G
Guest
Guest
Crispin wrote....
The username request was in an attempt to try and keep names simple and clean. The South African site does it this way with great success and word has it, PradoPoint is trying to convert.
We have had long debates about it; should we allow any old name or should we stick to the name / surname combination. It was agreed we would try the name / surname thing now, while the site is new and see how it goes. If it really is a problem, we would not enforce it Gestapo style but simply say it was a lesson learned and revert.
Surprisingly, a number of already registered users on the site have asked to have their usernames changed before we asked for it. Since asking the existing members, some have raised some concerns but for the most part, people seem happy to go with their real names.
SNIP
Crispin, I accept what you say and appreciate that is the view of a lot of people. But out in the real world there is a danger of being watched by undesirables. Speaking from personal experience, I have suffered ID theft/bank fraud, my sister has had ID theft, and recently I have had a very bad time with aggressive phone calls at home from someone we do not know. Eventually the police sorted the problem, but this person came to know where we lived and what our daily routine was. (Prosecution is pending).
Therefore to give out real names on these sites can be very questionable. In fact I know of one forum of holiday home owners who have suffered personal abuse from locals who acquired their contacts and addresses from the forum member's page.
I hope that this new TLC forum soon realises the mistake of insisting on names, so many forums these days just don't do it out of respect for potential ID theft.
I for one certainly do not use my real name on open file memberships any more. In fact I think it is only Julian who knows my full name after all these years with ELCO. But I don't think any harm has been done by not having this onerous rule on ELCO.
Jon
Linslade, Beds
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4920 (20100306) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
The username request was in an attempt to try and keep names simple and clean. The South African site does it this way with great success and word has it, PradoPoint is trying to convert.
We have had long debates about it; should we allow any old name or should we stick to the name / surname combination. It was agreed we would try the name / surname thing now, while the site is new and see how it goes. If it really is a problem, we would not enforce it Gestapo style but simply say it was a lesson learned and revert.
Surprisingly, a number of already registered users on the site have asked to have their usernames changed before we asked for it. Since asking the existing members, some have raised some concerns but for the most part, people seem happy to go with their real names.
SNIP
Crispin, I accept what you say and appreciate that is the view of a lot of people. But out in the real world there is a danger of being watched by undesirables. Speaking from personal experience, I have suffered ID theft/bank fraud, my sister has had ID theft, and recently I have had a very bad time with aggressive phone calls at home from someone we do not know. Eventually the police sorted the problem, but this person came to know where we lived and what our daily routine was. (Prosecution is pending).
Therefore to give out real names on these sites can be very questionable. In fact I know of one forum of holiday home owners who have suffered personal abuse from locals who acquired their contacts and addresses from the forum member's page.
I hope that this new TLC forum soon realises the mistake of insisting on names, so many forums these days just don't do it out of respect for potential ID theft.
I for one certainly do not use my real name on open file memberships any more. In fact I think it is only Julian who knows my full name after all these years with ELCO. But I don't think any harm has been done by not having this onerous rule on ELCO.
Jon
Linslade, Beds
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4920 (20100306) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
