Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 12/29/10 at 14:35:00:Only resolution I'll make here is to try to find out why people on this, and other forums, don't use their real names. It must be an internet forum sort of thing.
Seriously, I just don't get the aliases.
Anyone want to explain why?
there are several reason for aliases online:
the power of anonymity - say anything, no one knows who it really is, kind of liberating for some, no need to worry about social status or any of that burdensome stuff online, people can pretend to be nice or rude depending on what reputation they want to have online
the threat of online stalkers, a lot of real damage can be done if someone online really wants to hurt you and they really know who you are.
the liberation from self, you can be whoever, whatever you want to be online, want to be a cat and just type meow meow for everything, name yourself kitty and move on with it.
better to truly describe yourself, a name is a name, any Mike is just like any other Mike online, so if you feel you have an overwhelming trait that emphasizes who you are and lets people know ahead of time something about yourself so they can better relate to you or predict your reactions to things, this can be useful in getting to know someone.
internationality of the internet also makes having an alias online useful.
for me, LostArtist says a lot more about me than my name does
Good points.
I think most people try to pick names that they either thing describes something about themselves, or at the very least has some kinda meaning to them.
I actually use my name, since "boring guy" is a fairly lame screen name.
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