LibriVox Forum

I've noticed since I joined LibriVox, that most of the long time members here use their real names - if not as their forum name, then often in signing a message posted. Is this a standard protocol here, or is it just that you don't feel any paranoia about being indentified and stalked as a result of letting people know who you really are? That sounds funny I guess, but it is a serious question.

I am a member of several forums, and have only ever used my real name in Personal Messages to people I've got to know on the forum discussions - yes, this is largely because of paranoia, and occasionally because I might not necessarily want to be associated with some of the harmless silliness I've written in the past!

So what I'm wanting to know is, do you at LibriVox encourage the use of real names, or doesn't it matter? I remember reading something in a part of Wiki which spoke of people who don't use their real name as being a bad thing, not encouraged, as it's easier for people to do/say unacceptable things while hiding behind a pseudonym.

Any comments?

We have no policy. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable :)
Some people, including me, are not worried about anonymity at all. Some are very concerned about it and use only a pseudonym here. Some readers have even asked us to catalog them as "anonymous". We don't care :)

If you spotted that in a wiki, it should be changed. Let me know if you remember where you saw it.

there was an earlier discussion about this subject on the forums somewhere. My general feeling is that if people have bad intentions towards you and would like to stalk you, they could easily do so for just about anybody.

I have concluded that it is best not to be to paranoid about these issues, just cocious, using common sense.

What a relief, Kara - I thought maybe the thing I read also applied here, and was starting to feel like a heel for not using my real name. Yes folks, it's true - I am not actually called Ophelia!

As for where I read it....think I followed some links from the LV Wiki, and ended up in someone else's, but I can't be sure. It sounded official, yet from appearances was completely unrelated to LV. Sorry I can't give a link at this point.

My husband and I read a story to our children (some are teens) about a girl who would chat to someone her own age who lived in another state, after school most days. As the story progressed (apparently it is true, but who knows with these things) the person she was chatting to ended up being 30 years older than her, and living in the next suburb. Using the information from their chat sessions, this man was able to eventually work out which school she went to, which sporting games she played and where and when, and which nights of the week she was home alone till after dark. Fortunately in this case the man was a policeman who was part of a taskforce posing on the net with the express purpose of warning children about potential dangers, and of catching those who are out there trying to trap unsuspecting youngsters. I am so glad I'm out of those teenage years, even if I did look so much better then!

I guess it's up to each of us to work out what we feel comfortable revealing about ourselves.

Yakumo wrote:there was an earlier discussion about this subject on the forums somewhere. My general feeling is that if people have bad intentions towards you and would like to stalk you, they could easily do so for just about anybody.

I have concluded that it is best not to be to paranoid about these issues, just cocious and jusing common sense.

You are absolutely right, well put. Would you mind posting a link to that earlier discussion, if you are able to dig it up?

Well, my name - John Gonzalez - is common enough to be fairly harmless... there are a ton of us already...

Besides, as an actor who uses Librivox to get my voice work out there it's kind of necessary.

johngon wrote:Well, my name - John Gonzalez - is common enough to be fairly harmless... there are a ton of us already...

Besides, as an actor who uses Librivox to get my voice work out there it's kind of necessary.

Hee hee I just googgled you And yup you do come up! Try it

I have been myself on the Internet from way before the days of paranoia - going on 15 years, I guess.

I can't hide my tracks at this point, so I just continue on with obvious connections between my real name and several various nicknames. I'll be easily found if someone ever has evil intentions towards me.

Should I have a chance to do it all over again, I might try to remain anonymous.

hmm.. I'm sure that someone started at least a mini discussion a while back about this. I can't seem to find it in the forum post headers.

the search function has never been ideal to tell the truth...

would anyone care to asist me?

Yeah, I've been online way too long to even try to make it difficult to find out who I really am. Plus, people who are paranoid about stalkers on the internet shouldn't be. The chances are just as good you'll be stalked by someone local. Just because you've seen someone in person doesn't make them safe.

With that said, I still think it's important for children and teens to understand how to be safe online, and not give out personal information to people they don't know in a real life basis, or....

Well, the "or" there includes meeting people around your age and taking the chance that they're real. Lucky for me the guy was real, and I married him

To reiterate what's already been said, be as anonymous or not as you choose. We don't really care

The only time I worry about using real names is when my high school students show a complete disregard for safety on MySpace. Otherwise, by now my name is in so many places on the Net, both as me and as other people plus there are a goodly number of Alan Drake's in the world, that none of it ever mattered. (Which is part of the reason I use my full family name.) "And which one are you, sir?" The only time I had any real problem with Alan Drake was here in the small city where I live. A while back there was a man with the same name, even the same middle initial. The only thing I can say about that is I learning that the USPS has a fond regard for putting the right persons mail in the wrong person's box, even if the address is way on the other side of town.

Also, I should add that the LV forum is different than most forums in that we're more like a workshop here. I don't mean like a "training workshop" but an actual shop in which all of us little worker bees are doing our vaious jobs and producing a product. This interesting and in many ways unique set-up is "task" oriented, not "idea" focused. We're an industry here and we all truely believe in our products. For many of us we can't "work" in an envirsonment like this NOT on a first name basis. I understand and respoct that not everyone is that way, but repsecting that is also a sign of what LV is. Bla bla bla

I prefer using a pseudonym so that all my online activities aren't a matter of public record anytime anyone googles my name.

"Oh hey, did you know that woman who just started in our department? Look at her google results... she comments on soap opera forums! How embarrasing!"

Believe me Tina, I can relate to that!! 8)

Ha! Ha! I forgot about that! I um... uh... I just have to... --- UG! --- yup...

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