To ask what is the big deal????

[Babylon1]

With outing yourself????

Now I'm relatively new here, but I've got the same name on every Internet forum I use.

What's the deal with name changing - unless it's something REALLY REALLY confidential obviously.......

I accidentally outed someone on here, and she either doesn't use the forum anymore or has name changed. But i don't understand why???

I haven't ever name changed because I don't know how but I can't see any reason why I would need to? I don't come here to troll, I'm happy to have discussions with people who don't share my opinion, I just genuinely don't understand the name change thing.......

I wouldn't care if I was. Lots of people use MN to be really unpleasant about their friends and relatives though, there can be nasty RL consequences if these things become public.

I have no idea why, but some people find MN use to be shameful.

Like you, this is my name all over the 'net, not just on forums. It's my blog, my email and my Twitter.

probably because if people are talking about their relationships, their family lives, and other issues that they would not like to be public knowledge, they prefer to be anonymous..

I've been pretty scathing about some of my family members though and I have no idea if they are fellow MNers!!

Oops

I have a couple of names that I switch between.

I do not say unpleasant things about people I know but I do sometimes talk about my abusive past in relationships.

Very, very few people in RL know my history and I would prefer to keep it that way.

Ok, I get the talking about personal stuff and remaining anonymous bit, BUT, I am Babylon or Mrs Babylon on EVERY forum I'm registered with, but that's not my name, obviously.......

So I am anonymous, yes?? Ok, the person I outed on here knows who I am, but I have nowt to hide so didn't see the point in name changing!

If anyone in RL got suspicious, I have the option to deny it, and they're hard pushed to prove it aren't they?? MNHQ aren't going to give my registration details to anyone who asks for them are they??!

Because in the past I have posted about things in my life that are not common knowledge and I'd prefer to keep them that way.

People I wouldn't want to be able to identify me from my posts:
My sister-in-law (although she's more likely to be a netmums user than a mumsnetter...)
The parents of anyone I teach
My colleagues.

I've never said anything that could get me into trouble (either with my family or professionally) but it's nice to be anonymous.

someone recognised me, sent links to my posts to a family member. it was (is) shit.

"But surely you would NC squeaky if you're going divulge anything that could come back to haunt you?"

I can't speak for Squeaky, but I never post anything on the internet that I wouldn't talk about openly in RL. Nothing is ever truly anonymous, not even if you name change.

Forgot some words there.

Nothing is ever truly anonymous on the internet, that should say.

Sorry duellingfanjo, I find that totally unfair

It's not something I would ever do if I accidentally outed someone, just wouldn't sit comfortably with me

The good thing about MN is that it meets a lot of needs.

One of those needs is having a forum where you can discuss openly and get support about issues that you might not be able to in RL. If namechanging cuts down the chances of you being identified and allows you to talk more freely, then that is a good thing.

Not everyone will need to namechange but some feel better for it.

What do you mean by "outed"? Did you actually give their real life name?

Er, some people value their privacy?????

You gave someone's real name?

No not at all, I'd NEVER name someone by their RL name.

It was a coincidence totally, I sold some stuff, fellow MNer purchased it, sent her details via pm and my paypal address gives my RL name - so was pretty obvious to each other who we each were!

I haven't name changed, not really bothered if other user still uses forum as I have nothing to hide from anyone!

I namechange every now and then as I often give away a lot of information about myself that means I could be easily recognisable. Which is fine, but then if I want to write about something more personal that I don't want people in RL to know about, then I want to know it's completely anonymous.

I only know one person in RL who is definitely a MN'r. I'm sure a fair few other people I know are on here too, so I'd rather not "out" myself if at all possible.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid!

But if you were called NarkedRaspberry in RL I could understand it - but you're not calked NarkedRaspberry anymore than I'm called Babylon!! So my privacy is protected no!????

Being outed is more to do with DC than us, isn't it? I air problems or concerns about my DC in here that I'd not mention in RL because I don't necessarily want the mothers of their friends to know this stuff and more importantly DC wouldn't either. I just find it more comfortable asking advice or questions anonymously than I would if my DCs names were mentioned.

Not at all Babylon. Every time you post you probably say something about your life that if someone wanted to, they could piece those things together and figure out who you are. Maybe not very time, but probably often enough.

What about those of you who have photos on your profile?? Is that not compromising your privacy more so?
I don't have any photos on my profile because I haven't yet worked out how to upload then and no one could be that sad to want to see my photos!!! so isn't my privacy somewhat more protected than you who may be recognised from your pics?

I don't understand what you did. Do you mean that you discovered that eg my real name is Moody Fruit and she discovered yours is Babs Uno? And that she changed details because of that? Or do you mean that you already knew her in RL and then found out her MN name?