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Ask HN: Is using your real name at HN a noob behaviour?

3 points by pedrodelfino 11y ago

brudgers 11y ago
No, because: 1. There are many well known people whose Hacker News user name clearly identifies them. 2. There are many not well known members with similar names. 3. Many people with cryptic user names have identifying information in their profiles. 4. Hacker News is not a community with a meaningful cultural distinction between old timers and new users. The green names seem mostly there to assist in orientation to community norms and spam recognition.
brianclements 11y ago
I vote no (clearly). Here's how I break down the reasoning: In the HN community, non-constructive commenting is pretty strongly discouraged and moderated, so the urge to say things that normally would make someone want to hide their comments behind an anonymous name is pretty limited already. So if nefarious activity is already not your goal, it simply becomes a personal preference. Why hide honest questions and discussion? The only exception I can think of is if you're not well versed in the various knowledge domains that are popular here and don't want to give that fact away. I don't think that's a good reason at all though to be honest. I've felt this community be pretty accepting of honest questions and thoughtful input as long as you are honest with yourself as to what you're area of expertise is and you've done due diligence to the topic. If you're guessing something, you are going to be called out pretty quick. Don't ask for easily searchable facts, it's a waste of everyones time. Ask for opinions, experiences, etc.
nostrademons 11y ago
Not really, or at least not using some abbreviation thereof. Just going off /leaders, look at tptacek, jaquesm, ColinWright, jgrahamc, ChuckMcM, jrockway, cperciva, DanielRibeiro, DanielBMarkham, steveklabnik, and mikeash. A number of us have screen names because much of the early population of HN came from Reddit, which is almost all pseudonymous (the founders started off with pseudonyms).
GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
I learned my lesson about using real names back in the usenet days, I'm not about to do the same thing twice.
kingmikhael 11y ago
No.
apryldelancey 11y ago
I've used my real name on every online forum since I've been online. I never like to hide behind a screen name and don't trust others that try to hide their true identities.
jordsmi 11y ago
Only if you are a troll. If you are a normal user, then I prefer real name.
prodigal_erik 11y ago
I took http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html very much to heart. I'm always surprised that people attach their True Name to controversial viewpoints, not knowing which ones will become career-ending thoughtcrimes. Look what happened to Eich for siding with a majority. Even on a more mundane level, what happens to you when the industry embraces yet another terrible idea and finds a sourced comment from you criticizing it?

3 points by pedrodelfino 11y ago

No, because: 1. There are many well known people whose Hacker News user name clearly identifies them. 2. There are many not well known members with similar names. 3. Many people with cryptic user names have identifying information in their profiles. 4. Hacker News is not a community with a meaningful cultural distinction between old timers and new users. The green names seem mostly there to assist in orientation to community norms and spam recognition.

brianclements 11y ago

I vote no (clearly). Here's how I break down the reasoning: In the HN community, non-constructive commenting is pretty strongly discouraged and moderated, so the urge to say things that normally would make someone want to hide their comments behind an anonymous name is pretty limited already. So if nefarious activity is already not your goal, it simply becomes a personal preference. Why hide honest questions and discussion? The only exception I can think of is if you're not well versed in the various knowledge domains that are popular here and don't want to give that fact away. I don't think that's a good reason at all though to be honest. I've felt this community be pretty accepting of honest questions and thoughtful input as long as you are honest with yourself as to what you're area of expertise is and you've done due diligence to the topic. If you're guessing something, you are going to be called out pretty quick. Don't ask for easily searchable facts, it's a waste of everyones time. Ask for opinions, experiences, etc.

nostrademons 11y ago

Not really, or at least not using some abbreviation thereof. Just going off /leaders, look at tptacek, jaquesm, ColinWright, jgrahamc, ChuckMcM, jrockway, cperciva, DanielRibeiro, DanielBMarkham, steveklabnik, and mikeash. A number of us have screen names because much of the early population of HN came from Reddit, which is almost all pseudonymous (the founders started off with pseudonyms).

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago

I learned my lesson about using real names back in the usenet days, I'm not about to do the same thing twice.

kingmikhael 11y ago

No.

apryldelancey 11y ago

I've used my real name on every online forum since I've been online. I never like to hide behind a screen name and don't trust others that try to hide their true identities.

jordsmi 11y ago

Only if you are a troll. If you are a normal user, then I prefer real name.

prodigal_erik 11y ago

I took http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html very much to heart. I'm always surprised that people attach their True Name to controversial viewpoints, not knowing which ones will become career-ending thoughtcrimes. Look what happened to Eich for siding with a majority. Even on a more mundane level, what happens to you when the industry embraces yet another terrible idea and finds a sourced comment from you criticizing it?