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Those other websites don't have extensive question lists encouraging users to reveal sensitive information about their political, religious and sexual interests

Those other websites don't have extensive question lists encouraging users to reveal sensitive information about their political, religious and sexual interests. People who are interested in kink, for example, are highly represented on OkCupid because they can advertise it without worrying about being identified by co-workers, family members, fellow church-goers and whatnot; similarly they typically don't want to be stalked by strangers either. There's also the problem of uncommon names. This handle is my actual legal name, a decision I made years ago that I frequently think of as both profoundly liberating and incredibly stupid. The name "Jacques" is quite uncommon in the USA and the Anglosphere generally. I'm aware of this because my name has been mispronounced and misspelled for my entire life. Even though it is a common western European name, I fully expect that I will be reported from time to time and occasionally removed. At which point, what am I meant to do? Scan my passport?

dvt 9y ago
> People who are interested in kink, for example, are highly represented on OkCupid because they can advertise it without worrying about being identified by co-workers, family members, fellow church-goers and whatnot; similarly they typically don't want to be stalked by strangers either. If you upload pictures, you can be easily identified. If someone wants to stalk you, a reverse-image search is trivial to do. But even if we disagree on that point, you don't have to use your real name. So, again, what is the argument?
- jacques_chester 9y ago
  > If you upload pictures, you can be easily identified. If it has your face, yes. Kink profiles don't, as a rule. > If someone wants to stalk you, a reverse-image search is trivial to do. Most folk use a photo specific to OkCupid for this reason. > you don't have to use your real name You have to use the one you'd prefer to be called by. I don't know about you, but that's the name my mother gave me. On top of which, it is already being "enforced" in a way that will pretty much guarantee that my actual name will be seen as an evasion of the policy. If folk want to go by their name, the original policy allowed that. Or they could go to Bumble or Tinder or a billion other wannabe apps. What OkCupid allowed was choice to choose any name, even a dumb one, for any reason. That they sneered and smarmed their way through the announcement just makes me angrier and less willing to take them seriously. Edit: there are also people saying that they edited the blogpost and their FAQ after a backlash against a strict real-name policy: https://www.reddit.com/r/OkCupid/comments/7ljp4u/realname_change_hits_lgbt_community_hardest/drmyeoq/?context=5 https://www.reddit.com/r/OkCupid/comments/7ljp4u/realname_ch... Edit 2: There are multiple screenshots of "first name" and "real name" text from the app and website which predate the alleged change to the text of the blogpost and FAQ: https://imgur.com/LaYdmba https://imgur.com/LaYdmba, https://imgur.com/aOIKjKR https://imgur.com/aOIKjKR
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dvt 9y ago

> People who are interested in kink, for example, are highly represented on OkCupid because they can advertise it without worrying about being identified by co-workers, family members, fellow church-goers and whatnot; similarly they typically don't want to be stalked by strangers either. If you upload pictures, you can be easily identified. If someone wants to stalk you, a reverse-image search is trivial to do. But even if we disagree on that point, you don't have to use your real name. So, again, what is the argument?

jacques_chester 9y ago
> If you upload pictures, you can be easily identified. If it has your face, yes. Kink profiles don't, as a rule. > If someone wants to stalk you, a reverse-image search is trivial to do. Most folk use a photo specific to OkCupid for this reason. > you don't have to use your real name You have to use the one you'd prefer to be called by. I don't know about you, but that's the name my mother gave me. On top of which, it is already being "enforced" in a way that will pretty much guarantee that my actual name will be seen as an evasion of the policy. If folk want to go by their name, the original policy allowed that. Or they could go to Bumble or Tinder or a billion other wannabe apps. What OkCupid allowed was choice to choose any name, even a dumb one, for any reason. That they sneered and smarmed their way through the announcement just makes me angrier and less willing to take them seriously. Edit: there are also people saying that they edited the blogpost and their FAQ after a backlash against a strict real-name policy: https://www.reddit.com/r/OkCupid/comments/7ljp4u/realname_change_hits_lgbt_community_hardest/drmyeoq/?context=5 https://www.reddit.com/r/OkCupid/comments/7ljp4u/realname_ch... Edit 2: There are multiple screenshots of "first name" and "real name" text from the app and website which predate the alleged change to the text of the blogpost and FAQ: https://imgur.com/LaYdmba https://imgur.com/LaYdmba, https://imgur.com/aOIKjKR https://imgur.com/aOIKjKR
- deleted 9y ago
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