Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on December 20, 2010 at 8:06am

When I was first on Nexus I used my whole name.  Even though I'm open with most people about being atheist, an gay, I also deal with a public where I want to hold some things about myself, experiences, opinions, private.  That lets me be much more open on Nexus.

 

So I changed my avitar and ussername.  Im more comfortable.  When I google my own name, it doesn't come up any more.  It took a couple of months to settle out.

 

Some people need more discretion than others.  We also change our minds sometimes about what we want to share with the world.  I feel a bit sheepish about not using my full name on here, and may do that again sometime, but I understand anyone who is not ready or able to be fully open.

 

We've also had members in Muslim countries who could be persecuted and killed for apostacy. I those cases, discretion is very important.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Black on April 13, 2011 at 6:22pm

As you can tell by my username I don't have a problem with it.  But, I am willing to return a wrong with something that is ten times worse.  (Maybe, I should have used an exponent instead of multiplication.)  I do agree that posting a warning for selecting a username would fit with the current legal climate.  But seriously! Do we really need warnings not to stick any part of your body under a running lawnmower?  I think most people can figure out that they are not being very anonymous while using their real name.

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Permalink Reply by Monika on May 5, 2011 at 11:00pm

I am curious, what username comes up for me?

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Permalink Reply by Nory on May 6, 2011 at 12:34am

On Atheist Nexxus, you show up as "Monika" for now.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Jones on December 20, 2010 at 5:53pm

The Number 1 rule on the internet my friend, If you put it on the internet it isn't private.  I don't care how many safeguards you put in place etc.  someone will be able to find it.  I always sign up with throw away email addresses and fake names to prevent laypeople from finding stuff.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Rawlings on March 22, 2011 at 4:22pm

To be honest, I like the idea of google popping up my name. It makes it easier to come out to people than the awkward talk. However, when you don't want it known it's best to use and alias.

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Permalink Reply by paul babcock on March 22, 2011 at 11:26pm

I had intended on using something other than my real name but I am so computer literate that I inadvertently ended up w my real name posted.

It is true enuf that I donot have t level of concern that those in Muslim cultures do but there are still concerns.

Just recently I read about that Tamtam chick getting all that abuse from anonymous. No need to make it easyer for anyone to screw w you.

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Permalink Reply by IronFox on April 12, 2011 at 6:52am

More than 6 years ago I posted a long comment on an extreme anti-abortion website refuting their ridiculous claims. I signed my comment with my real name. It still comes up on the first page of google if you type my name in search bar. It doesn't bother me too much, but the site is notorious here in my country (Slovenia) and it was started by people with a very sick view of the world. It feels ridiculous that my name is associated with them now....I fell unclean :)

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Permalink Reply by David Anam on April 13, 2011 at 10:50am

While I agree with Sam Jones about how everyone should know the nature of the internet, I dislike the way this site handles creating an account. Unless they've changed it, it asks for a "full name" rather than a "username," implying that you should use your actual name. In my opinion, this should be changed and a warning should be on the account creation page about using your real name.

 

I've sent Atheist Nexus a message about this, but have received no response. While normally I wouldn't find this a big deal, I think this is absolutely important for a site such as this, where people from other countries could be killed if they were found to be a member here.

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Permalink Reply by David Anam on April 13, 2011 at 11:01am

I also just checked and even though I've changed my name here (from my real last name to "Anam"), a search for my real name on Google revealed my Anam account here. So once you put your real name on this site, you can't take it back.

 

It's not a big deal for me personally, since most everyone in my life already knows I'm an atheist, but it really needs to be stressed in account creation that if you are even a little unsure of whether you want to come out as an atheist, you need to use an alias.

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Permalink Reply by Monika on May 5, 2011 at 11:02pm

I agree. Signing up was a bit puzzling for me. I would have preferred not to say where I live etc

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Permalink Reply by Monika on May 5, 2011 at 11:02pm

I agree. Signing up was a bit puzzling for me. I would have preferred not to say where I live etc

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