To want to ignore namechangers who speak to me as if they "know" me, but are not saying who they are?

[QuintessentialShadows]

So many has left.
So many has changed their names.
So many talk to me as if they "know" me.

I cant just ignore the familiarity in posting, yet I cant just guess who they are.

It is irritating. I cant just wipe knowledge of posters out of my head and chat to everybody like I have never spoken to them before.

I dont like this at all.

I suspect I am unreasonable. I just want to voice my opinion.

I liked it the way it was. I liked to "know" some posters. I dont like that posters "know" me and I dont know them. Like it is now.

Maybe it really is time to leave, as I am a stuck up miserable old cow who embraces change, but not as much as I thought I did.

Btw my best friend identified me twice, within seconds, with two different names - it is a bit scary to think people who bear me less goodwill might do the same!!

Zazen very aptly put:
" - like someone coming up to you at a party wearing a mask and asking how your fanjo is today then... er... hello!"
QUITE! That is exactly the feeling it instills.

Flightattendent, email tech and ask him to give you your name back. I did that. I now have QuintessentialShadow back, after I flounced I came back as QuintessentialShadows - so in plural I can chose between the two. I only have a profile on one of the names.

You see I want to name change because I never realised how frequently I would be posting on here and now I want something that doesnt name me (as such). However, I think you then lose any "relationships" you have built up, negatively or positively.

I would only name change now if it caused problems in real life.

Even if I am protective of my real life identity, I think my online persona is pretty much who I am in real life. There is no pretence.

I used to be StarryStarryNight. I deregistered and came back as QS. I made no secret of who I used to be. I think most know I used to be SSN.

Many people incorporate current/old name if they plan a name change, so you could be pamelatSOONCrazyHoummusFan or something .

Is it possible that newbies are pretending to be old timers who have name changed?

I'm probably guilty of that. I know I did it to KerryMum a while ago anyway.

I have had good reasons for name changing though and if anybody gave a shit, but really they don't, they could always cat me and ask me who I used to be (very long list at this point). But I don't tend to file things in my long term memory. I take every thread as a separate entity. That said, I do know that certain posters are always nice and some are quite bolshy. I can't help but make a note of that.

Reasons for namechanging might be:

You have big secrets or are very deceitful, here or in RL

You may want to have more than a vacuous conversation with other parents and may reveal more about your relationship or your children than you wanted to (it's not only your own cover that gets blown if someone is to guess who you are.)

You may run a business under your name and not want a Google search to link it to your thoughts on your business difficulties, etc, etc...

The list is long, and not necessarily about 'honesty'.

PS. YANBU by the way - it just isn't always that people are namechanging for the hell of it IMO.

brokenrecord, I agree with you on all those accounts, but it is not that type of namechanging I am objecting too.

I am not against the occasional name change for specific purposes, like asking financial advice, work or business related, relationship or medical advice. I do that myself now and then.

I absolutely detest namechanges to:

• Butt in on a thread and be absolutely vile and rude (as you dont have the guts to say it under your "normal" posting name
• Malicious trolling
• Namechange and make a point of being an oldie but "you dont know who I am, ner ner"

I think this is one of the reasons it was better back in the day, I like everyone to keep the same name so you know whats what.

I never change my name (well I did once) no-one knows who I am anyway, I get ignored majority of the time and if I start a thread it ends quickly. I'd leave but I have nowhere else to go and I'm too stubborn

I'm a name changer as I can't make up my mind! Started as Sails (an acronym of my familys names) and an annagram of my name, then became 2luvlyboys but thought that sounded very sad and twee and unoriginal and so then became NOgirlsallowed only because dh is always saying that I'm outnumbered in my house of boys but I felt that gave the impression of me. I've now gone back to sails. Will probably stick with that unless I have another as it would no longer be an acronym of my familys name! Besides I like my profile as its got my age wrong not sure how!

I read a thread the other night which by the end of it I had no clue who anyone was because they had all namechanged and I had no idea what was going on.

There also seems to be alot of namechanging going on purely to be confrontational which I thought was against the rules.

But I don't think namechanging should be banned altogether. I am thinking of doing this because my name is boooooring and I also feel I have given a bit too much away recently which if certain people read it they could identify me in RL.

On the other hand I am a relative "newbie" and feel that if I do start namechanging when a few folk on here might recognise me I will be back to square one.