Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
Why do people not sign their own names to what they write on the internet, and in particular on this blog? I thought I’d ask people this in the form of an anonymous poll. But before I do that, I want to get the full range of possibilities, so I’ve decided to crowdsource the poll questions. To date I have a number of possible reasons someone might give for posting anonymously, which are not mutually exclusive.
Here’s the first cut of possible reasons why someone might post anonymously:
- I’m concerned that putting my real name to my ideas will cause me trouble at my work.
- I’m concerned that putting my real name to my ideas will cause me trouble at home or with my family.
- I’m concerned that putting my real name to my ideas will cause me trouble with my friends and acquaintances.
- I’m concerned that putting my real name to my ideas will cause me trouble at my school or university.
- I’m posting from a country which discourages freedom of speech.
- I’m concerned that someone will take violent exception to my views about climate and threaten me or my family.
- I feel more comfortable posting anonymously, but I’m not sure why.
- I’m concerned about putting any personal information about myself on the web for any reason.
- I find it easier to express negative views when I post anonymously.
- I’m posting from work on company time, or the equivalent (e.g. posting when I’m supposed to be studying).
- I don’t want people to be able to research my previous statements.
Now, my questions about all of this are:
- What else would be another reason that someone might have, that should be listed on the poll?
- What other questions (age, sex, etc.) would it be useful to know?
- How about the wording of the questions? Is it neutral, is it biased?
- Order of the questions? Which ones first, which ones last?
Many thanks for your contributions, the relevant ones will be included in the poll.
w.
PS – Please be clear that I’m interested in possible reasons people might post anonymously on WUWT, not a justification or an argument for or against posting anonymously. This thread is to design the poll, not to debate anonymity.
[UPDATE] Added from the comments, with my thanks. Note that in the poll people will be able to choose more than one response.
- I feel able to express more confident views if those statements aren’t personally attributable to me.
- I’m posting for relaxation – not “publication”.
- Using my real name is just asking for ad hominem attacks.
- I don’t know who might read the post and what they might do with it.
- I don’t wish to disclose my formal qualifications, or lack of them, or that I am in a different field.
- I can say things that I would be embarrassed to say in person.
- I’m lazy.
- I work with people who believe Albert Gore is a scientist.
- I work with clients/customers or in a market where skeptical views are not welcome.
- Metaphorically speaking, I have relatives in the old country …
- To be honest, I also say some pretty stupid things, occasionally, especially when imbibing the suds.
- I am concerned about identity theft.
- It’s a chance to let out my repressed wild and crazy inner personalities.
- Stalking is always a concern to a female.
- I have someone constantly Googling my name.
- It’s traditional since the beginning of the web to have a handle.
- It allows me to “compartmentalize” my opinions on very different subjects.
- I enjoy “trolling”, stirring things up.
- I have worked for oil companies, mining companies or agribusiness and it would likely be held against me.
- I use a moniker because it describes what I am and how I see the world in 3 words.
- I post anonymously for the same reason I do not register a gun.
- Who wants to be responsible for my stupid ramblings when I am involved with Jack Daniels? Not me!
- I am under an implied contract to never make public pronouncement under my name that might in any way embarrass or disadvantage any segment of a multifaceted corporate endeavor / large university / international organization.
- Greenpeace said “We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work. And we be many, but you be few.”
- If I posted under my own name, it would be tantamount to expressing my political views to all and sundry and in my industry/job/school would convey a lack of professionalism.
- I am concerned that my age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, etc are factors that can affect the people who read a comment and many of them unfortunately then respond in a biased way.
- I have been attacked for my views.
- It is like putting on a superman suit, you can say anything, be anything and fly anywhere. And if any-one with kryptonite strikes you down, what does it matter, tomorrow you will be Clark Kent.
- To express things I wouldn’t have courage to express otherwise, the same reason many students are hesitant to put their hand up in class.
- I’m not even half as paranoid as I should be.
- I don’t wish for my thoughts and comments from years gone by to turn up whenever someone does a search on my name.
- I enjoy putting forward an identity that says more about me than my name.
- It’s good that no-one on the internet knows if you’re a frog.
- It would be easy to connect up my posts, email address and ultimately my credit cards. Spam and fraud would then follow.
- I don’t want to be associated with my job when posting on technical subjects.
- I am concerned about the UK defamation law.
- In my country you could be targeted by the consensus people.
- I have a common name and use a pseudonym so that I can search for my postings.
- I am concerned it may cost me business/lose me funding.
- I want readers to judge my comments on their content, not their provenance.
- I plan to run for president and want to be able to change my opinions as may be convenient.
- I am pleased to get some protection from the cloud of gnats hovering around the net.
- A future employer might have issues with some of the things I post.
- Didn’t Zorro and the Lone Ranger wear their masks because of things like this?
- I am the sole support of others.
- I’m not British / American, and for an English speaker my name is difficult to remember / sounds weird / carries a silly pun / leads to misunderstandings.
- I think it is fun to call myself by my handle.
- I don’t care.
- My name is the same as a wanted criminal / bad person.
- I don’t want current comments being dredged up in a possible future political campaign.
- I want to maintain plausible deniability.
- Posting anonymously offers an opportunity for crowd-sourced criticism before having my name attached to a bad idea.
- I I do a fair bit of sub-contract work for companies that have bought into the green dream, so I’m invoking my very own version of the … uh … precautionary principle 🙂
- A rabid green has haunted me in other forums.
- I was stalked relentlessly by some creep who decided that it was fun.
Updates to the other questions:
- Would you seriously consider using your real name after a reasonable period of retirement.
- Would you prefer to be able to post under your own name?
- Career
- Age
- Sex
- Location
It has also been correctly noted that I am describing posting pseudonymously, not anonymously.
It strikes me that I haven’t looked at the other side of the equation, why people post under their own name … ah, well, one thing at a time. My own reasons for posting under my own name, in no particular order, would be:
- I want to be able to claim ownership of my ideas.
- I refuse to be intimidated by the dangers of the world.
- I am much better mannered when I have to take responsibility for my words.
- My claims tend to extravagance when I post anonymously.
- I grew up a cowboy, and criticizing someone from behind a mask of anonymity feels like shooting someone from ambush … and a cowboy can’t do that, it’s in the contract, ask Tom Mix.
UPDATES from the comments regarding posting under your own name.
- I am retired, and don’t care if people read what I post.
- I prefer to say what I think and feel anyway without hiding under a cloak.
- I don’t post anonymously because I have a martyr complex.
- I think it is cowardice to post anonymously.
- Because I don’t follow the herd.
- I say what I mean and am terribly honest at it.
- I believe it is simply good manners to identify yourself when talking to people.
- I have no concern about people reading my opinions a decade from now.
- I can’t lie with a straight face.
- I have to stand for what I believe as who I am, otherwise what I say is all posturing.
- I started posting under my real name after making an ass of myself anonymously in a blog comment section.
- Using my name forces me to keep my posts measured and decent.
- I feel uneasy posting anonymously.
- It’s a matter of clarity and honesty.
- If such things as climate change are important we should pony up and admit where we stand.
- I’m confident enough in who I am to not be concerned about what others think of my opinions.
- Since my work is not publicly funded or grant funded, I’m at liberty to say what I wish without concern of losing my job.
- A person of worth will stand up in their own name for what is right and against what is wrong.
- If they want to google my name, they should do it if they don’t have better things to do.
- I have never not posted with my own and real name. Why would I do otherwise?
- I feel free to change my opinion should I have reason to and will defend or dismiss my former opinions accordingly.
- It would be cowardly for me to hide behind an alias.
- A screen name feels like hiding behind a false front.
- I think that in the long view we as a society get along much better when we know each others names.
- If I have too little courage of my own convictions to sign my name to my opinions, why should anyone pay attention?
- I don’t fear professional retribution as most of my peers hold similar views to mine or are just plain disengaged from the topic of global warming.
- It’s a statement that I will not be intimidated.
- I am totally uninterested about what other people think of me.
- I’ve had my own name a long time and have grown attached to it.
- I consider my self responsible for my own opinions.
- If I write something, I’ll stand for it, or I would not write it.
- I dislike anonymity on principle
That’s it to date, I’ll add more as they come up. I must say that I find the variety of reasons much wider and deeper than I had expected. Ain’t life grand?
Indeed, I rather like this process of crowdsourcing the poll questions. It strikes me that this is a kind of appreciative inquiry that could be of use in other contexts where there is a wide variety of opinions.
w.
There is considerable relevant research into uses of anonymity in “computer supported group processes”. For anyone who is really interested I recommend :
A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF ANONYMITY IN COMPUTER-SUPPORTED GROUP DECISION MAKING by Poppy Lauretta McLeod at Case Western Reserve as a good starting place .http://www.csl.mtu.edu/cs6461/www/Reading/McLeod97.pdf
I consider Science to be an entity that should not be a respecter of persons, hence I see no added value from attributing names to statements when trying to get to the facts.
In other words, I’d rather people attack what I say, rather than who is saying it.
I’m also from internet generation 1, so I have a healthy desire to keep personal information off of it when I can.
Willis:
Thankyou for encouraging the sharing of thoughts in this thread.
I write to comment on a related issue that I think is pertinent so is not too far off-topic.
There are several bloggers who are academics and blog under false names (e.g. Eli Rabbit, Tamino, etc.). Their true identities can be simply determined and are well-known.
As academics they have a personal interest in publishing in the technical literature any ideas and/or analyses they conduct because this increases their publication count and, thus, benefits their careers. And publishing something on their blogs prevents its later publication in the technical literature (because technical journals reject for publication anything that has been previously published anywhere and in any form). But these academic bloggers publish things on their blogs under false names.
One clear reason for their anonymous blogging is a desire to avoid accountability. They post smears and lies against individuals who have no redress. It cannot be proved that one of these bloggers wrote a specific statement unless he/she admits to having written it, and this enables the bloggers to freely lie, slander and smear which they do.
Another reason is to dupe the gullible. Anything the blogger has written which he/she recognises is so flawed and/or unworthy that it has no chance of publication can be posted on his/her blog. This, of course, is rubbish that he/she has decided to throw out instead of publishing in a technical journal. But it is swallowed and used by gullible acolytes.
Richard
My view may change in the future, and I don’t others to hold me to my views in my past.
Yes I see the problem!
We now need to ask the proverbial question: Does Anthony still beat his wife?
LOL
Given the contentious nature of the main topic of this blog (and others), I post anonymously because I am in a better position to convince in-laws and work colleagues, who don’t have the same level of background that I have, if they haven’t 1st read my postings . I am afraid that they would put up a firewall to anything I say and I wouldn’t have the opportunity to adjust my conversational entry point to potential conversations on the topic making changing minds a much larger hurdle. Adjusting conversational entry points according to the background of the other person is critical to making progress as I see it.
Note that my problem is with in-laws and work colleagues, as I have no problem telling my direct family of my views. I have 2 relatives (in-laws) who are fully “invested” in the fraud.
I started posting on climate sites with my own name as a matter of clarity and honesty. A screen name felt like hiding behind a false front and I’ve never cared if anyone disagrees with me.
The down side has been that my name has been harvested from WUWT and Google will find instances of me giving good reviews of products on sites with virus threats. I’m still the only Maurice Garoutte known to Google but I post less now because my (formally) good name will lead to a computer threat. Also it doesn’t help that the USPTO puts my name and address on the web, accessible to the casual searcher.
Madman2001 has been my net-name for many many years now, so to great extent it IS my real name. My birth certificate name is just another of my names. They are all “me”.
Does it make a difference?
I’m posting from a country which discourages freedom of speech.
Germany. ‘Nuff said.
Our real name is not something we choose. It was bestowed on us by our parents, or guardians. Unless you’ve gone to court to get it changed. Seems pretty logical to me that you might want to choose one that reflects the real you, or makes a statement about your views. It just seemed the thing to do at the time. Just as everyone had a ‘handle’ during the short lived CB radio craze.
A nutter has several times offered a reward for my identiy.
One that I didn’t see mentioned, though many similar ones were, is the specific concern about current comments being dredged up in a future political campaign. Disgusted with the current status quo, I’ve thought at times about running for office. This potential (though incredibly small, as I’m highly introverted) keeps me from posting many things that I might otherwise (particularly on Facebook, but elsewhere as well).
The internet allows for cool nicknames and alter-egos. Not everyone’s email address is “yourname@____.com,” and too many people share names for that to realistically happen. You get to make a new identity.
What’s most interesting is the identity some folks choose, such as “Tamino.” Sort of like how music folks liked to turn themselves into heroes in the short stories that often were music videos (back when MTV played them), you have someone who decides to liken himself to one.
WUWT contributors, be forewarned! Publicly expressing your name with your opinion can be dangerous to your economic health!
In 1983 I found myself in a defamation legal action in the US State of Oklahoma. An elected offical had made public statements that caused a weak-kneed employer to fire me. Because of a few newspaper opinion pieces I wrote over the period of a few years it was determined that in the eyes of the law I was — at least in Oklahoma —- in the same category as an elected “political figure”.
I have never written any article for or against any elected official or any political party, and I have never held or run for any public or partisan office. But, alas, in the eyes of the State of Oklahoma, I am fair game for anybody. It is legally impossible for anybody to defamed me — no matter what outrageous lies they write about me, say about me, or do to me — short of an actual physical attack.
My concern have always been about public policy. My writings have mostly been simple “letters to the editor” concerning the admittedly controversial topic of residential racial segregation. I have written about ways public policy influences urban growth patterns and the phenomena of “white flight”. More specifically my concerns are about ways urban growth policies can negatively affect minority property values and the net worth of minority families.
In my view I am a citizen exercisng my right to express an opinion. Wrong! I am mistakingly assuming that “freedom of speech without any prohibition thereof ” is my right under the first amendment to the US Constitution. Wrong again. Freedom of speech be damned. The Supreme Court has found that a “political figure” can be defined in any “reasonable” way a State wants to define a political figure.
The whole affair has been a very expenssive lesson, but in hindsight it all has turned out well. It was impossible for me to find employment where I lived, so I packed up my family and moved to Texas — a very smart move for us.
I am 69 years old now but not the sort to ever retire. In spite of the often vicious nature of the internet I still feel compelled to attach my moniker on what I write.
However, I understand and fully respect those who choose anonymity.
Gerald Wilhite
I don’t mind using my real name here (Lance Boil) but would never do so elsewhere due to the fear of becoming entangled with and harassed by malignant trolls.
Plausible Deniability
My professional career ( not in climate science ) was destroyed by the “tyranny of the majority.” “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
I no longer trust the judgment, fairness or justice supplied by lynch mobs.
Regarding posting under your own name:
* I don’t give a flying rat’s behind. Make my day!
I’m concerned that putting my real name to my ideas will cause me trouble at my work.
I’m concerned that someone will take violent exception to my views about climate and threaten me or my family.
I’m concerned about putting any personal information about myself on the web for any reason .
I have been attacked for my views.
———–
In truth, my posting moniker is half of my name.
My full name is shared by two other people in the continental US .
Not only am I easily identified, but these others ( one in particular) could be damaged.
I have been targeted spammed and hassled on line,
by lunatics .
And yes I think that potential employers google people,
and take exception to their views and activities, that can be detrimental to getting hired .
I do not care to be tracked and researched for posting in forums.
There are many usenet postings under my full name, including some offensive ones directed at offensive people, and they never disappear.
But I respect you Willis, even admire.
Try not to think less of me.
I work with a bunch of liberals. I do fear retribution if they know how I really think about global warming.
I usually use my first name and initial because I sometimes comment from work when I’m taking a break. If its actually a comment on the science that I would be happy to see in the local newspaper with my name on it, I use my full name. The company I work for sells materials used pretty much everywhere. The goal is to sell profitable, cost effective products to our customers, whether it is used to help mine coal or build better windmills. That doesn’t make it safe to get the marketing guy selling the “low green house potential” fluids upset with me. Likewise, the guy selling to the windmill manufactures better not be getting the coal industry upset.
Radio types should understand the term ‘handle’.
You pick a ‘handle’ when posting on the Internet.
It’s your trademark.
I plan to run for president and want to be able to change my opinions as may be convenient.
…..actually I think there may be repercussions to me and my views in the future, at this time I do not feel any threat but that doesn’t mean the warmist and political hate list isn’t being tabulated. The gulag is not in the top ten vacation destinations for me.
I am thinking the climategate emailers were wishing they were more careful.
I post with a pseudonym because it is allowed. I always provide my URL and would continue to post if full name were required. I have been a part of the letters to editor pages my whole life, where full name and address and phone number are required. A few years ago my name was prominent in the letters to editor pages over an issue that was eventually decided in court; my opinion on the losing side. After the court case went against my point of view the letters editor phoned to inquire if I still wanted my last “losing” letter printed. I did, but that was intimidating, as was a call from a cousin from 2000 miles away laughing at my beligerent ways. As you well know Willis, “thinking outside the box” comes with a cost.
Willis
I have worked for oil companies or other “eco-criminals” (miners, agribusiness) and it would likely be held against me.
I think the “eco-criminals” label is going to bias responses as it will cause a reaction. A more neutral question would be:
I have worked for oil companies, mining companies or agribusiness and it would likely be held against me.