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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to namechange compulsively in case anyone I know guesses who I am from my posts?

29 replies

moraletotallydestroyedbypoopoo · 27/09/2011 22:26

Or do others do it too?

OP posts:
worraliberty · 27/09/2011 22:27

Nope, never done it but then again I don't type anything on the internet I wouldn't want the world and his live-in lover to know.

I can understand others do though.

BrawToken · 27/09/2011 22:30

I change every few months usually after I have admitted something which could id me Smile

Kladdkaka · 27/09/2011 22:30

Nope, me neither. Although I am now wondering if I've written anything incrimating.

FabbyChic · 27/09/2011 22:30

If someone who knew me in real life read my posts it would be obvious it was me, but I really don't give a shit because I'm an open book and have nothing to hide.

I don't believe that having an online persona should mean you pretend to be somebody else, but people do do it.

I give a lot of my personal life away on here.

If someone was to hold it against me then well l that is their problem not mine.

PelvicFloorsOfSteel · 27/09/2011 22:33

Quite often, which is stupid really as I never say anything I wouldn't in RL so it wouldn't really matter if I was IDed.

leftblank · 27/09/2011 22:33

Same as Fabby

When people speak of being outed I always think they must have very glamorous, James Bond type lives

worraliberty · 27/09/2011 22:36

I know this is going to sound a bit bad but....

I generally pay more attention to the advice and opinions of people whose posting names I recognise (even if I might not agree with them)

I suppose it's because they've built themselves a 'profile' by their posting history, so as you get to know them...you get to know how sensible (or not) their advice or opinion is IYSWIM.

MerryMagdalene · 27/09/2011 22:39

I had the same name from 2004 9when I joined) to 2008. i was a 'regular' and loved being part of the furniture here.

Then I was spotted by someone who knew me in RL and - although nothing sinister came of it - it could have been absolutely awful. She was a colleague, and it meant that, in theory, she could have searched my posts and learned a LOT more than I would ever want someone I worked with to know about me.

Since then, i name change about once a week. It has its downsides - I feel like I 'know' all the regulars, but they no longer 'know' me - but it can also be fun

Bottom line is, my privacy means more to me than forming relationships on Mumsnet.

grograg · 27/09/2011 22:39

I do it all the tme, ive been here since 2006 and i have had alot of different names. Sometimes i give to much info and think shit what about if someone from dd's school knows it's me and searches my name and pulls up all my old threads.

basana · 27/09/2011 23:17

I do.
I secretly think people will look down on me for spending an hour or so each night online Blush

fruitshootsandheaves · 27/09/2011 23:21

I'd quite like to know a mumsnetter in RL. But since I am very unsociable and live in a small village i think it's unlikely that anyone knows me.

SoylentClean · 27/09/2011 23:28

I'm the same as MerryMagdalene, change regularly. I feel like I know lots of MNetters, but they don't know me, its quite weird.

Sometimes I find myself wanting to say 'oh yes, I remember that and do you remember that then I said xxxx and the troll said yyyyy?' and then I realise the other MNetter would have no idea who I was and that I'd be outing myself.

I disagree with Fabby though (which isn't often!) but if someone in RL wants to use your MN info against you in a sinister way then it is very much your problem, not theirs.

MardyBra · 27/09/2011 23:36

I revealed too much under my initial name.
I now name change for anything which would identify me, like my work, specific occurrences or interests, or geographical location, so I do have other aliases.

I try not to post anything which would embarrass me in RL, but I have strong suspicions that some acquaintances and work colleagues are on here, so prefer to remain anonymous just in case I do put my foot in it!

MowlemB · 27/09/2011 23:43

I've been on here since 2004, but have never been 'known' as I've always name changed with semi regularity. I know I do give away enough information to out myself, so by name changing at least I limit what people know about me. Its not that I wouldn't say anything I wouldn't say in RL, but of course you don't want everyone to know everything that you are thinking. There's a NM on here atm that I recognise from RL, and they've revealed too much - stuff they've not admitted in RL, but haven't thought about the fact that they've put everything on here. I wouldn't like that.

MardyBra · 27/09/2011 23:44
sayithowitis · 27/09/2011 23:44

When I first joined I revealed more than I would be comfortable with certain RL people knowing about me. So I name changed. Then I did it again because I realised my new name was actually quite recognisable if anyone I knew in RL happened to read it. So now I have a couple of names I use. This one, where I can feel free to write some details about my life that I wouldn't necessarily want to share with people I know and another one that I use for times when I am not really writing about very personal stuff. In both cases, I tend to keep certain details quite vague ( gender and ages of DCs, how many years married etc) to protect me from n=being outed. It is not an attempt to deceive, more to make sure that I can write about things that are sometimes very personal and that I wouldn't want to share with family or friends.

Quintessentialist · 27/09/2011 23:44

Not really. It does not matter. I dont say anything on here that I could not hold my head up high about in real life anyway.

bluegnueboo · 27/09/2011 23:47

Never used to but for the past six or so months very definitely.

Have had to ask the mn collective for some advice on a couple of topics that could identify me. Not that I think anyone would be bothered as such but I've "seen" people I know on here and wouldn't want it to happen to me.

cheeseandmarmitesandwich · 27/09/2011 23:50

I do! And it's crap cos I really really liked one of my old names, it kind of 'fit' like no others have. Not that I post anything outlandish but it's like basana said, part of me would be a bit embarrassed if I was identified... Though having said that they'd be a mumsnetter too, so that doesn't make sense really.

Plus I think I live in mumsnet central anyway, I see lots of mentions of where I live on here.

cheeseandmarmitesandwich · 27/09/2011 23:50

I do! And it's crap cos I really really liked one of my old names, it kind of 'fit' like no others have. Not that I post anything outlandish but it's like basana said, part of me would be a bit embarrassed if I was identified... Though having said that they'd be a mumsnetter too, so that doesn't make sense really.

Plus I think I live in mumsnet central anyway, I see lots of mentions of where I live on here.

cheeseandmarmitesandwich · 27/09/2011 23:53

Though I am obviously easily identifiable as the one with the crap blackberry that always double posts Angry

cheeseandmarmitesandwich · 27/09/2011 23:53

Though I am obviously easily identifiable as the one with the crap blackberry that always double posts Angry

maras2 · 27/09/2011 23:53

Agree with Worra and (dare I say for the first time ) Fabby, also.

ConstanceNoring · 27/09/2011 23:59

I for one am NEVER agreeing with Fabby again Angry

I have namechanged a few times because I keep leaving MN open and DH 'thinks' he has guessed who I am.

But I am determined to stay as Constance now, and have learnt to LogOut , Delete History. Wink

mothmagnet · 28/09/2011 00:52

My posts are inhibited by worrying RL people will recognise me, even though they're pretty bland.

I namechanged recently (and accidentally mid-thread todayBlush) and it was quite liberating. I thought hey! I'm new again and can say what I want!

It did feel like throwing away all the connections that'd been made though, and I appreciated worral's honestly in saying she replied mainly to posters she knew - it's hard to be new here and expect replies unless you're an especially witty poster Smile