Posted by Mitchell on November 18, 2001, at 3:07:36
In reply to Multiple Aliases, posted by akc on November 17, 2001, at 14:06:20
> Question for the board. If a person has the ability to post on Psycho-Babble using multiple names (has registered under more than one name) and it is clear that it is the case, do you think any action should be taken on Dr. Bob's part?
Interesting question. There are posts somewhere in the vast archives here where the moderator says multiple aliases are okay, then a few days later says they are discouraged but permitted. Since then, I don't know of any papal bulls on the subject.
Technical limitations make it difficult to bar multiple aliases. Efforts to work within those limitations can allow more technically adept posters to get away with things that are prohibited by the less learned. And there are some reasons a person might want to register a new alias, some of which you mentioned. Some scholars in the emerging field of web psychology read a lot into a person's desire for anonymity or the integration of their on-line and off-line lives, with a sort of unspoken suggestion that those who desire anonymity are somehow less healthy. But there are valid social reasons and security reasons a person might want to preserve anonymity. Arranging on-line activity to avoid development of an on-line persona can be a tool to facilitate anonymity. Each on-line appearance can be offered for it's own merits. A person might want to arrange on-line conversation so that no one message can be connected with information contained in another message.
A person might inadvertantly reveal personal information then later chose to continue writing to an on-line audience without the risk of further associating their publications with the personal information. Madison Avenue advertisers and corporate presidents maintain their privacy when they make anonymous public statements, and individuals who write to on-line audiences might choose the same tactic to preserve their privacy. It is not for psychologists to decide if this is healthy, but rather for individuals to decide if they want to create an on-line profile or remain anonymous while posting individual messages under different names.
Of course it can also be a matter of community standards, but communities and their leaders inflate their egos when they suppose that their standards define civility, sanity, or optimum healthy behavior.
Some widely-used bulletin board scripts allow for registration of different user names under a single log-on name. Yahoo features such a function, as does the very popular UltimateBB CGI script used for hundreds of bulletin boards. The UltimateBB script allows administrators to decide if they want this feature switched on or turned off. The availability of a multiple identity function in a widely popular script, along with the provision that administrators can either use the function or turn it off suggests that multiple identities enjoy acceptance in some communities but not in others. While any one community might discourage multiple screen names, that does not imply there is anything wrong, unhealthy or anti-social about the widely accepted practice of using multiple aliases. In some cases, it is simply a matter of privacy and security.
poster:Mitchell
thread:2314
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010718/msgs/2315.html