Why Isn't Our Username Our Real Name?

Truth is I belong to a few forums that i definitely want to stay anonymous in, so I guess signing up I just operated under the same mind set. Plus Mad Lion is my personal brand name, and finally being in marketing, some of us may have been involved in certain marketing ventures that some people lost money in and are on the hunt. LOL.

Oh ya and there are some grey fellows amongst us that know things like DDos attacks, hacking, etc, and this game can be competitive. So maybe being somewhat anonymous is not such a bad thing.

We can PM with people we trust.
My name is Philip Cooke by the way. Nice to meet you.

Google indexes everything from here in seconds. Not sure that I'd want everything I ever posted here to be easily traced by a competitor, client, etc.

@ op
may be am wrong :
user-name always reflects human nature even on our professional too..
same as on our logo or avatar we do use..
those user-name depends on our age too..
between 18-24 users use some catchy alias
When come to 25-30 or above they reflects there professional ...

Well I use my real name as my username on most of the time. I love to do it.

We've been called our names everyday, for as long as we can remember, and we're going continued to be called our names for the rest of our lives.

Some just want to mix things up and come up with an alias that we'd like to be associated with on a forum.

After all, nobody knows your past or present on a forum. A brand new identity even in small ways, appeals to a lot of people out there.

Also, max has a point. The Internet can really distort an image if you ever did something you weren't proud of.

Google is the reason.

IF people google your real name, they see everything. That includes haters who do nothing but hate as it's their job. People like the warm security blanket of anonymity the internet offers. Haters especially will say things they would never say in a million years in person, but it's online so others will believe anything.

It's a fine line. No matter what you do or say someone somewhere will always have some kind of issue with you. You could be mother Teresa and STILL have haters. Nature of the beast.

Cause I got stuff to hide I don't want others seeing... LOL.

I've had other usernames on other forums where it wasn't really important, but once I decided to offer a WSO here I think people appreciate knowing who they're dealing with and since I've got nothing to hide, don't mind being as transparent as possible.

Personally, if you're selling in the WSO forum and you're not either using your real name as your username or you're not upfront about who you are in your sales copy, you'll usually miss out on getting my business and probably the business of many others too.

Good topic Claude - thanks!

We're on a marketing website...with as much spam as we get just by being ON this forum, I do not want my name to pop up on google on this site.

In addition, I don't like people that don't know me to call me by my name in an informal setting. Also, there's 2 of us that comment here...so, even though most people know who they are getting advice from here, some don't and I like to keep it interesting.

I bet you can't guess who the mouthy one is?

I had no idea about the google thing! For those of us who do use our real name, all the more reason to proceed with the utmost integrity.

I think older users in general use "usernames". We simply were part of the era when the net was a place you didn't put personal info.

But now with Social Networking and the way the web is there isn't a huge reason to hide your real name anymore. Thus why here and a few other places I no longer use a "username".

Am I the only one who's concerned about identity theft now adays?

You have to realise not everyone likes having their info out here on the internet. This is the internet after all, it's publicly accessible and some people just don't feel comfortable having their name out there.

For more established names that might not be a problem. But for the majority of us, we just want to earn our money quietly

For me, i just don't think its a good idea putting up personal info about yourself especially your real name on the internet. Plus its fun having cute usernames

To the OP, most people are just so paranoid in my opinion!

My name IS my user name, if you Google me you can find my address D.O.B and many more facts including my mobile phone (cell) number.

Do I care, well not really, If a hacker wants to attack my system, that's fine I have backups of everything on none connected external drives. If someone want's to steel my identity then feel free, we can share my debts

If you write something on this forum, or any other forum for that matter, that you are afraid may come back and bite you, should you really have wrote it in the first place?

Anyway, that's my take on the matter.

Best regards
Arran Wood

Here's a thought worth considering... maybe... you decide...

I've been around here a while... I've bought lots of products
and services from fellow Warriors. I've never bought a single
thing... nor will I ever... from someone who doesn't use their
real name.

Look around the forum... my bet is 90%+ of the most successful
members use their real names.

That's a clue.

snakez0r, although I have no issues whatsoever giving out my name, I would not like to think a fellow warrior is giving out my details like that on any forum without my knowledge.

I am sure it's not illegal however it is in my opinion it is bad taste, but hey.

Best regards
Arran Wood
P.S. I obviously did not quote you, as you may CHOOSE to take your post down.

My username is my real name. :-) However, those who want to add some brand perception to the username are also having a point.

Snakezor, the reason I don't is because I actually have a few REAL stalkers. I don't want my full name posted on a message board. There are many reasons why I use a screen name, none of which should be of any concern to you. I'm not trying to sell anything here to anyone, I'm not putting my name on any products.. lol. And, WHY would you put my name on here, following up saying I don't think he wants anyone to know? There are people on my skype list that know my real name and I'm fine with that, they're friends and not psychos. I'm not sure why you even put forth the effort to find it.

There are some crazy people out there. When you have a few things happen to you, it makes you much more careful.

@ Claude, there are many reasons, privacy, anonymity, agendas, good and bad reasons. I don't think anyone really cares about being prospected. There are people that use, "real names" that aren't their real name.

Some people mention certain numbers on here, and I doubt they want everyone knowing their real name, and being able to search their address, steal mail, steal identities, or give away fuel for the IRS if you aren't 100% honest, lol.

The reason I choose to use a user name, is because there are 3 people that actively search for me, and it is kind of scary. I also, intend to run for a certain government office in the next few years and I'm not sure I want people being able to do a simple google search of my name and be able to bring up some of the things I say here that some people happen to be offended by every now and then. lol.

It's definitely against the rules here to out anyone's private information without their permission.

Anyone is welcome to disagree. But don't do it. One of the most senior members here was just banned for two weeks for doing this.

It's just a habit when people go online.

It has become a online style and trend. Though my username is my real name yet sometimes I myself do not use my real name in username.