Anonymity vs Privacy on the Net54baseball

[Leon]

Anonymity vs Privacy on the Net54baseball


I feel it's time for a healthy debate on this subject and hopefully we can find the best rule for the board, and the moderating of the rule. I will only say that the end result is members will have to stand behind what they say on the board. The "Privacy" on the Board is being debated.
Here is the rule today, (with a typo or two corrected):

"Anonymous, where this board is concerned, implies that you are not known to the moderator or anyone else. That is not permitted on Net54baseball. However, you may remain private on the board; otherwise, as long as your post is not argumentative, controversial, confrontational, accusatorial etc.…For example you can discuss attributes of cards, sets or memorabilia and stay private. You can not say someone is an imbecile, hard to deal with, gave poor service etc…and remain private on the board. In addition to that if your opinion is that you dislike someone, hate them, can’t stand or don’t like anything about them, and you want to tell the world about it on Net54baseball, then your full name will need to be in your post. The moderator may put the posters name on the board or delete their posts, at his sole discretion, when this rule is not adhered to. Heated debates will require first and last names to be known, and made public, on the board. Contact information will be given out for legal reasons or under extraordinary circumstances at the discretion of the moderator."



ps...the reason I am bringing this up again is the current way it's being done isn't working for me ...way too much oversight needed.

[Ease]

Imo everyone should have their first and last name under their login name or in their sig. Period. That ends all the oversight.

[Jacklitsch]

Originally Posted by Ease

Imo everyone should have their first and last name under their login name or in their sig. Period. That ends all the oversight.

Changed my mind. If you don't know me by now I don't want you to.

[Leon]

Thanks for your thought Eric....That would be my first choice but I know it's not good for a lot of people and for good reason.

****In this thread you can remain private and argue with me. Since we are debating it I want everyone to have a chance to say something. Please don't take that as carte blanch..... If you get out of hand, and unprofessional I will revoke this consideration and make your name known. Just be cool and you can argue . All in the spirit of debate.

[teetwoohsix]

I understand both sides of this.....when I first joined, I had my full name up for months-no harm done. Then, I just decided I wanted to be "a little" more anonymous, so just used my last initial for my last name.

Anyone I've bought cards from can vouch for the fact I give all my info to them- home adress, full name, and even add my phone # in there too.

If anyone for any reason would like my last name, you can P.M. me and I will give it to you. Then, at least, I know who it is that is wanting to know my last name

I like the option to be anonymous........because anyone on the web can see your full name, board member or not- that is my main issue with it.

Sincerely, Clayton

[asphaltman]

I don't like being required to have first and last name on every post. Heck if we have to have that then why do we have a members page with emails, ebay handles, websites, etc?

To me...if you've been here for years and are known...then you're known by the general masses...and that should be good enough.


If anything, I wish the member page would be updated...as so many new people here are posting that aren't on it, as well as quite a few on it that don't even come here anymore.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by asphaltman

If anything, I wish the member page would be updated...as so many new people here are posting that aren't on it, as well as quite a few on it that don't even come here anymore.

Dave - the 'Community' link at the top has a full current membership listing. Of course, it is dependent on the member supplying their contact info.

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by asphaltman

I don't like being required to have first and last name on every post. Heck if we have to have that then why do we have a members page with emails, ebay handles, websites, etc?

To me...if you've been here for years and are known...then you're known by the general masses...and that should be good enough.


If anything, I wish the member page would be updated...as so many new people here are posting that aren't on it, as well as quite a few on it that don't even come here anymore.

Agree with Dave, most everyone knows everybody. I see no real need....I think it could create more potential issues vs. correct or avoid potential issues.

Just my two cents.

John

Actually Leon you of all people should understand the no real need for last names. All it takes is someone with a silly axe to grind and a website to make your full name synonymous with whatever tripe they would like to spread. And for what or over what a disagreement of opinion or point of view on a baseball card board. You have our numbers and details if someone pulls something really illegal I think you can hand that over to the right people...

[Rich Klein]

But in our society, one of the great strengths has always been that you have a right to know who your accusers are and have them known to you.

If I say something about a Doug Allen for example, at least I put my name out there -- as does Jeffrey Lichtman who is actually closer to a public figure than I'll ever be,

Doug then has the right to know who it was that said something about him, and I don't have any problems with that.

If you are going to post on a subject that is controversial, then anyone does have the right to know who you are.

If you wish only to post on subjects such as,, observations on 1967 Topps hi #'s, then go ahead and don't worry about if anyone knows who you are.

I think this gives everyone a chance to face their adverseries and I'm sorry but I'm all in favor of giving names. Having the right to know who it is saying something --- is a basic American right.

Regards
Rich

[drc]

I agree with you Rich. There's a difference between threat/auction fraud/theft threads and threads about T206s backs/figural trophies. The latter probably make up 98 percent of the threads. If someone wishes to stay anonymous, stay out of the other former 2 percent. I try my best to.

As far as I've seen, someone's identity is only an issue when the person does stuff like make threats or accusations of stealing. If these inflamatory subjects never came up, I doubt this issue would have ever come up.

[Kawika]

If it weren't for the all-trumping point made by Dstudeba, whoever the hell that is , I would be 100% in favor of forbidding anonymnity on the board. Too many jokers coming over the walls.

David McDonald
(not my real name)

[T206Collector]

Uh... If I was naive enough to use my real name on here, well then OF COURSE I would want everyone else to do the same.

Duh.

If you start listening to the folks that like to use their real names, you won't get anything near a useful debate on the subject.

Putting privacy aside, which is a major consideration, the best reason to not use a real name is that it doesn't freaking matter what name anyone uses on an Internet forum. As long as people stay consistent with their usage then there shouldn't be any confusion. At the same time, if someone is being an arsehole, then ban them quickly.

Finally, while many of the regular posters like to use their names for some reason, to the extent your bag is social networking, then please keep in mind that many of us, myself included, are not interested in meeting folks on here in real life. Barry Sloate could call himself Jonny Bloat, for all i care -- he's still the same Internet person to me.

If you want to get to know each other in real life, sign up for Match.com. Otherwise, keep sharing images of your awesome cards, ask questions about your cards, answer questions about my cards, buy/sell/trade your cards. Everything else is none of my business and i don't care to know who you are, or for you to know who i am...

[dstudeba]

My home was broken into last year and cards were stolen. That is one of the reasons I will not put my first and last name in my posts. If that is a requisite of posting I won't post. No big deal as my life will go on and the board will go on.

[drc]

My opinion is, if the moderator has information, and the poster isn't causing trouble, I have no issue with someone not posting his name. No harm, no foul, as they say. I understand and appreciate why people don't want to post their name on a public chatboard.

[3-2-count]

Originally Posted by Ease

Imo everyone should have their first and last name under their login name or in their sig. Period. That ends all the oversight.

Agreed. My vote is with Eric & Steve.

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by Ease

Imo everyone should have their first and last name under their login name or in their sig. Period. That ends all the oversight.

agreed

[smtjoy]

Originally Posted by Ease

Imo everyone should have their first and last name under their login name or in their sig. Period. That ends all the oversight.

I already have my name up there so I am in this camp already. I do think we would have a lot less issues if that were the case but would lose some good posters too. Granted the systems is broke now so we are going to lose out one way or the other to fix things.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by smtjoy

I already have my name up there so I am in this camp already. I do think we would have a lot less issue if that were the case but would lose some good posters too. Granted the systems is broke now so we are going to lose out one way or the other to fix things.

Exactly my take too but...... there are good reasons to let folks stay private...

That is why my proposal right above might work? We might lose the fewest folks.

To answer a previous question, there is no and will be no board directory where everyones name is (besides the, moderators-only, very private registration database). The links section is there and if folks send me their info it gets put up there. IF they don't then it's not.

[Tsaiko]

or any kind of discussion with a board member, and they want to know who you are, then they can email me and I can tell them your name??

Any?? Jeez, that's a bit much. Wouldn't it just be easier for a board member to tell me they refuse to have a discussion with me because they don't know my name? Then I can have a choice. Besides, I can already feel some board members ignoring me and I know why, which is fine by me, I can respect that/them.

Also, you're referring to discussions on the board, right? Not PM's or other?

Look, I'm fine with being a spectator here, really, so don't put any weight on my opinion, but I'm the type of person that has multiple daily discussions with strangers and rarely introduce myself. I'm that person who turns around and starts talking to you in line at the grocery store or in the Doctor's office waiting room for no apparent reason. I feel that life is just too short to just wait, when there are other humans doing the same thing. Interact!
But, before you come into my house, I must know who you are. A lot of members feel this is their house, I'm sure, so there's the two sides of the coin as I see it. One's casual and one's personal.

Of course if I'm going to make a statement of negative fact about someone in the hobby, you can be sure that I will start that post with, "my name is".

[Rickyy]

I see both sides to the argument as well..but posts that veer into nasty comments and personal attacks and those posts that appear suddenly with controversial statements need to be dealt with a swift hand. Your rules are your rules and this is your site...I'm fine with banning, deleting or editing posts as deemed justifiable based on the mods discretion and rules that are clearly set forth...if you don't like that...leave or start your own site with your own rules...my two yen.

[T206Collector]

What if using your real name was banned -- wouldn't there be fewer personal attacks? Also, if you were personally attacked, wouldn't you take it less seriously if the attacker didn't even know your name?

[teetwoohsix]

One of the turning points for me to exclude my last name was one time I googled my name and one of the first things that came up was a thread I started (or replied to, can't remember) here on Net54.

I also agree if you are going to disrespect people, accuse people, etc. then you should expect your full name to be exposed.

Clayton

[T206Collector]

One of my old high school friends found me on Net54 - and that was even WITHOUT me using my real name. Just enough people calling me Paul on here was actually enough.

[drc]

You can put your name in a way that it prevents your real name showing up on google but everyone knows who you are. Bob Jones can be put there as B@bJones or BobJ.ones, for examples. It's not just for style point that I post my name as one word above. Though it is quite stylish, just like me.