Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Wondering if this is request for me to use the "correct" appelation
when posting to another? Which is which? I recall some weeks ago
reading a thread where an individual got pissed because a follow-up
poster used the "wrong" name. The recipient's response went something
like this: "I have a perfectly good 'handle' [or something to that
effect] and don't like people taking liberties with my 'real' name." 

A newcomer, I was flummoxed by this, wondering why this would make
such a big difference, seeing that both "names" are given?

I do understand, by the way, that I can click on the "account name"
and view the person's vital stats, all of which makes me wonder why the
pseud? Why not just John and David and Doug (me)?
  

    
Oh, and why, above did the word "me" in parentheis make a link to
another WELL member? lol I know, I know, I should ask these questions
at Wellcome!
  

    
Last questions first.  There's a WELL member whose user ID is "me", so
Engaged interpreted "(me)" as a reference to that person and rendered it
as a link.  (From the outside such links just get you a logon screen.)  I
don't use Engaged much, so I don't know whether it actually checks to see
whether there's an account corresponding to what it finds in parentheses,
or just renders anything that might legally be a userid as a link.

No, sorry for the confusion!  What I was saying in <23-24> wasn't directed
at anyone in particular, just anyone who might have been following the
topic, particularly over the public interface, from which it's not so
apparent that anonymity isn't allowed here.  Considering that this topic
is about identity, figured it would stand out like a sore thumb that some
posts are accompanied by real names and others aren't, and I thought an
explanation was called for.

As for the member who objected to "liberties" being taken with their real
name, I can maybe see that in this conference, which is world-readable,
but would consider it poor form in any other conference.  Although I
confess that it rankles me just a bit to be referred to by my userid, as
though it were a name, but I'm used to it and don't make a fuss about it.

Call me "John" if you like, or "satyr" (that's SAYter, not SATter ;-), no
problem really.  You can even call me by my out-of-date userids if you
like, "jtpayne", "snowmelt", "wuwei", ..., although if you do it in the
flesh I'll just ignore you unless we're acquainted.  I do object to being
called "Dave" or "Ken" or "Bob", not because there's anything wrong with
the names, but only because they're not mine.
  

    
I don't have a good sense of when to use a real name over a username; I
change my internal rule all the time. If I've exchanged emails with
someone or met them face to face, then I'm likely to use the real name,
unless it's in a discussion with others who are using the username.

I've seen people get mad at real name use here, but it was only
during an argument.
  

    
I think of userids as stylish identifies, like variable names in a
programming language.  Their primary purpose is to uniquely identify a
particular account and the person whose account that is.  If they're easy
to remember, so much the better, but, at least here on the WELL, they
aren't a mask to hide behind, nor an identity to be passed around like a
joint.  Obfuscation has no place here, and those who believe otherwise
simply haven't been acculturated yet.
  

    
Ack!  "identifiers" instead of "identifies" above.
  

    
One other point regarding the WELL -- well.com supports finger protocol.
I'm nearly certain that it only works for those members who have userids
which are eight characters or fewer long.

Finger protocol is a something you don't here about much lately, but it's
a traditional funtion of the net, and still supported by some sites.  If
your ISP or your software don't support finger, you can still use it
through a few finger-to-web gateways, including this one ...
http://www.mit.edu:8001/finger
  

    
Ack!  "hear" instead of "here"!!!  :-S
  

    
Thanks for the insights. Obviously, one of my primary reasons for
joining and staying with the WELL is that folks are who they say they
are. I like handles, userids, etc., for the same reason I enjoy
nicknames: they're fun, endearing, and often say something about the
"real" person. I also get a kick out of the way some folks seem to
change their pseudonym with each post. For all that, however, I think
I'm going to do like you, John, and just put my name right out there.
  

    
Postscript: This continues to be an informative topic to this Net
virgin. For anyone with a whit of curiosity the interactive aspects of
this medium inevitably lead to questions of "identity." This discussion
has certainly helped me to better understand the ways of cyberspace,
by way of giving me not only a context, but also a perspective from
which to launch my own inquiries. So, thanks for your community
interest and help. Perhaps some day I, too, will be wise and
forthcoming.

For what it's worth. Just read a review today of a book called "My
Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World," by a guy named Julian
Dibbell, which the Salon reviewer hailed as the "best" book about
online life and identities yet. I've read the others by Seabrook,
Sinha, Turkle, etc., so am curious to read this one.
  

    
> I also get a kick out of the way some folks seem to change their
> pseudonym with each post

Just because we take our identities seriously around here doesn't mean we
are all stuffy and don't know how to let our hair down.  Between the
occasional subjects that are so serious any humor would be tasteless, we
live to play.
  

    
It's true.
  

    
I have a confession to make. Embarrassing but true: 

I've been a Well member since late '96. I've built and maintained a
portfolio site at http://www.well.com/~factoid since early '97.

I work on the Web 10 hours a day (senior producer in Los Angeles for
Cox Interactive Media). I'm an inveterate e-mailer, often peppering the
boxes of friends, colleagues and enemies alike with useful, amusing,
dull and otherwise irritating content, communiques and crap hundreds of
times a day - and always signing my name and full address.

But this is the first time  I've *ever* chosen to jump into a Well
conference. And I've done so, conveniently "hidden" behind my username,
as that's all I've ever felt I was in this place - factoid. In short,
I've never indulged in Well conferencing because I peered in from the
outside, figured, "I haven't time for that in my life" and moved on to
other, more "fruitful" pursuits.

Then, god help me, I bought my first PDA (Handspring), scurried over 
www.visorcentral.com for desperately needed tech-support answers, and
suddenly found myself scanning and posting to the rich (if
narrow-topicked) boards there as if I owned the joint. I would log in
several times a day, just to see if my posts had been responded to with
information, wit, scorn or disinterest, and post and repost on topics
about which I had a little knowledge, or at least insight or humor to
share.

I had "joined" a community. 

And I realized what I'd been shunning lo these four years. 

Shame overtook me. I'm a journalist, writer,  photographer and
generally hungry soul, yet held myself aloof from the Well's original
purpose because I hadn't time for it.  And here, I'd been throwing away
bons mots, quips, and heartfelt screeds on a community accreted around
love of a *machine* fer Chrissakes. 

So I throw myself upon the mercy of the first Well conference I've
ever laid eyes upon, in this my first and (I hope) worst post.  My
"real" name is Mack Reed. And though I didn't need to tell you that, I
stand before you with pathetically open heart and outstretched typing
fingers. I want *in.*

Identity on the 'Net is what we make of it. It's the sculptured "face"
we choose to show to the Web (see aforementioned URL).

And it's the picture other users assemble out of the fragments of
persona, hamfisted metaphors, butchered syntax and glib philosophy they
can glean from the more careless data trails that stream out behind us
like so many decaying contrails.

Like this one.

f
  

    

Wow.  

Hi, Mack.  

Nice splashing in, there!
  

    
Bravo, Mack! Glad to have you join us.
  

    

WELLcome, Mack.

Come join your fellow L.A. Wellperns in the socal conference!
  

    
And if you want to ask any questions about WELL culture, navigation or any
of the other intricacies of life on The WELL, feel free to drop on by the
<wellcome.> conference, where you'll be wellcomed, of course.
  

    

Hey Mack!  A most excellent first post!  Happy to have you.
  

    
Well done, sir. You might be interested in <palm.ind>, which, despite its
name, is an equal opportunity PDA conference.
  

    
Thanks for the kind welcome, all. 

Hadn't intended my cannonball to douse everybody's fruity umbrella
drinks. Now will go wrap up in a towel and shiver in goosebumps in the
shadow of the poolhouse, occasionally shouting encouragement and
watching the other kids play until I get the full hang of it. Just
beginning to explore the panoply of confs at the moment.

f
  

    
palm has gone public :), but it's still a friendly place to discuss 
PDAs.
  

    
Welcome, <factoid>.  Warning, The WELL consumes all the spare time you
didn't think you had!  ;-)
  

    
I fear that, as I have a 3-month-old infant who has already
commandeered all my remaining "free time." I need to figure out a way
around sleep.

Two quotes:

"So much to do, so little time."
                      --Mister X

"Holmes, why don't you take a nap?"
"A nap? I *hate* those little slices of death."
                      --Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
  

    <hidden>
  

    
WELLcome, Mack. I'm only a couple of months into this scene myself,
but know exactly what you're talking about. When I tell people I'm
building a home in cyberspace, it's all centered around this community.
I look forward to seeing your wit and fast-rappin', buzzy style in
other conferences! (It took me a month and a half just to locate myself
amidst the plethora of conferences. Lots of "lurking," lots of fun.
Now, I can't seem to get out of this place once I sign in.)