What's in a Forum Name?

[Christian Williams]

I don't really mind engaging in forum discussions with XPZ741 or Pants Down, to make up a few sample names, but when it comes to responding in public--

Pants Down,
Thankyou so much for the tip, it has improved my knowledge of the scalawag fastening.

I just feel like a moron, insofar as I actually have my name revealed to all the world.

It seems lopsided, or unbalanced, when one fellow can be looked up in the telephone book, which I myself keep on top of the icebox, and the identity of the other is a CB Handle out of Smokey and the Bandit.

Real names are not required by the forums, so this is not a beef. It is more like a plea for help, a confession, or a revelation of things beyond my control that make me burst into tears.

Some members, no doubt sensing the oddity of hiding any clue to their identity in a small world of fellow sailors helping each other out, have simply added their name to their Signature Line, so replies can be made to a human being who had, in most cases, presumably, a mother and a father who themselves had names.

That provides humanity--and keeps the forum name, often a boat name, intact.

The name in the Signature Line might be a first name, untraceable even by NSA.

It gives the other guy a name to reply to.

I know, I know, the Internet is full of bots seeking to put a Javelin missile down your chimney, steal your identity or tell your wife stuff she really doesn't need to know.

But the amount of additional exposure to that on EricsonYachts.org is very close to zero, as those of us who use our full names and locations have successfully bet on for many years.

Signing off,
Christian

 

[Alan Gomes]

I just feel like a moron, insofar as I actually have my name revealed to all the world.

I often feel like a moron and also use my real name on the forum.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I think.

 

[Sean Engle]

Yeah...typically the average user who uses an 'anonymous' will either primarily just lurk on the forums, find what they need and then move on, or they get involved, and in doing so basically reveal who they are in any event (which is fine with me - either way - as long as I know who they are).

Also, most people don't really understand how the internet works, and are quite unaware that we can find out who you are and where you're located regardless - so (...just like real life!) it's far better to just behave, treat others with respect, and try to associate with people who are more normal/above board rather than try and cloak your identity ad nauseum.

 

[KS Dave]

Interesting thoughts, especially on acting with respect (something this crowd does well). Everyone has their comfort level, I suppose, though I can't argue with the atrocity of a handle like 'Pants Down'. Not being a celebrity like Alan or Christian, I like to leave a little mystery. As someone who straddles the line between a moniker and real name, perhaps I have the best of both worlds?

 

[Bolo]

I use “Bolo” here on EYO (A nickname given to me by one of my clients after a coffee vendor rushed printing my first name on a styrofoam cup of Java and failed to connect parts of the last letter.) because it’s much shorter and simpler than my last name which is very Polish (I’m 100% BTW) and that many people can’t pronounce or figure out how to spell when they hear it. In fact, when I sometimes submit my last name, which you can see below in bright blue lettering, to the host or hostess behind a restaurant podium to get into a queue for a table I often tell them “Roberts” because they can’t pronounce my last name and butcher saying it when my table is ready. But that’s usually my clue that they mean me, hearing them struggle with a name. If I do given them my real last name I often just get a wide eyed stare and maybe a tilt of the head as you would see with a confused cocker spaniel. So, no, I’m not using my EYO nickname to hide from the law or anyone else because my real name is there for anyone to see, I give the location of my boat, and even a link to my YouTube channel in case you want to know what I sound like when I speak which is not with a professional voice but, hey, I’m doing it more for fun and to pass some info along.

So, this is Robert John Skalkowski (Skul-cow-ski) a.k.a. - Bolo, Ski, Skull, Bobbie (That last one is what my aunts called me when I was young and later used by them well into my adulthood) and Sparky, wishing you fair winds and following seas!

 

[Nick J]

Not all forums are as friendly as this one. I've used a few others in the past when I can't find what I'm looking for in Google searches or books. I typically sign up with an email address, ask my question, and go on my way. I had no idea how different this forum was and didn't anticipate wanting to share my name and even meet people from the forum. Now I'm always embarrassed to explain who I am when I actually do meet people on the docks. I've even thought about canceling my account so I could create a new one with my name, but I don't want to loose all the conversations I've had over the years. The funny thing is I thought I had signed my name on enough posts that people would know it by now and I was getting kind of frustrated with people using "trickdhat" instead of Nick. Using the signature block is a good compromise and I'm happy to share it now that I know what this site is all about. At the end of the day, be kind, be helpful, and support each other and everything else will fall in to place.

Nick

 

[Alan Gomes]

So, no, I’m not using my EYO nickname to hide from the law

Yours is precisely the elaborate ruse someone hiding out from the law would concoct, "Bolo."

 

[Alan Gomes]

Not being a celebrity like Alan or Christian,

Perhaps the latter, but surely not the former.

 

[Bepi]

Yas, yas, yas, but why not?

What's in a name? The ancient poet asks.
What nom de plume will answer history's call?
Which artists chosen name survived the fall
of varied countries fates in Tyrants blasts?
The phony name no hero seeks, he knew
his life preserved is reason to uplift
the ruse that lets men speak, it is a gift.
The name, and pen unknown, did tyrants slew.

Who cares your life's an open global book,
The N S A feels free to take a peak.
Today, today, who needs to be so sane?
Is peoples vanity not worth a look?
Who protects poor from harm when spirits weak?
Scared men with pens put on the Lions Mane. -BV

My Nickname "Bepi Venexiano" is what I am known as in Venice where Tim is Telephonico Italiano Mobile. The name translates as "Joe Venetian" and the locals love it as it is their version of John Doe or Joe Sixpack. Beside all that, who wants a gondolier named Tim Reinard. Harmless delusions have made people happy for millennia, why disabuse them of their papier-mâché firewalls?

Bepi

 

[Sean Engle]

Scared men with pens put on the Lions Mane.

I like that one a lot. =)

I guess I should have clarified: I've never discouraged users using handles that they prefer rather than their name. It's easy to understand I guess given the news stories we hear all the time. Use of a handle for fun or for "identity enhancement" (to give it a name) is also fine. Just so I know (at least) who folks are.... People who don't want me knowing who they really come onto my radar fully - and the questions begin - as EY.o makes it a point not to release people's info - so there is no reason (for me) not to know. Again, it's the analogy of someone showing up at a yacht club door in a moon suit, asking to join...it's a bit sus.

Beyond that, my only real comment is that if it is being done from the perspective of real identity security, then it should be followed with appropriate behavior which means not revealing other things about their lives/boat/location/family/friends, which (at least for me) is just about impossible if you want to interact with others - let alone meet up with people from this site in person (which happens quite frequently).

It's for that reason I've never used one (I gave up on day 01).

 

[Kenneth K]

A quick look at the "visitors" page (approx 11am today) shows this:

Four of our eleven unidentified visitors were robots.

I prefer to keep a line, however slight, between my real acquaintances and my online ones. I've not only exchanged phone numbers with some members of this site, but I've met some in person and even had some visit my home. None of which has been hampered by my adoption of a stage name. I typically use my real name while shaking someone's hand.

I get that there are some who may desire to, or already may be, monetizing their online presence by You Tube clicks, patreon, marketing through name recognition, or other modern money-making online avenues. Such people likely have a monetary incentive to disclose personal information online that I don't have. I mean, we need to know where to send the checks, right?

So, to our "identified" (including those somewhat covert) and "non-robot" members: I look forward to one day meeting you in person, perhaps over a cold beer. Until then, be advised that Kenneth K may or may not be a representation of my real name.

 

[Christian Williams]

Uh, monetary incentive to disclose personal information on the Ericson Forum? The only checks anybody sends here are to Sean, who uses his real name. "Kenneth K from Puget Sound" is all I need to know on a sailing forum, there doesn't have to be a SS number.

On a personal note, I've been using my real name my whole career, which has been occasionally quite public, as a felt obligation. It's because the people I admired did, sometimes at great risk. And because people without actual real identities are to me just another form of bot.

 

[Loren Beach]

And because people without actual real identities are to me just another form of bot.

Let's get serious. There are internet "Bots" and then there's...... Bender!

 

[Kenneth K]

It's because the people I admired did, sometimes at great risk.

Perhaps.

I have a friend who used to boast about having over 700 Facebook friends. I asked her to send me an invitation when she decides to get us all in the same room.

Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones (maybe I'm just antiquated). Since neither my career, my social standing, my ego, nor my emotional well-being benefit in the slightest from an online presence, I prefer to minimize mine. So, I can only consider the possibility of being labeled a surreptitious "bot," by anyone who might possess a greater fondness for virtual admiration, as somewhat of a compliment.

 

[Bepi]

My apologies to everyone if my exercise in a petrarchian sonnets iambic pentameter has led us astray. Often, I find, my candle is best kept under a bushel.

 

[Christian Williams]

For the record, everyone on Facebook is required to use their legal full name and to be a discoverable person.

 

[Bolo]

Yours is precisely the elaborate ruse someone hiding out from the law would concoct, "Bolo."

Oh Damn! You caught me.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Oh Damn! You caught me.

It was only a matter of time.

 

[Sean Engle]

Four of our eleven unidentified visitors were robots.

Most of those are crawlers mining our db for their search engines. We benefit from this, thinking of Google, where we can use their engines to locate data. Also, this is often a way people find EY.o (as they get a carpet of responses on searches involving their Ericson...

 

[Bolo]

On a personal note, I've been using my real name my whole career….

Basically the same here. I’ve been a professional photographer since 1976 and for most of my career it wasn’t hard to find me or reach me either by phone, email, snail mail or just walking into my studio. That’s what I wanted people (clients) to do and naturally I encourage it though various marketing. Even though I’m “semi-retired” (photographers like writers and priests never really retire) you can still find me on the internet, along with samples of my work by way of a simple internet search but not by typing in “Bolo”. I like the use of short “handles“ here on EYO for some of the reasons I already stated with some humor but also with some truth mixed in too. After all haven’t jet fighter pilots used “handles”? Maverick, Goose…the Red Barron. Sports figures like The Yankee Clipper, Stan the Man, Charlie Hustle to name just a few. So as long as we keep things civil here on EYO, leave out the conflicts that can come from disagreements, any hyperbole and most of all POLITICS…then we’ll all be fine with the innocent use of “nicknames”.