and anything for them, I may have been lucky to meet more real and beautiful people here , than those who have been around us with so many masks.

    Regardless of anyone's avatar name, I am a seeker and a researcher of real human nature, the original and good one, in a world truly "as it is", I dare to believe that most of us are good people.
    I know that maybe, many times I really scared people with my kindness, and I understood perfectly their " need for protection " in a such world, and I know that some may even express the image of their spirit in even better avatar names than true names.

    But I will never exclude meeting a person who would introduce himself : "I'm the Galactic Warrior!" and that kills me right now, from so much laughter…thank you!

    Seriously and almost personally, I think the "problem" comes from the basis of people's reality and experience with each other in this society. I don't know exactly where it came from, but I guess, maybe also from the wounded hearts of people.



    I'm sorry, it's just that the idea made me think.

    Peace,
    Anca
    And all this to be just human.

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  5. Link to Post #43
    Avalon Member palehorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    Quote Posted by Patient (here)
    We know that government agencies and the larger corporations can find out everything about us, but the average person who does not possess the tech knowledge will have a harder time.

    There are average people out there that get their purpose in life by causing harm to others.

    Also, if you are applying for a job or even a mortgage/loan, people will search the internet to find out more about you. If a potential employer was to read about some of the things that I have written about myself here in Avalon, their view of me could be greatly affected by that.

    Sure, they should not judge me based on something that might have been written by another person who just so happens to have the same name as me - but many people will.

    ...and it depends on the forum itself. Some forums might be in line with a person's career and other's are not.
    That's "WHY" I avoid to use real name on internet, some people may not agree, but we can't make everybody happy! ;D

    Personal data from people from many many countries are available in the black market, how do you think the scam bags impersonate someone that looks so real and authentic? Everything is for sale on the dark web, KYC data from exchanges, credit cards from all operators, paypal accounts, eBay, Amazon, servers, anything name it, they have.
    When I have to register myself with some company and they ask to fill out the KYC bullsh1t form, 99% of the cases I close the tab, unless it is case of life or death I will provide my personal data otherwise I give a middle finger for them.

    Remarks 1: I am not against provide my personal data to any company, I am against their policies that are very weak and unsafe, they can't keep customer data safe, why should I trust them?

    Remarks 2: If you do not believe me in what I am saying, you can browse the Tor network or some IRC channel available on `UnderNet` network or `Rizon` network, of course there many private networks available in all countries, the surface we know and call internet is just a tiny thing of what it really is.

    Bottom line, internet is not safe as many think it is, disable your java script to start with and do not click random links or execute anything that you do not know the origin, if you do not want to become a zombie bot spreading and hosting nasty things and probably get the feds knocking your door.

    That's why I use an avatar, because I do not trust the internet. I do not know when this thing of using avatars started, but I guess when someone is behind a proxy, or an avatar or a mask, this person do not want to disclosure who they really are. simply like that.
    --
    A chaos to the sense, a Kosmos to the reason.

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  7. Link to Post #44
    United States Moderator Sue (Ayt)'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    In the days of early internet, females users were rare. (I would guess maybe 10-15 male users to 1 female?) So using a female name, or even a female-sounding username, often resulted in lots of unwanted intrusions, sometimes quite vulgar.

    Actually, this happens still. My sister was just telling me this the other day, how she joined a simple Scrabble game website solely because she loves the game, and she receives many "Hey baby" type PM's/emails, along with the obvious fishing attempts from the types looking for love-lorn women to entice for $$. She sadly was trying to decide if she should just delete the whole thing. She is still somewhat tech-naive, so I immediately suggested that she change her username to a gender neutral or even a male name. I am not sure if males have this same problem, but my guess is no, at least not to the extent of females?

    My solution, back then, was to go gender-neutral with my username. (thus ayt) And I played a game of being extremely careful with every post, as to never alluding to a gender at all. It was kind of a FUN experiment. I learned (sadly) that my posts seemed to be taken more seriously, as people always assumed I was male! Sometimes, after a while posting, I would drop a gender indicator into a post. It was so funny, as I would would get many shocked responses, like, "What??? You are a girl???" Yet I never had previously indicated that I was either!

    Now in a real-life situation, all this would obviously be out in the open, and any subtle difference in male/female interactions is the invisible norm. But preventing any pre-judging gender-wise in purely written communications was rather eye-opening for me.
    Anyway, just thought I'd throw in an answer that males may have never considered.
    "We're all bozos on this bus"

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    United States Avalon Member Ratszinger's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    I'd love to be real in every way but m ID has been stolen five times that I can document. Two times they filed tax returns pretending to be us causing us to have to use a special code they give us each year so they know for sure it's us and not the pretender paying the taxes! They lead me to believe they just added extra numbers to the pretenders and go ahead and let them file taking their money or refunding I don't know but it appears they gave us each unique last four digits so they can discern us!??

    Here recently someone filed unemployment benefits in my name using my SS number in states I never worked in and each one of those accounts had $40,000 bucks in them to withdraw from! There is some major funny biz going on in the US banking industry! Literally the day after Experian Identity works contacted me to inform me they were covering my wife and myself free of charge for two years due to a breach in their own security I got debit cards in the mail from CO, AR and IL only one of which I ever worked in and that was in the 80's!
    The genius consistently stands out from the masses in that he unconsciously anticipates truths of which the population as a whole only later becomes conscious! Speech-circa 1937

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    UK Avalon Founder Bill Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    Thought for the day.

    Aren't usernames a little like facemasks?

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    Avalon Member palehorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    Very good point, I would say it looks more like a hazmat suit
    --
    A chaos to the sense, a Kosmos to the reason.

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    Aaland Avalon Member Agape's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why do we use username aliases on social media?

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Thought for the day.

    Aren't usernames a little like facemasks?
    Aren’t all names like a facemasks ?

    Name is a kindergarten version of self, or any later version of self.

    Naming is to shaming like sharing is to caring 😀


    Most cultures do allow people using and identifying themselves with multiple names in their life time.
    In many cultures of the world, nicknames are accepted as social norm ( here in India in particular ).

    Every name has a frequency to it that has an expiry date. The bearer may discover that they did not expire with it

    Our true Being is nameless, belongs to no one in this world, we came here to make our connection.

    The reason why you are here with us are your intelligence, energy and accomplishments
    ( not because they did not call you Jane)



    🙏🍵🙏

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