To ask how many times you name change

[pinkfishbluefish]

Just to be nosey

I have 10+ usernames (I think) and switch between some of them for different things, like different boards or just if the mood takes me, never to deliberately try and deceive.

I do it mainly so that if anyone IRL recognises a post, they can’t see my other posting history and confirm it’s me ie ‘pink fish has two dogs, a son who’s privately schooled’ etc it wouldn’t take long to put things together.

AIBU to name change often? Does anyone else change very regularly or usually stick to one?

Fairly regularly.
I just think it makes common sense, not for any nefarious reasons
I mean, I post a lot and it can quite easily build up a picture - from how many kids you have, what area you know well if anyone posts about your home town asking for info as they're moving there ,...... ..

Seems somehow dishonest imo.

What does?

That's ridiculous! It's an anonymous forum, no one here is your friend, neither are they trying to trick you by name changing.

I understand people don't want to 'out' themselves if speaking about anything they could be identified from that's really personal, but just giving views on things? That just seems odd to me, but I'm a very open personality!

I've only done one or two major non-themed changes. And I don't like feeling that someone I've come to 'know' on a particular board has disappeared. Sometimes they change to a similarly-themed handle, which I can cope with, but I feel a bit sad when they seem to vanish altogether.

That's very naive of you @mamabear715 . It takes seconds for someone to google the word mumsnet together with your username and piece together personal information from multiple threads.

Every few weeks. I’ve only posted with this one a couple of times, but I’ve just told my sausage dog song to everyone on a different thread so I may have to change soon because other people have heard me sing it in real life.

I only name-changed once, and it was because my original username, ddl1, was too easy to confuse with dd1.

I do have different usernames on different boards.

@welliesmellie I guess it is, but fortunately, my life is an open book, no DV or the like that I can understand posters would want to hide.

Then don't call others dishonest, when mumsnet policy allows them to change username as often as they want. The only restriction is on "sock puppeting" on the same thread, and mumsnet soon gets in touch if people do that (I've done it accidentally on a long-running thread in the past, and got a polite reminder by email).

If I want to share something to people who might recognise me in real life, I put it on Facebook. Mumsnet can be a much needed sounding board and haven of privacy for those that want or need it.

@welliesmellie I said it seems dishonest, I didn't call anyone dishonest. People presumably have their reasons, my life is an open book NOW, please don't assume I haven't had bad times!
I can absolutely understand people not wanting their DC identifying, for instance, but changing names to argue a point is beyond me! Sorry, I don't know what 'sock puppeting' is?
I rarely post on FB, despite using it quite a bit, I do like my privacy but on the other hand am not going to faff changing names on here!

To explain that one, sometimes it's usually my way to keep tabs on the thread, as I usually just see what I'm on vs what I'm watching, and sometimes I don't know what to advise the op, so in theory whatever the op prefers the outcome, it's my way of saying that

@Hawkins001

That's kind of mad, sorry!

If you want to placemark, add the thread to your watch list & bookmark. Come back when you are ready to comment

Saying 'all the best' if OP has asked for opinions / advice / comments (mainly what a forum is for!) is kind of useless and maybe irritating.

I change name simply because I like to change name, not because I'm trying to hide anything. There's nothing dishonest about it, it's easy to do on MN so I do it regularly. Saying that it seems dishonest implies that posters are doing something nefarious - maybe they're like me & like to name change, rather than doing it to argue with others.

Well said.

I've had a poster imitate my name pretending to be me, by dropping one letter. I've had many posters repeatedly change names, come on a thread and their first post as a user with that name on MN is to insult me, quite obviously a NCer. It does mean it can be open season if you don't like a poster or disagree with them. You can change your name, throw around some insults, change back. Quite upsetting.

Sock puppeting is having more than one name on an individual thread.

I've never known a forum where name changing can happen, or indeed is so prolific.

Not great behaviour. People can get a bit fixated on posters and they should try not to. It’s just differing opinions which is the point of mn. Private FB groups or whatever can tailor to all same views if wanted.

I agree. I always concentrate on the content of the post, as opposed to who posted it... if that makes sense. If you do that, you don't make it personal.

Very true. Mind you, there are a couple of posters whose posts I can pretty much guarantee I won’t agree with on political threads but I do agree with them frequently in other areas. Ditto the monarchy @Roussette 😉

Hehe ain't that the troof!! @Blossomtoes
A fine line to be trod at times

Regularly! Just makes feel safer and more anonymous that way.

Can I ask how do you name change on the app?

Quite alot. But I talk about abusive (now ex, thanks to mumsnet support) DH so I need them to not connect otherwise he'd kill me.

Loads. If I posted my nationality, job and rough area, number of children, I’m very easily identified. I don’t know anyone else in my job role of my nationality in the wider area around me. It’s so easy to mention those things over time.

Im not horrible on here or something, but equally I wouldn’t share my personal thoughts with the world. I can imagine also people complaining if they didn’t like my comments and twisting it. I just want to be anonymous

Since the security difficulties with this site, I name change very regularly, for reasons of safety and anonymity.

I always try and match my n-name to the thread, even if it means going back and changing to a previous name, but sometimes if a thread has gone on for a couple of days or more and it has become very long, I don’t always bother, usually because I am in a rush, cba, am using an old tablet with a sticky keyboard and it takes too long, or I forget!

I don’t think it qualifies as sock-puppeting does it when you use different names on the same thread, for the reasons given above, as long as you stick to the same argument. I thought sock-puppeting was when you name changed deliberately on the same thread in order to write opposing arguments, just for the sake of being provocative and malicious?

I thought sock puppeting meant posting on a thread under a different name with the same opinion to support your first user name used on the thread? So it depends.