5 ms·

In the 90s and before privacy wasn't really a big thing -- looking at a couple of threads from usenet in the 90s, the majority of people used their real name (o

In the 90s and before privacy wasn't really a big thing -- looking at a couple of threads from usenet in the 90s, the majority of people used their real name (or at least I assume their real name).

badsectoracula 9y ago
I do not think usenet and newsgroups are a good indicator, by the 90s - especially mid to late 90s - when the floodgates to commercial internet fully opened together with the fast rise of the web, people spent more time in forums, chatrooms, etc than usenet which had more of a 80s "small community" background (where people felt more comfortable using their real names - most likely they already knew each other IRL considering they were usually from the same or nearby University or organization). When it came to forums, chatrooms, etc everyone used nicknames and even people who used both forums and usenet often used nicknames on the usenet than the other way around. Personally i remember reading back in 2000 or so that it is considered a good practice to use your real name in newsgroups (showing the real name bias it had) so that people "take you seriously" and thinking that it was a bad idea (and not commenting anywhere because i felt very uncomfortable with using my real name online - sadly this eroded over time, although the last few years i am sometimes concerned about it, but i think it is too late now and anyone can find who i am with a single google search). But regardless, even if people in the 90s weren't more privacy minded (which really REALLY goes against my experience with any community i either was aware of - and i use the net since 1993), this doesn't really change my opinion that people should not use their real names online and instead they should limit themselves to latin, letters and a few symbols that cannot be forged.

5 ms·

In the 90s and before privacy wasn't really a big thing -- looking at a couple of threads from usenet in the 90s, the majority of people used their real name (o

by isostatic 9y ago

In the 90s and before privacy wasn't really a big thing -- looking at a couple of threads from usenet in the 90s, the majority of people used their real name (or at least I assume their real name).

badsectoracula 9y ago
I do not think usenet and newsgroups are a good indicator, by the 90s - especially mid to late 90s - when the floodgates to commercial internet fully opened together with the fast rise of the web, people spent more time in forums, chatrooms, etc than usenet which had more of a 80s "small community" background (where people felt more comfortable using their real names - most likely they already knew each other IRL considering they were usually from the same or nearby University or organization). When it came to forums, chatrooms, etc everyone used nicknames and even people who used both forums and usenet often used nicknames on the usenet than the other way around. Personally i remember reading back in 2000 or so that it is considered a good practice to use your real name in newsgroups (showing the real name bias it had) so that people "take you seriously" and thinking that it was a bad idea (and not commenting anywhere because i felt very uncomfortable with using my real name online - sadly this eroded over time, although the last few years i am sometimes concerned about it, but i think it is too late now and anyone can find who i am with a single google search). But regardless, even if people in the 90s weren't more privacy minded (which really REALLY goes against my experience with any community i either was aware of - and i use the net since 1993), this doesn't really change my opinion that people should not use their real names online and instead they should limit themselves to latin, letters and a few symbols that cannot be forged.