Zero Tolerance on Alt Speculation Needed

Well yes if we are assuming that goactuary echo is the same as real echo, which I’m unsure of.

@Echo: I think you’re real!!! :hugs:

3 Likes

@Echo is only sad if no one plays with her, rubs her tummy, or shares food with her.

4 Likes

This is an excellent post.

I’ll add a couple of basic “don’t be an asshole” rules

  • Don’t link alts that don’t want to be linked publicly. Do it in private if you have to.
  • Don’t be such an asshole across multiple alts such that people want to link your alts.
  • If you like alts for certain types of posts, so be it. If those posts from your alts cause pain or suffering for any other poster here, you are a flaming asshole.
3 Likes

I’d be so upset if anyone figured out who I am IRL. A woman actuary who is a foster parent, who quilts, who has met half the old AO? There must be dozens of us.

8 Likes

Didn’t you have like five of them over there?

I don’t know that there’s any policy here on alts or speculation. Just throwing this out there as a thought, not policy:

  • Not sure why anyone needs alts, but OK. Also not sure why anyone would care if someone has alts. Do or don’t, I don’t care.
  • I don’t care about alt speculation unless the user cares, then I’m confident that the mods would respect that and shut down any speculation. Otherwise, it’s just another rule we don’t need.
  • This isn’t the AO. It’s a smaller and tighter group, so I suspect privacy is less of an issue.
  • I care about privacy, but you’re not private. If you’re posting online, you’re going to get connected by someone that wants to connect the dots. I emphasize this because I suspect most people have heard this but don’t understand how easy it is for someone to find their IRL identity just from forum postings. Even a quick google of usernames often produces enough information.

I’m not private online, you could easily get my home address just from my postings here. Still, I’m less public than most people I suspect because I’m not really on social media. I’ve got limited stuff online for business reasons that are attached to my name, and almost zero stuff. The posts I made the past week with pics in the happy thoughts thread were the most personal content I’ve ever posted online. And there’s no personally identifiable pictures.

I just checked the meta data of the images I posted. Thankfully nothing identifiable.

2 Likes

I think a common reason for alts on the ao was that someone posted in the exam threads and was easily identifiable to their co-workers due to that. Then they wanted to post in political or something, and didn’t want people to immediately connect the dots.

I have used a pseudonym not because it prevents people who already know me from recognizing me on-line (it doesn’t, and I have lots of evidence of that) but because it makes it less likely that someone who DOESN’T know me will meet me and immediately connect me to my on-line political views. I’d rather they get to know me as a colleague, first. So I have a strong preference that no one shares my actual name. (tia)

I have an alt here just because I did on the ao, but I’ve barely used it. If I ever return to visiting other people’s religious services, and writing that up on-line, I will likely bust out the alt just to keep stat stuff in the same persona. I suppose I don’t really care whether PP and Lucy get connected, so I’ll do it here to make that clear.

3 Likes

Oh I was specifically referring to alts where someone has the illusion that if they have a brand new account that people wont link it to the old account and therefore post something super private thinking nobody will know it is the same person. Their style shows through for anyone who is familiar with their posting style.

With main ids, yeah of course people can easily link it to your real life name pretty easily if you post enough, but I was referring to alts linking to main ids, rather than to their real name. Might be a small difference as to my point here.

I had more than 5 over there. Mine where awesome though. Haven’t felt the desire to have any here yet.

I miss PEW PEW

Wrong thread. :wink:

Real life names shouldn’t be outed and I can see situations where someone would use and alt. Some people can be aggressive connecting dots and some aren’t good at discretion.

1 Like

I don’t care that you all know I was a lawyer on TV for a year. I also don’t care that you all know I got fired for my bathroom habits that didn’t sync up with someone else’s schedule. I’m pretty damn proud of the 1st one, and the 2nd one is … well, a man’s home is his sanctuary, is it really that big of a deal that I liked to get a cup of coffee, look out on the Pacific Ocean and zen for a little while, then take a leisurely visit to the porcelain bank, then go to work? How is anyone supposed to do great work when they’re stressed out over when they might need to send the kids swimming?

Everything else is, … well, see what SpaceLobster said above.

I didn’t mean you should be allowed to post someone’s real name. My point is, alts give people a false sense of security when they have a main id that is already well known and that people on here have already likely met to think they can now use an alt to talk about personal stuff and nobody will know it’s them. It’s more that the community here will absolutely know it’s the same person under both id’s if you’re a regular on here.

my point basically is, alts are a stupid way to think you’re avoiding linking this super private thing you’re posting to your main id. it doesn’t have much to do with outing alts. if someone posts a super private thing, you probably shouldn’t post that it’s the same poster on here because that’s rude, but every regular who already knows you as this main id will know and you’re kinda dumb to think they won’t.

I’d guess you’re somehow Mayan, which likely makes you identifiable IRL in the actuarial community.

I’ve often looked at your username and thought it’d be interesting for you to talk about some mayan stuff here.

Someone apparently connected an alt to JFG on the AO but didn’t out it for which I’m grateful. It doesn’t matter now but I was stressed at the time. Honestly I was stupid for posting so much.

From comments I have made here and back on AO, it’s not hard to figure out who I am.

If, however, I felt a need to post a question here that (for example) suggested I was considering changing jobs/companies, I would probably want to do so with an alt.

Back in the olden days of the CAS water cooler, I had two accounts, one an alias and one under my real name. In the kerfuffle over pseudonymity that triggered the demise of that forum, I made a point of writing in favor of pseudonymity using my real name.

I myself am not Mayan. I just play one on the Internet.

4 Likes

Keep the chicken coming and you are safe :dog:

1 Like