How important is your boards.ie ''identity''

banie01

Hi folks.
Just curious on this one?
How important is your ''online'' persona to ye?
While I appreciate its not real-life, especially here in this forum ;-)
I often find that one can get a wee insight into someone's thought processes and opinions based on what they've posted and how they are prepared to justify(Or not) their views in many of the discussions I've had here.
In many discussions you can almost guess which poster's will be yea or nea on some topics....

Lets say a user creates an account and builds up a posting history, adds friends and so on via their profile page then decides that due to being ''cyber-stalked'' by someone they want to dump that account.
They close their original account and re-reg with a different user name, just to be sure they distance themselves from said stalker.
Perfectly reasonable right?
I mean one's personal safety is always paramount.

But lets say a user is doing this on a continuing basis?
Running an account for a period, and then closing that account and reregging on a continuing basis?
Personally.....1st off :rolleyes: I'd start wondering which was the stalker ...

I mean, I find it a little disturbing insofar as a person doing this can come across as a little Walter Mitty'ish' to say the least especially when say, they've let you know they have re-regged and you see many of the beliefs and opinions they professed to hold dear....
Suddenly shift to their polar opposite!

While I appreciate I post here under a self-chosen username with a degree of implied anonymity....
I'd like to think that at the very least I would stand over my posts, comments and opinions and that while it is not significant by any means(nor are my opinions or my post count ), that if I fancy a name change I'd take a sub and do it that way.
And if there are times I want some anon advice re: personal issues or similar I take it to one of the sub-forums that allow anonymous posting.
Rather than close my account and just re-reg.
I'm probably overthinking this now

What say ye Boardsies?

cantdecide

These days I wouldn't say anything on Boards that I wouldn't say in real life. I'm not sure I could always have said that. I suppose I've just grown up somewhat. Boards is a great place to get stuff off your chest even if you know you may be creating a little incitement in saying it.

I do often wonder how closely people's Boards persona reflects their real character.

NegativeCreep

It is the thing in which I hold closest to my heart.

brummytom

I genuinely couldn't give any less of a fuck.

old hippy

I don't know if it's important but it's pretty much me, open for interpretation and all that it entails. It still makes me smile when people tell me to "smoke a bong" when the discussion doesn't go their way

As for re-registers? I'm not a big fan of people who are banned & then re-reg just to get their controversial beliefs out there in cyberspace.

For people who suffer harrasment? Different situation.

pablomakaveli

I couldnt say i have an "identity" on here as that would mean i act differently or say things differently on here than i would in real life which i dont do.

Everything i say on here or every opinion i express is the same ones id express in real life to friends or acquaintances in real life.

I think people who create a "persona" for themselves online thats different to the way they are in real life are pathetic.

Waking-Dreams

The point about being able to stand over what you say in person is telling. Discussions can get heated and the relative sense of anonymity coupled with the online disinhibition effect can have some posters coming across like emotive soap box speakers when it wouldn’t seem that way offline.

Also, looking over some of your previous posts can make for some interesting and equally cringe worthy reading. It’s a bit like looking at a scrapbook of all your old haircuts.

1ZRed

It's grand and it's more or less me. You just can't make this shít up

BUBBLE WRAP

1ZRed wrote: »

It's grand and it's more or less me. You just can't make this shít up

Your telling us. I remember your first thread it was like yesterday. It was something about porn.. I think.

banie01

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

Your telling us. I remember your first thread it was like yesterday. It was something about porn.. I think.

Actually now ya mentioned it....
That one has come flooding back! haha

Frank Black

I don't like him.
He's always making stuff up.


On the upside however, he is dashingly attractive.

1ZRed

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

Your telling us. I remember your first thread it was like yesterday. It was something about porn.. I think.

Ahh good times! I've come a long way since

1ZRed

banie01 wrote: »

Actually now ya mentioned it....
That one has come flooding back! haha

Yup. I'll have that effect on you all right

banie01

Waking-Dreams wrote: »

Also, looking over some of your previous posts can make for some interesting and equally cringe worthy reading. It’s a bit like looking at a scrapbook of all your old haircuts.

Agreed... Especially some of my own older posts!
Cringeworthy enough to go with my very best long haired undercut!
But its like looking back an being able to follow ones evolution!
If I keep my account til I'm old(er) I may even actually see the point where I change from a liberal....
To a kill 'em all and let God/Allah/Ctuluh/The Alien Lizard people sort 'em crotchety auld bollox! haha

Czarcasm

I consider my "online identity" to be disposable nowadays, I don't like the idea that marketing companies can build up a profile of a person from their online identity, so I'll close my account and open a new one every so often.

It doesn't bother me, and the fact that it might be an inconvenience for some stranger on the internet- well, that's their problem.

flutered

couldnt give a toss.

banie01

Czarcasm wrote: »

I consider my "online identity" to be disposable nowadays, I don't like the idea that marketing companies can build up a profile of a person from their online identity, so I'll close my account and open a new one every so often.

It doesn't bother me, and the fact that it might be an inconvenience for some stranger on the internet- well, that's their problem.

Very true.
I was going to address data mining issues in the O.P but I actually forgot
Considering browsers are doing this on an ongoing basis I should have included it too.
It would be a big concern to me if one was actually personally identifiable in real life through their forum I.D.
But if you are not immediately identifiable via your forum ID, isn't more a case that while the data is collectible/quantifiable it is really more of an aggregate/composite than an actual personal targeting?
And its not the inconvenience that bothers me at all to be honest, more the duplicity of my own experience of it happening.

banie01

flutered wrote: »

couldnt give a toss.

I knew you'd say that!

I don't have a boards.ie identity - perfectly happy with who I am without needing to make up an online persona.

johnolocher

It's not a persona for me I just get involved in debates a lot that I have a personal interest in whereas I wouldn't necessarily talk about them all the time in real life because life isn't one big debate.

Oranage2

Meh, truth is if you stop posting for a month chances are you'd be forgotten, actually more than likely people don't know your user name in the first place.

im invisible

Well, i tend to lurk on boards, bit of low level trolling, bit of thanks whoring, pretty much real life for me...
Any opinions expressed here may not be what i actually think, but it is what i'd say in real life.

And just like that i get a message in my inbox telling me im banned from 'State Benefits' for a month...

Matt_Trakker

not very

jpm4

Few people are going to admit that it does mean much to them, because let's be honest it makes you sound like a bit of a loser. I would imagine for some people with crazy high post counts, avators, funny sigs, moderating forums etc yeah it might mean something to them.

AnonoBoy

Don't let yourself get attached to any online identity you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner

FloatingVoter

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Don't let yourself get attached to any online identity you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner

De Niro, you have fallen very far indeed.

BillyMitchel

Nah don't care in the slightest. 95% of the time I'm just taking the Michael or just looking for a laugh, although in real life I'm pretty serious regarding certain issues. I just don't have a the patience to discuss them on the interweb. Some posters I do enjoy reading though and of course if I can throw in a bit of advice along the way to someone who needs it I'd gladly do it.

Really don't understand people who get upset during debates and go and just shut their account though. It's the interweb and it's forgotten a few minutes later anyway.

Dravokivich

banie01 wrote: »

Very true.
I was going to address data mining issues in the O.P but I actually forgot
Considering browsers are doing this on an ongoing basis I should have included it too.
It would be a big concern to me if one was actually personally identifiable in real life through their forum I.D.
But if you are not immediately identifiable via your forum ID, isn't more a case that while the data is collectible/quantifiable it is really more of an aggregate/composite than an actual personal targeting?
And its not the inconvenience that bothers me at all to be honest, more the duplicity of my own experience of it happening.

This is something that concerned me briefly back in 2006/2007. Where an alias I used was able to provide my details to people. So I stopped using an alias on that particular site and used my real name. It's popular enough to have kept my Anonymity.

ITS_A_BADGER

If anything i think that people are honest on the internet because they feel like they're anonymous and can express the're views behind that wall of anonymity. If someone is faking a persona on the internet to impress people they will probably never meet, thats fairly sad to be honest. That level of anonymity can be broken down tho by a posts of personal information that might be built up over time and some users may feel like they have done so and close their account and start new behind another wall of anon. I look at my account as just a name to post under doesnt mean ****e to me. Its disposable

Death and Taxes

banie01 wrote: »

Hi folks.
Just curious on this one?
How important is your ''online'' persona to ye?
While I appreciate its not real-life, especially here in this forum ;-)
I often find that one can get a wee insight into someone's thought processes and opinions based on what they've posted and how they are prepared to justify(Or not) their views in many of the discussions I've had here.
In many discussions you can almost guess which poster's will be yea or nea on some topics....

Lets say a user creates an account and builds up a posting history, adds friends and so on via their profile page then decides that due to being ''cyber-stalked'' by someone they want to dump that account.
They close their original account and re-reg with a different user name, just to be sure they distance themselves from said stalker.
Perfectly reasonable right?
I mean one's personal safety is always paramount.

But lets say a user is doing this on a continuing basis?
Running an account for a period, and then closing that account and reregging on a continuing basis?
Personally.....1st off :rolleyes: I'd start wondering which was the stalker ...

I mean, I find it a little disturbing insofar as a person doing this can come across as a little Walter Mitty'ish' to say the least especially when say, they've let you know they have re-regged and you see many of the beliefs and opinions they professed to hold dear....
Suddenly shift to their polar opposite!

While I appreciate I post here under a self-chosen username with a degree of implied anonymity....
I'd like to think that at the very least I would stand over my posts, comments and opinions and that while it is not significant by any means(nor are my opinions or my post count ), that if I fancy a name change I'd take a sub and do it that way.
And if there are times I want some anon advice re: personal issues or similar I take it to one of the sub-forums that allow anonymous posting.
Rather than close my account and just re-reg.
I'm probably overthinking this now

What say ye Boardsies?

TLDR

4zn76tysfajdxp

WileyCoyote (Accelleratii Incredibus!) wrote: »

TLDR

What, the post or your username?

Agricola

Don't give a toss. I use boards as a source of getting info, getting "the pulse of the nation" to put it in a wanky way, and to just have a laugh and enjoy the endless puns, memes, Irishism and whatever else. I would extremely rarely bother with so called "serious" threads and would never bother me arse getting involved in a back n forth with other posters, unless it was a matter of true importance like the fine details of a Fr. Ted episode.
If my account closed in the morning, no one would even notice..... Kind of like If I died....... OH CRUEL WORLD!

daveyeh

Every post I make is just bull**** I don't nessecarily agree with. Even this one.

BBDBB

Agricola wrote: »

Don't give a toss. I use boards as a source of getting info, getting "the pulse of the nation" to put it in a wanky way, and to just have a laugh and enjoy the endless puns, memes, Irishism and whatever else. I would extremely rarely bother with so called "serious" threads and would never bother me arse getting involved in a back n forth with other posters, unless it was a matter of true importance like the fine details of a Fr. Ted episode.
If my account closed in the morning, no one would even notice..... Kind of like If I died....... OH CRUEL WORLD!

if you croak can I have your Father Ted DVD?

mark renton

Only on boards can one really be themself. In real life people are too consumed about what other people think about them.

Im a big fan of Unpopular Opinions thread. This is where it cuts to the bone and people can be honest without retribution or recrimination, dependant upon mods not scratching there bits of course.

I have been regularly banned from the christian forum and soccer forum, other than football and religion I dont mind people with a difference of opinion.

Overall, the way I see it, if your not worried about what others think then you can be yourself on here.

Czarcasm

BillyMitchel wrote: »

Nah don't care in the slightest. 95% of the time I'm just taking the Michael or just looking for a laugh, although in real life I'm pretty serious regarding certain issues. I just don't have a the patience to discuss them on the interweb. Some posters I do enjoy reading though and of course if I can throw in a bit of advice along the way to someone who needs it I'd gladly do it.

Really don't understand people who get upset during debates and go and just shut their account though. It's the interweb and it's forgotten a few minutes later anyway.

It'd be nice if that was the case like it used to be in real life, but now you have cases where "inspector clueless" posters will take it upon themselves to trawl through your ten year post history so they can throw shìte back at you. It's not a big deal really, but it can be unsettling enough to make you realise that it was your own fault for putting that info online in the first place.

CrazyRabbit

brummytom wrote: »

I genuinely couldn't get a fuck.

Fixed your post for ya.

CrazyRabbit

My boards.ie persona is different from my 'real life' personality. I use boards.ie to test responses to opinions and to allow the sarcastic bastard within me to say things I couldn't say in 'real life' without getting punched.

mark renton

Thats terrible tom, not so long ago I remember u nearly kicked the bucket and there was one of those threads created where people pretended they were intetested in your welfare.

Very pretencious, however there may have been one or two who were genuine.

Where To

I like boards my boards persona because I can air my opinions without anyone knowing what my occupation is.

Czarcasm

BillyMitchel wrote: »

Really don't understand people who get upset during debates and go and just shut their account though. It's the interweb and it's forgotten a few minutes later anyway.

Czarcasm wrote: »

It'd be nice if that was the case like it used to be in real life, but now you have cases where "inspector clueless" posters will take it upon themselves to trawl through your ten year post history so they can throw shìte back at you. It's not a big deal really, but it can be unsettling enough to make you realise that it was your own fault for putting that info online in the first place.

mark renton wrote: »

Thats terrible tom, not so long ago I remember u nearly kicked the bucket and there was one of those threads created where people pretended they were intetested in your welfare.

Very pretencious, however there may have been one or two who were genuine.

Case in point.

mark renton

Czarcasm wrote: »

Case in point.

Remembering happens in real life too, I think I recall yourself as one of the pretencious ones too... I maybe wrong.

BillyMitchel

Czarcasm wrote: »

It'd be nice if that was the case like it used to be in real life, but now you have cases where "inspector clueless" posters will take it upon themselves to trawl through your ten year post history so they can throw shìte back at you. It's not a big deal really, but it can be unsettling enough to make you realise that it was your own fault for putting that info online in the first place.

Yeah forgot about that aspect but for me I only post rubbish. I'd see how it could be unsettling for folks though. Says a lot more about the person digging post posts up just to prove a point on the Internet though.

mark renton

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

My boards.ie persona is different from my 'real life' personality. I use boards.ie to test responses to opinions and to allow the sarcastic bastard within me to say things I couldn't say in 'real life' without getting punched.

Also using sarcasm is a useful way of sifting out the those of a creepy nature, they never seem to get it.

Crooked Jack

If anyone attempts to chip away at the essential Boardsness of my cherished Boards.ie identity I'll block all the roads and throw stones at the cops

Pottler

Oranage2 wrote: »

Meh, truth is if you stop posting for a month chances are you'd be forgotten, actually more than likely people don't know your user name in the first place.

A month? More like a week, I'd reckon. I've feck all idea what almost anyones "online persona" is, maybe some posters register a bit more, but given a day or two, I'd forget. I'd well imagine the same goes for eveyone.
Really agree with Czarcasm on the "post trawlers" though. What level of thundering whankery is that?? "Ooohh, but last week you said..."
Fack orf. The TVs on and I'm having a beer and takin the mick, more thought goes into the average pizza than any of the guff I post on here tbh. Don't be quoting rubbish I spouted last week.

EoghanIRL

I log once a day .. I usually use it to check the news, current affairs and people's opinions on it and after hours

Frank Black

I enjoy starting fights with people who'd kick the **** out of me in real life.

brummytom

Czarcasm wrote: »

Case in point.

I think there's a difference between remembering something and saying 'are you better now?' and purposefully going through someone's posting history to find contradictions, which I've seen done quite a lot.

Eathrin

It's pretty much just me, as you would find me in real life.
Most people wouldn't know that I am this poster on Boards but I wouldn't be too worried if everybody knew either.