pseudo
When I started blogging some years ago I used a pseudonym or false name. I found out that blogging in a community the use of pseudos soon became a waffle when multiple false names are used by the same person responding to the one blog. To connect with known people becomes a maze of not knowing who one is talking to when one person hides behind lots of false names.Meeting new people becomes a nightmare, and any productive talk of blogging or writing gets lost in the shuffle of many bewildering false names or ‘pseudos’.
http://geekfeminism.org/2011/07/08/anti-pseudonym-bingo/
The use of pseudos became a real problem when face -book reared its head. Who would use a pseudo when you want to tell the world who you really are and want to be taken for ‘real’ and find ‘real’ friends.
http://www.blogher.com/whats-name-real-names-vs-pseudonyms
If you stand by your conviction of an argument, rise or fall by letting everybody know who you are. If you want to use a false name, then use just one. To hide behind multiple false names seems silly at best and dishonest at worst, and ‘why’? Your IP address is known anyway. Take responsibility for your stance. I soon gave up my pseudo and have never regretted it. However, it is up to everyone to make that choice. Single pseudo or real name. No one would really care.
Un-moderated blogs such as the P/Arms, Bob Ellis’ and the Abc’s ‘Opinion’ that allow unlimited use of multiple pseudos run the risk of a few dominating the debate by using multiple pseudos on a single issue. It makes a serious argument into a mere waffle and shouting match. It lowers the value by diluting and warping the opinion. Note how the quality of respondents on the ABC Opinion has dwindled since 2008.
Fortunately, since the advent of ‘Face-Book’, blogging has now resulted in many writing under their real names. In fact, no blog worthy of serious debate would accept the use of multiple pseudos and only allow a single pseudo or even prefer real names. Blogs that deal with factual matters, science, architecture, literature or art etc. now insist on the use of a single false name or some even only real names.
Lastly, if you wonder why your blog is not getting much traction. Ask yourself, why would they, if none of you use real names or hide behind multiple false names.
Window Dresser's Arms, Pig & Whistle 
Grrrr……..
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Nobody in here, has experienced the type of attack (in The Drum) by a hard core of bloggers, that I have.
The Drum, is about – and I’m guessing here – 85% left wing/ALP/Greens, whatever you want to call it.
I recognise the same posters who put up a new pseud and make cryptic remarks.
IT DOESN’T BOTHER ME !! Why would it. I am just one in a zillion blogs in….hang on a minute…..I went to Google. so many hundreds of millions that I lost count. Plus there are “Billions” of blog posts everyday.
The Drum is an open source and it just doesn’t matter if someone writes to you in 5 different pseuds in the same article. Who gives a fuck??
You seem to attach some personal obsession to this gerard. the Drum doesn’t care about you – or me!
…………………………………………..
NO, it’s in here that you should be polite, because we know each other to a certain point. That’s why you should have done you job. moderating recently, but you didn’t!
Allgernon and I have come close on insults, however they are between us, rather like an argument in a pub, after too many vodkas. The comments that you should have deleted were just headline insults.
………………………….Now, in the matter of Voice and SM: you have been told about ONE HUNDRED times now, that they are two different people and that the hairy biker nord or whatever, is SM and NOT Voice.
You appear to be thick*, when you keep repeatedly refusing to accept this. I know that you are obsessed and cannot seem to understand that people disagree with you, in The Drum, but th I do remember Helvi trying to be divisive, coming in and writing about Frangiapni, saying ” she keeps doing this and that”. The hint was that it was Voice. To be honest, I have never asked her. Maybe it is.
But who cares what people say in The DRUM. It is not your blog.
If you don’t like the responses, stay away.
You should really table some proof, instead of wild assertions. Do you have any?
*Just for the record, I said, ‘appear to be’. Maybe you are clever than you seem.
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I am in truth the Steppenwolf that I often call myself; that beast astray that finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible to him.
His life oscillates, as everyone’s does, not merely between two poles, such as the body and the spirit, the saint and the sinner, but between thousands and thousands.
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😉
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This nightmare maze seems to be a figment of your own creation in tandem with Helvi.
It doesn’t seem healthy to me.
To many of the people you falsely accuse (speaking as one of them) it makes you look like either complete idiots or dishonest schemers. Of course anyone can make a mistake but you are persistent in the face of all common sense and nasty with it – it’s pretty obviously just a ploy to shut up or discredit anyone who shows you up. The Murray River basin has the same people carrying capacity as the Nile River delta. What! Tasmania is remiss somehow because it hasn’t maximised agricultural output as the Netherlands has. What!
Thank you Sea Mendez for Southern Cross Tattoo. And for showing restraint by not invoking his redneck patriotism more than a handful of times. Sometimes holding up a mirror to someone enables them to gain insight – but not in this case. D-N-H-F is one of the best parodies I’ve seen. Incidentally I see gerard still hasn’t apologised to you for accusing you of being me.
“If you stand by your conviction of an argument, rise or fall by letting everybody know who you are”. I think that’s a large part of the problem here. It’s a personal blow when your arguments are blown out of the water because you’ve attached your name and self-esteem to them. Unfortunately many of your arguments are poor to the point of ridiculous (Nile) and you frequently accompany them with unpleasant ridicule, which in combination is a recipe for attracting negative commentary.
Yes, it can skew the argument if one person posts under multiple pseuds, but certainly no more so than desperately trying to convince people that everyone who makes the same objection to your own argument is the same person.
Ultimately I favour rising or falling by the strength of your case, not by who you are. As atomou said the other day, address the argument if you can. Changing the topic to multiple pseuds doesn’t cut it.
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Voyce you rite agen as yousual.
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I theenk yuo mispelted her nome. iTs Voce!
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Oivec?
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Vicieo?
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moutomouto, Someone Else is brave, fair and intelligent. He may be illiterate but you’ll never reach the heights of his inner beauty, you cruel pedant.
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That moutomouto looks a bit familiar… can’t say I recognise Someone Else, though. And he can’t spill for nuts!
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Now you mention it, I recognise the blighter! I think it’s that character calling himself The Real Someone Else in https://pigsarms.com.au/2014/01/03/the-joy-of-being-gay-in-brisbane-australia. Who would have thunk it! Right here in the middle of an article on multiple pseuds. What a nerve!
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By Zeusy’s short ‘n curlies, Voice, I think you’ve nailed him!
Blighter, indeed!
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GRRRR……….
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😉
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Janus
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When one sees personal comments about one’s family, funerals or marriages, it enforces the sensibility of using pseudonyms.
One can see that these busybodies would be prying into every aspect of ones life.
Algernon and Vivienne have, mentioned their families. I would advise against doing so again, as it may well be the subject of busybodies poking their noses where it is not appreciated.
Hang on to your pseuds for all they’re worth.
Never divulge your real name on the internet to the types that lurk in here.
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Mentioning my daughters and a bit of help I get is hardly revealing Jules. You mentioned your mum, you brother, your children too. I think you are barking up the wrong tree.
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Viv is right Carisbrook.
That is the beauty of good positive blogging. We get to know each other. We all know about the superb tits and political passion of Viv, the self- deprecating humour and details of Hung One and his life, the self opinionated zinc-alume and Nordic obsessed Gerard etc. It makes for an intimacy and friendship away from a world that gets more and more impersonal and distant.
I have never felt that writing under one name (apart from Brkon, but it still carried my photo) would have been any different from getting the good and abusive bad responses. Shit happens.
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When I mention my family they all have the same name as me, Mrs, Junior etc. Its really no different to you alluding to members of yours. But your point about using real names in that case is valid.
Personally I’d like to see Gravatars attached to all names, it would stop the multiple names but not the multiple email addresses.
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I know Algernon. I was just pointing out – in this article about using names – that it’s wise to keep names off the internet.
Gerard was promoting it – and we can ‘now’ all see how bad it could become if one’s real names were used.
It would be an intolerable invasion of privacy. I think that you would have to agree.
It was on topic and addressed the very tenet of the article.
BTW, the mods let us have a reasonable discussion on ‘the economy’.
It made a change.
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In a place like this yes, we all roughly know where each other lives, with a name it’s easy to get unwanted contact, should someone be so inclined.
I thought it bad enough in recent days with all that BS about what you did and didn’t do, could you imaging if someone was so inclined armed with real name.
I thought the mods were kind to us and let the conversation roll on and post them in a timely fashion.almost like it once was. More of it I hope.
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No one is saying that you should use your own name, but what I and many others would like is using ONE name , real or pseudo.
No one has any problem with your or Hung’s many pseudos, you both are doing it openly, I know you are Julian London or whatever, and dear Hung is like a rose…a rose by any name.
Many multi-pseudos use the names to troll, to use create disagreement, to hurt; to be your friend as Jack, but be your foe as Jill…and that’s the problem.
They get banned as Jack and come back as Jill….
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The Blogger’s Code of Conduct is a proposal by Tim O’Reilly for bloggers to enforce civility on their blogs by being civil themselves and moderating comments on their blog. The code was proposed in 2007 due to threats made to blogger Kathy Sierra.[97] The idea of the code was first reported by BBC News, who quoted O’Reilly saying, “I do think we need some code of conduct around what is acceptable behaviour, I would hope that it doesn’t come through any kind of regulation it would come through self-regulation.”[98]
O’Reilly and others came up with a list of seven proposed ideas:[99][100][101][102]
Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
Ignore the trolls.
Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person.
These ideas were predictably intensely discussed on the Web and in the media. While the internet has continued to grow, with online activity and discourse only picking up both in positive and negative ways in terms of blog interaction, the proposed Code has drawn more widespread attention to the necessity of monitoring blogging activity and social norms being as important online as offline.
To my knowledge, HELVI, THE ABC, has never banned anyone. If you know differently, you should table your proof.
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I should have said: that was from Wiki.
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Carisbrooke, I have never said anything about ABC banning anyone, but there are plenty of moderated blogs, where they ban some offenders, some of them just delete the worst posts…
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If you divulge some personal details and that is then abused it becomes more their problem than yours. If you write anything of value, you cannot but give yourself, your beliefs, opinions etc. Sadly this sometimes will get abused by those getting satisfaction from trying to unhinge you. That is the risk. There is an answer. The choice is to express yourself and write or not to write. (Paint, sculpt, make music etc).
The abuser or bully doesn’t care if you offer your opinion by a pseudo or real name.
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True to a certain extent. That’s why we have moderators.
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How does the use of a pseudo prevent anyone from saying anything. Would the replies be any different using your real name?
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It should be moderated ‘out’ if it is abusive. If in doubt defer to Mike Jones. What goes on is his responsibility, as the Wiki article explains above.
You took the job on and should encourage everyone to do the right thing.
And apologise to Voice, while you are at it.
If’n you don’t, we can, laughably, presume that you think that ‘our’ Voice, is Sea Mendez.
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Cassandra
Mark
christophus
Melvyn Bowler
MJLC
Jakob Gamertsfelder
AJC
Adrian Gattenhof
Lawrence of Bavaria
JJ
Steve_C
allaboutlies
NoelP123
Chuck-Chunder
Mike North
Science-Lover
DaveS
Ralph
Bolivar diGriz
Alpo
Heretic
Ray Manta
LeftyRoy
leigh of Tregevis
Martin
claudius pseudonymus ????
PaulT
old67
ThatFlemingGent
rudy
David
Crow
Bruce
Johnny Valhalla
Adelaide Rose
MK
Brian
Chris J
GraemeF
BJA
John51
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Greg
Mike
Terry
Clete
ursus augustus
Peter of Melbourne
Foxtrot
Zing
Richard Gillies
Gary
NomDePlume
Ben the lawyer
Veganpuncher
reaver
Raise the stakes
Robert
Mycal
frank of Malvern
Gordon
Peter Graham
Joseph B
Silver fox
Gigaboomer
stephen
John D
GRF
Todd
Mop
Custard
OUB
Snufkin
James
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And these names?
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I wonder which one of these is Max Textor or Piers Akerman or Andrew Bolt?
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Probably none.
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What does he say about those names?
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When I first started blogging it was recommended to use a pseud, hence Algernon, which is the name I nearly exclusively blog under. In the early days I experimented with other names or have used a particular name for a week or to, then let it go. If I have used another name then I never use that name in conjunction with Algernon or any other pseud. for example Biggles goes to Bankstown would never be used with Algernon. Besides as HOO mentioned there are many blogging under my first name, and apart from once being trolled no one uses the name Algernon. In that case the house rules needed to be enforced, it took a long time for them to be.
That said its difficult to have a debate with someone with multiple pseuds like at the Drum.
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Yes Algy but those multiple pseuds don’t debate. They argue by completely changing the subject and going nar nar nar. Or they try to argue by putting words into your mouth and then argue their own point which was a point or a phrase which one never wrote. An example of that was re Ties and Einstein – saw a response to mine today which was a bit like (I never get this quite right) all dogs have four legs, cats have four legs therefore cats are dogs.
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So by the same logic an elephant has four legs so therefore an elephant is a dog. Sharp as bowling balls that lot.
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You prove my point. We all know you as Algy as we do Vivienne, Hung one etc. You are a real person the same as if you would have used own name or another pseudo. My beef is the use of many pseudos by a single person and when it comes to personal diatribe and bullying it becomes a serious concern. This would happen regardless of using a pseudo or real name. It is the person behind the name or pseudo being bullied that feels the hurt.
The true bully gets their satisfaction from belittling blindly, and uses the fake support by directing their efforts under various pseudos. They are cowards.
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Yes Gerard but they don’t upset me and I don’t feel bullied (fortunately for me but obviously not necessarily so for others). I’m sorry I can’t help getting political but I think that kind of person (the multiple pseud/bully) just represents everything I can’t stand about righty Libs. They have their role model in Abbott and Morrison etc and they stand by their man regardless of their latest moronic, idiotic activities, at home and abroad. Abbott can piss on Australia and they’ll defend that with whatever mad nonsense they can come up with. PS – they do annoy me but it is mainly because the bloody Drum has closed for comment and I can’t respond.
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I can’t say that I have felt bullied except on a couple of occasions. Once when I was being trolled and had to constantly bang onto the moderators to enforce their own rules. The other was a Zionist piece in the early days of Unleashed. From that experience I learnt to just walk away from the debate.
People are entitled to their opinion. What I don’t like which in part is were I think your getting at Gez is these multiple replies, clearly from party staffers and the like who appear to be using different names.
Then there are the clots that think because you may actually agree with the political view of those opposite to your politics that somehow you’ve converted them. They don’t get that sometimes a decision might be made in the National interest or that something might just be good policy.
Oh and who on earth is Steppenwolf!
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Yes, who? I think it polite that newcomers introduce themselves in some way. It is a Pub afterall and it is meant to be friendly.
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The point you make is valid Gerard. On the Drum one person using many pseuds to give the impression they have lots of their side of the argument and also to nitpick or post dumb oneliners and really annoy those with intelligent debate. The aim is to destroy, disrupt and, I’m sorry to say, root for the Abbott team. I just wish they had some substance, some real argument or point to make. They rarely do.
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My personality is generally to feel lonely and my experience of being outspoken is to draw negativity …and this is a subject that as a result of my being outspoken about it in various quarters for years has treated me with at best cruelty (being ignored) and at worst violence (insensate abuse). Gez, when I saw your title I felt that stirring of the usual pit in my stomach where I store the results and (mostly intolerable) frustration and its discipline (that tempers loneliness). The only way to survive is discipline being mocked, called names, belittled, diminshed, ignored in all its forms. I have described my disappointment that people play games using different pseuds online – games that particularly exclude people who are not as shit arse cunning to even imagine someone is toying with them or might be. What kick is there in it.
My survival has been to believe for the really timid souls that the consequences will catch up with our online society and the eventual character of our social groupings so that this would have to be faced. People who do not need people or think they don’t will f**ck with people’s heads online if it’s thought ok. They are no less dangerous in their worst manifestation than the average confidence trickster who steals their neighbour’s savings. People who are habitually doing it online are stealing the life blood of healthy social settings and at worse are moles and trolls, sometimes are a number of different individuals working in shifts deliberately being disruptive. ‘Freedom’ to do it in any form ought not be entertained in any environment that is meant to be sociable.
Myself, I have never understood the preparedness we exhibit in the human group to repeat terrible mistakes and fall for the confidence trickster in whatever that guise, not learn the lesson. We do not in our right mind open up our front doors and invite just anybody in without taking a few precautions. We introduce ourselves. We declare ourselves either by a pseud or a name. if it is not clear that online relationship makes that all the more imperative, there is something terribly wrong or denying it might even be just another form of abuse. That’s basic.
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You are of course right. It is the abuse by some who use multiple pseudos to dishonestly try and warp the argument in their favour. This is perhaps the least offensive of the abuse. The worst is the belittling and abusing of people by the sociopath that many are concerned about. The use of multiple pseudos works in favour of the sociopath in that, they give the hapless victim the impression to have support by many in their vicious pursuit of ‘the kill’ while in fact there are none.
In more serious blogs the real name is demanded or a single registered pseudo as is indeed with some of the ABC’s blogs. (but not with ABC’s Opinion.)
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Gez, when I first started blogging at the pre Unleashed days my name was Mark. Funnily there were so many Mark’s I didn’t know who from what. I then remembered as a kid working at the local servo, the owner would look at you. If you were a bit sleepy he would say “What’s wrong with you boy, have you hung one on” meaning a hangover. So realising that there was a lot of Mark’s I became Hung One On.
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There is no question about your identity wether Mark or Hung One on or even Well Hung One Two on. Your unique humour shines through and identifies you no matter what name or pseudo. I don’t care about names. It is the hiding and misuse of many names by a single identity that spoils this game of blogging.
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Thank you Gerard. That is a really nice thing to say. You and Helvi have been a good support to me over some tough times.
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Janus
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Well said, Gerard. I concur with you.
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Thanks Steppenwolf. 😉 Woof.
“Harry Haller is a sad and lonely figure, a reclusive intellectual for whom life holds no joy. He struggles to reconcile the wild primeval wolf and the rational man within himself without surrendering to the bourgeois values he despises. His life changes dramatically when he meets a woman who is his opposite, the carefree and elusive Hermine”.
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🙂 woof woof 🙂
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