to think name change doesn't really make a difference?

[Somethingfantastic89]

I keep seeing people saying they've name changed for a thread etc. but surely the story they tell is outing anyway?
Or is there something I'm missing?

It's so they can't all be linked. Like I might recognise julie from work has posted about her neighbours cat.

But I can't then name search her and teas about her bum warts, infertile worries, cheating husband and debt.

(Poor Julie!)

Yep you're missing something.

You mighty read and think "oh that's Sarah" but you can't search and find sarahs other threads about her six days of constipation /how she hates her sil/her dh likes wearing her tights to work.

You can't put details together.

On one thread (username) I'll give my job title and experience, on another I'll use DH job, children's ages etc, on another any hobbies, on another geographical knowledge in reply to 'what to do on holiday in xxx'.

Of course we're all one more MN-hack away from being outed but it makes it more difficult for amateur advanced searchers.

Julie and Sarah have unfortunate lives

I wonder if Sarah is accepting of her DH's cross dressing, or whether he just finds the office cold and wears tights at her suggestion?

but you can't search and find sarahs other threads
Oh I didn't know I could do that in the first place, but if that's possible then yeah, name change could help.

I should've name changed for this thread to hide that I'm a computer/internet dummy

I was wondering the same. So glad this thread was posted as it makes sense now.

Thanks for replies

Of course we're all one more MN-hack away from being outed but it makes it more difficult for amateur advanced searchers

If you write a lot, and have a fair bit of text under the name change, there's a good chance that it wouldn't even take a hack, it would be a very interesting privacy test on mumsnet.

People are of course developing the software:
www.researchgate.net/publication/310807961_Application_of_Stylometry_to_DarkWeb_Forum_User_Identification

Of course a mumsnet hack would be worse as it would reveal emails and other stuff which has a more direct link.

Professional footballers wear tights, so Sarah shouldn't really worry!
Julie, on the other hand, has got some serious issues to work through!

The fact that people actually search a username and connect things up is something that disturbs me. Why would anyone do that? Stalking comes to mind.

I have never done this. I take posts as I find them. And I hope others will do the same for me too.

But because it CAN be done, I suppose it makes sense to NC wrt to very personal stuff, or potentially outing information.

Did you find a fingerling for your nephew in the end OP?

I suppose Julie is lucky in one way that she hasn't had DC with a cheat.

cathy
I search sometimes if a thread sounds suspicious. Also when I recognise the poster and want to remember details as they are follow ones. Or if other posters recognise the op and start talking about previous threads. Searching previous threads isn’t necessarily for nefarious reasons.

Follow ons

Cathy, if you thought you recognised a very specific situation, would you not feel a little bit curious to know whether you were right and you knew the person posting? And if so, wouldn’t you feel a little bit tempted to check their other posts to see if it really was the person you were thinking of? I wouldn’t call this stalking but natural human curiosity.

I think it is very unfair that you are talking about my posteriorial protuberances

OK already, I am retracting the "stalker" reference now!

Each to their own. I enjoy it here and love all the different views, but I am not that invested to do a search.

If it turns out that a post is mad or bad or whatever, so be it. I am sure I have made some right mad posts in my time too!

I change my name on a regular basis, but I suspect my posts could be linked fairly easily if someone was that interested.

I did an incognito* google search on a couple of characteristics I've mentioned on MN last week and came up as the 9th hit, so I suspect I could be found quite easily, even if I wasn't specifically recognised by anyone on here.

*apparently Google tailors searches to your interests, so I thought I should search as if I wasn't me.

Oh I didn't know I could do that in the first place
There's a big purple Advanced search button at the top of the page.

saucy lol!!! (I didn't, sadly)