To pen, or not to pen... name

[Gwazi Magnum]

I don't think I'd ever use a pen name.

But I understand the use for it and it does make sense/work for some people.

What I don't like however is when people don't give out their real name online because they fear some person will stalk and kill them with that information alone.

For example: My first name is Anthony

Assumed Stalker Person: "AHA! Now that I know you name I will find you in the night! Watch you and make you my bitch! Mua ha ha ha! wait... there's more than one Anthony? Fuck! Oh, you're Canadian you say? Mua ha ha ha! Huh? You mean there's more than one Anthony in Canada! Fuck!"

[Mike]

Funny thing is, even if you give out your full name it would still be almost impossible to find you. For example, Facebook gives about 20 results of people with the exact name as me, and Google says that I'm apparently an architect, and freelance journalist, and an artist, and that I simultaneously live in California, Washington, and Texas.

[Christiefries]

It depends on how unique of a name you have. Really could narrow down those searches, especially if you've given out other information about yourself.

[Gwazi Magnum]

Funny thing is, even if you give out your full name it would still be almost impossible to find you. For example, Facebook gives about 20 results of people with the exact name as me, and Google says that I'm apparently an architect, and freelance journalist, and an artist, and that I simultaneously live in California, Washington, and Texas.

I tried looking myself up once online, I never even ran into myself.
Hell I ran into more things about me by searching 'Gwazi Magnum' than I did by looking up my full name!

It depends on how unique of a name you have. Really could narrow down those searches, especially if you've given out other information about yourself.

True, but this runs into another thing all together.

Names and what you look like specifically gives the person almost nothing to go on.
Hell even your city/town name names it difficult, especially if you live somewhere like Toronto, London, New York etc.

But there's a bit difference between your name and other info.
And even if you gave someone your full name, the odds of them getting any good info on you is minimal unless if they are either local, or have access to the type of databases the police can use.

[Jorick]

I tried looking myself up once online, I never even ran into myself.
Hell I ran into more things about me by searching 'Gwazi Magnum' than I did by looking up my full name!


True, but this runs into another thing all together.

Names and what you look like specifically gives the person almost nothing to go on.
Hell even your city/town name names it difficult, especially if you live somewhere like Toronto, London, New York etc.

But there's a bit difference between your name and other info.
And even if you gave someone your full name, the odds of them getting any good info on you is minimal unless if they are either local, or have access to the type of databases the police can use.

It really depends on how common your name is. I'm going to go search for things using only my first and last name and my city.

If I search for my full name on Google it gives me my old Facebook profile I never use and a few other things, which a dedicated stalker could easily use to track me down. If I search for my full name and my city it actually comes up with stuff about my mother and one of my aunts as well as more things about me, including online phone book things that accurately give my home address. Searching for my name on Facebook leads immediately to my profile, which again would lead to enough info to find me just by finding other people I know. Doing their "search the web" thing with my name instead of clicking on my profile gives a link to another online white pages thing that gives my address. Just those two tools, nothing like police databases in use. The internet is a far more powerful stalking tool than you give it credit for. Regardless of how likely or unlikely it is for someone to decide to use that information to harm me, giving that information to people I don't know well enough to trust would be utterly foolish.

Also, there's another point: it's none of your (speaking broadly, not just directed at you Gwazi) business what my name is. It's the internet, you have no need of my real life details. See that little thing over there to the left that says Jorick? Yeah, call me that. I'll know who you're speaking to. You don't need to know my real name to be able to talk to me on the internet, thus you don't need to know it period. That's it, plain and simple. Knowing my real first name won't really do anything, sure, but that's just as much an argument against giving it out as it is for giving it out. Having anonymity is fine, it allows people to be themselves without fear of any real life consequences. Some people really do struggle with that, especially homosexual and transgendered individuals who fear telling their family about those things because they're afraid of the repercussions. Bringing real names into the mix compromises that bastion of anonymity, thus I say let people keep their real name to themselves if they so choose. I've known people who get offended when I tell them they don't need to know my real name, and that's the wrong attitude to have about it.

Anyway, to bring it back around to the topic at hand, online usernames are sort of like pen names: a name to identify you whilst concealing your real identity. They serve a similar but more flexible purpose. Just as some would prefer to use a pen name to keep their privacy, same goes for online usernames.

[Gwazi Magnum]

It really depends on how common your name is. I'm going to go search for things using only my first and last name and my city.

If I search for my full name on Google it gives me my old Facebook profile I never use and a few other things, which a dedicated stalker could easily use to track me down. If I search for my full name and my city it actually comes up with stuff about my mother and one of my aunts as well as more things about me, including online phone book things that accurately give my home address. Searching for my name on Facebook leads immediately to my profile, which again would lead to enough info to find me just by finding other people I know. Doing their "search the web" thing with my name instead of clicking on my profile gives a link to another online white pages thing that gives my address. Just those two tools, nothing like police databases in use. The internet is a far more powerful stalking tool than you give it credit for. Regardless of how likely or unlikely it is for someone to decide to use that information to harm me, giving that information to people I don't know well enough to trust would be utterly foolish.

Also, there's another point: it's none of your (speaking broadly, not just directed at you Gwazi) business what my name is. It's the internet, you have no need of my real life details. See that little thing over there to the left that says Jorick? Yeah, call me that. I'll know who you're speaking to. You don't need to know my real name to be able to talk to me on the internet, thus you don't need to know it period. That's it, plain and simple. Knowing my real first name won't really do anything, sure, but that's just as much an argument against giving it out as it is for giving it out. Having anonymity is fine, it allows people to be themselves without fear of any real life consequences. Some people really do struggle with that, especially homosexual and transgendered individuals who fear telling their family about those things because they're afraid of the repercussions. Bringing real names into the mix compromises that bastion of anonymity, thus I say let people keep their real name to themselves if they so choose. I've known people who get offended when I tell them they don't need to know my real name, and that's the wrong attitude to have about it.

Anyway, to bring it back around to the topic at hand, online usernames are sort of like pen names: a name to identify you whilst concealing your real identity. They serve a similar but more flexible purpose. Just as some would prefer to use a pen name to keep their privacy, same goes for online usernames.

Maybe it's just me, cause I just tried some google searches on myself like you detailed and I found nothing, at most a picture of my Mom oddly enough and when I followed the link it was just an empty link with nothing but the pic, no personal info or anything.

Maybe I just lucked out in that regard, who knows?

Also I understand that it's not our business to know your name and I understand people wanting a pen name to keep a secret identity for the sake of anonymity.
That's not my issue, my issue is with people think giving out something like your first name and the country you live in gives a stalker all they need.