Time to throw off the masks??

[durruti02]

oh all right then

but I would still appreciate an argument as to WHY it is desirable to post under real names. I personally won't be doing anything like that ever. Actually, if you google my real name you do get some old BBC comments and Guardian letters that are really shit, but I was both young and drunk at the time. I see no reason why anyone should need or desire my real name to evaluate any arguments that I post about politics.

cheers FM

ok because by using pseudonyms we are not honest about what we support and are prepared to do in reality .. there are many armchair bullshitters on here who give it teh big un but do not do anything .. surely they woudl be exposed

positively people really at some stage need to put their heads above the parapits ( spelling??) and say yes i am so and so and this is what i believe

actually another idea would be if people were allowed two log ins .. one real and one pseudonym as yes sometimes people like to fly ideas that maybe they do not want associated with .. but then again maybe they should have the courage of their convictions

 

[durruti02]

Well, for one because I don't want to unnecessarily add a few more pages to my current special branch file.

Two, it's called internet culture.

It's traditional for internet users to post under a pseudonym

It's all a hall of smoke and mirrors in which nothing is real, or at least if it seems so is probably not

1) what harm would it do .. they have enough already

2) yep .. and it's generally abusive irresponsible rubbish!

 

[Divisive Cotton]

cheers FM

ok because by using pseudonyms we are not honest about what we support and are prepared to do in reality .. there are many armchair bullshitters on here who give it teh big un but do not do anything .. surely they woudl be exposed

I think that's pretty obvious though even if they do use a pseudonym

 

[durruti02]

Hardly unknown historically that people publish political tracts anonymously either.

yes thats true .. nye bevan micheal foot and all .. i am not saying pseudonyms are totally worng but on here and teh internet they have negatively changed how we work

 

[FridgeMagnet]

If people are able to post things which indicate that they're not lying about having done X, Y or Z, that's good enough for me, and if I don't believe them I'll just not believe them. It's rarely a problem.

In any case the primary purpose of discussion forums is discussion, where the arguments proposed are the main point, not who's done what.

 

[durruti02]

One who doesn't want to publish their name and address?

Also, the UK politics forum, more than any other on here, seems rife with the kind of obsessives who would come round your house if you disagreed with them on some minor point or mail you an exploding parcel of shit or something.

but why would you not want people to know who you are and where you live ( yes i know the answer but indulge me! ) it is this that has been lost in politics surely??

yes obsessoves are a problem but again i think the cloak and dagger stuff encourges agressive abusive behaviour

 

[durruti02]

If people are able to post things which indicate that they're not lying about having done X, Y or Z, that's good enough for me, and if I don't believe them I'll just not believe them. It's rarely a problem.

In any case the primary purpose of discussion forums is discussion, where the arguments proposed are the main point, not who's done what.

yes and half yes

ok yes if it is about discussion yes it does not always matter ( though then everyone is trying to work out how the posters are anyway ) .. but hopefully increasingly we can use forums like this to organise .. we have on here the creator of class war the current editor of class war, the founder of red action and iwca a key AF person and many many more people with solid track records yet forever people are being coy and never really getting down to the nitty gritty

 

[Crispy]

I would suggest that the nitty gritty should be happenning in the real world, not on the internet.

 

[audiotech]

Having lived through the black listing years and been on a fascist hit list, I think this is a really dumb idea.

 

[durruti02]

I would suggest that the nitty gritty should be happenning in the real world, not on the internet.

yes it should but the internet can be a good communication tool

 

[durruti02]

Having lived through the black listing years and been on a fascist hit list, I think this is a really dumb idea.

so the fasc don't know who we are if we are active? of course they do as does the state ..

 

[audiotech]

so the fasc don't know who we are if we are active? of course they do as does the state ..

There getting no help from me.

 

[durruti02]

There getting no help from me.

so if you stood as a councillor you would hide your name and address .. and maybe you would have not been such a coward amd smear artist if we knew who you were? and where you lived? maybe it would make people think before the smear and insult and lie about each other in here?

 

[DotCommunist]

I really don't need Phorm hoarding my political views for sale to pollsters and shady organisations ta.

 

[e19896]

Having lived through the black listing years and been on a fascist hit list, I think this is a really dumb idea.

same here and on red watch, but e19896 is due to myself being banned and me sneaking back in, but it is know that one is Mark Mozaz Wallis have no shame in my anarchism no fear of the far right, neither being black listed.

Have a fucking pride in being an anarchist and ill stand up for what i think and act for what i think..

Now goes off to hide under the table

 

[Steve Booth]

Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine

oh all right then

but I would still appreciate an argument as to WHY it is desirable to post under real names. I personally won't be doing anything like that ever. Actually, if you google my real name you do get some old BBC comments and Guardian letters that are really shit, but I was both young and drunk at the time. I see no reason why anyone should need or desire my real name to evaluate any arguments that I post about politics.

If the injustice is part of the necessary machine of government let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth. Certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine - Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, Dover Paperbacks, 1993, page 8

In my opinion, people need to put their real names to what they write. It is part of the process of putting their weight against the machine. Pseudonymity is part of the problem with the anarchist movement.

I understand that there may be reasons why people feel the need for pseudonymity, but on the whole, for the normal run of exchanges of opinions and ideas, the whole atmosphere of the movement would be so much better if people were sincere and honest about who they are and what they thought.

 

[audiotech]

so if you stood as a councillor you would hide your name and address .. and maybe you would have not been such a coward amd smear artist if we knew who you were? and where you lived? maybe it would make people think before the smear and insult and lie about each other in here?

Whose the 'we' chickenshit?

I've had both letters and articles published in my name. One was attacking the dumb antics of anarchists funnily enough.

 

[JHE]

this is aimed at people involved in politics who post on the uk politics forums

ok pretty well everyone on here posts using a pseudonym. why? i think it would be better if we all junked these and started posting using our real names .. it is more real .. we would have to think harder maybe about what we say .. we would be less abusive maybe .. etc and if people want to talk about things they should not talk about they are stupid to do it on here anyway .. comments please ?

I like the anonymity of the internet.

It allows discussion that would otherwise be inhibited by the possible monitoring of employers and others - eg, party bosses, plod, spooks etc.

What's more, there are also some (few) thoroughly nasty pieces of work around here, it seems to me. It's possible that they (or more likely one or two of them) are dangerous. I wouldn't like them to be able easily to find me or whoever else may have offended them. Stupid threats and abuse on a message board don't bother me much. If the twits who like dishing out the verbal stuff could also dish out violence, I'd be more bothered. Why help them?

 

[mk12]

Hello everybody. I'm Matt, and i'm from Milton Keynes.

 

[In Bloom]

Openess is fine, up to a point. But I'd rather not have an employer or prospective employer type my name into google and have the sort of stuff I post on here come up among the results, especially not in my current (fairly precarious) work situation. Of course, if you're politically active in any meaningful way, your employer is probably going to find out eventually, but why make it easy for them?

Anyway, durutti02, if you feel so strongly about it, you go first

 

[david dissadent]

Todays political climate will not be tomorrows.

 

[Citizen66]

Todays political climate will not be tomorrows.

People are generally less uptight on wednesdays than tuesdays.

 

[chilango]

No...

• I live somewhere where the fascists can (and have) been in govt.
  
• I sometimes post from work, bad enough as it is, without my employer reading my comments.
  
• Cuts down on personal baggage from RL.
  
• Its only the internet
  
• How real are real names anyway? I never used mine that much when I was most active...so knowing it would hardly make a difference to people reading my posts.

all imho of course...

 

[Louis MacNeice]

John Stuart Mill thought that public voting was needed so that people would have to defend their choices in public and make those choices in that knowledge. Incidentally as a long time proponent of the secret ballot, he was convinced of this by his wife. I can see how this principle might be usefully applied to this board.

Cheers - Louis (yes I can see the irony in this) MacNeice

 

[nubster]

this is aimed at people involved in politics who post on the uk politics forums

ok pretty well everyone on here posts using a pseudonym. why? i think it would be better if we all junked these and started posting using our real names .. it is more real .. we would have to think harder maybe about what we say .. we would be less abusive maybe .. etc and if people want to talk about things they should not talk about they are stupid to do it on here anyway .. comments please ?

Should porn stars use their real names? Would that get you off?

 

[trevhagl]

this is aimed at people involved in politics who post on the uk politics forums

ok pretty well everyone on here posts using a pseudonym. why? i think it would be better if we all junked these and started posting using our real names .. it is more real .. we would have to think harder maybe about what we say .. we would be less abusive maybe .. etc and if people want to talk about things they should not talk about they are stupid to do it on here anyway .. comments please ?

Part of the fun for most people on here is the anonymity. It gives them a bit POWER being able to say what they like from their bedroom war bunker.
If you made them use their real names they would probably up sticks and have to SOCIALISE with REAL PEOPLE - good grief!

 

[In Bloom]

Part of the fun for most people on here is the anonymity. It gives them a bit POWER being able to say what they like from their bedroom war bunker.
If you made them use their real names they would probably up sticks and have to SOCIALISE with REAL PEOPLE - good grief!

So, what's your name then, oh brave one?

 

[Maidmarian]

so if you stood as a councillor you would hide your name and address .. and maybe you would have not been such a coward amd smear artist if we knew who you were? and where you lived? maybe it would make people think before the smear and insult and lie about each other in here?

Names , addresses & telephone numbers of all candidates for public office must be published (by law)---- bit of a pain really, I STILL get people contacting me despite losing my seat in 2006 !

 

[_angel_]

I registered under my 'real' name and I still use it on some forums. However, there are just too many weirdoes out there to want to do that here. Ta.

 

[_float_]

I think that the two Green Party candidates/activists I know about post under their own names (kind of) and that this adds more interest to their posts on u75.

Shane C (Lambeth GP)
Matt S (formerly Oxford GP)

There was also 'the commander' (paddick) with his comments, and 'Rachel North' - not full names but not fully anonymous either.

I think it adds more political weight to someone's posts if they use an identifable name or have a clear link to a group or party, because then people can immediately connect what is being posted with a group, candidate, campaign or whatever, without the underlying doubt of whether this person really is genuine or not.

I am not saying it should be compulsory, obviously it is up to the individual, but there is something to be said for 'standing up in public and being counted', it definitely takes more guts and brings with it downsides re. privacy and being attacked verbally etc. by people who can themselves remain anonymous.

If you think about it though, surely a central part of being involved in real life politics is that you *are* identifiable and you *do* have to live with the consequences of what you are standing up for. How much political impact can you really have anonymously?