Chig Martin of Softride made a good point in another thread that has also been on my mind for a few months.
Chig pointed out that many posters do not include detailed or accurate, specific information about their identity in their user profile. this enables people to post anonymously and hence, with little concern for having to be accountable for their commentary.
Normally, this is not an issue on this forum as the banter is typically pretty light- as it has been recently. But when controversial or potentially inflammatory topics are raised it seems that being able to hold individuals accountable for their comments and identity makes sense.
Let me suggest that for those who want to post opinionated commentary in response to something they’ve read on the forum that they kindly do so with full disclosure of who they are. It seems only fair, especially when things can occasionally take a turn for the “personal”.
I know that a number of individuals maintain surveillance of my activities, whereabouts, opinions and other behavior through intelligence gained on this forum, but they have never had the courage, integrity or honor to reveal themselves becasue they are cowards. No worry to me, I have no problem standing tall in front of The Man.
Chig makes a good point, and I wonder what your opinions on this are: Should everyone who posts on here be required or at least compelled to reveal their true identities? After all, we’re all frineds here, right?
I agree with you Tom i was reading a post the other day and it started going the wrong way so i checked everyone who posted info, eight out of nineteen had no info about themselfs or where they lived,always makes me wonder who i am reading about.
Interesting you should bring this up. Serotta has just shut down their forum/fora, due to a couple of issues. One was the level of trolling/abusive posts had risen to an intolerable level. Another was that Serotta claimed that representatives of competing companies had been openly and covertly using the forum to disparage Serotta in various ways. This was according to a letter posted by Ben Serotta at the link where the forum used to be. The text of the letter is here: http://www.hydromedia.com/serotta/
I’ve always posted my name on all posts to all online discussions, and I am always skeptical of anonymous posters.
This is as good a time as any to set an example on this forum. Let me introduce myself to you all. My name is Gary “Curry” Tobleski. Along with running the TimeTrial.org web site and being an avid time trial racer wannabe, I am also a well established race car driver and a consultant on style and, as you can see, a very handsome man.
I appreciate Tom’s candor and openness, and I have decided to share insights into my own life and in doing so I think I can help Tom in his relationships by offering some advice on how to get the chicks, as I am an expert on the subject:
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”
“freedom isn’t free”
People have fucked with me all my life. From the time I was a fat, zit faced kid up 'til now. If you are going to have an opinion- if you have the balls to have an opinion- you better have the moral fiber to be able to stand behind it. That is courage. That is integrity. I am often caught in embarrasing mistakes and humiliating contradictions in my posts. I frequently make an idiot out of myself. So be it. It is the cost of contributing. When I was in Thailand last week at least six people I met half way around the world knew me from posting on Slowtwitch under my real name.
That is why I expect others to risk suffering the same fate. It is the cost of having an opinion. So what if some spineless, lying individuals feel the need to lurk or assail me annonymously. It has happened before and it will happen again.
If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
I guess it boils down to this: If you don’t have the courage to say who you are it may be appropriate to stay off public forums. When I go to city council meetings (as I often do, and I am very vocal there too) I don’t wear a bag over my head. Even if I’m just sitting there everybody knows who I am. They can even see me on local cable TV.
One rule always used in brainstorming/teambuilding types of “group gropes” that I would like to see is “no personal attacks.” I think the attack on IronCLM a while back and some of the stuff about Tom has been beyond the pale.
I recognize that many people like to retain some anonymity. But, I think it would help if posters would preface their posts by at least giving some disclaimer. For example “I (am/am not) a (physiologist/coach/aerodynamicist/bullshit artist/simple jarhead/etc.) and my (wild ass guess/educated position/expert opinion/etc.) on (topic) is…” However, last time I did this I got kind of dissed. That’s okay, though.
I have to agree with Tom. The interet is the only public forum where people can “hide” behind false identities. I’d much rather stand behind my words and perhaps “foolishly” let people know who I am. That being said, Tom, you are unlikely to change this silly and childish “net identity/persona phenomenon”.
Keep delivering from your experience and knowledge on sport. We all appreciate it.
This is not so simple. On the one hand, anonymity provides a more free flow of ideas. It’s been part of the net’s communication ethos all along.
On the other hand, threads (and entire sites) can turn into unmitigated flame zones. Has anybody checked out letsrun.com? That board is a nightmare.
If I were running a site, I’d want a verified identity registration scheme, and then would block disrespectful or disruptive posters. However, I think anonymity is worth the cost, all things considered.
Julian (and that’s not my real name; anybody that wants to know my name knows my name. I’m semi-anonymous.)
No hesitation in agreeing with TD on this one. Things in the world are a changing though. Not long ago I challenged the morality of a someone wanting to criticize a collegue without owning it. I caught hell for it. Annonymity is a right don’t you know… I guess I watched too many westerns growing up, something about your word and your sacred honor being bound together.
As a Gaul you are already a man of honor in my book Francois, and for the record, I have never seen such unmitigated badasses as your Legion d’Etrangere (or however you spell the name of the elite French Foreign Legion Special Operations unit)and your GIGN anti-terroist police. Good men, all of them. Also, your encyclopedic knowledge of the sport has been and continues to be a valuable resource on this forum. It reminds me frequently of the late Michael R. Rabe’s legendary mental databank of bicycle racing. Very impressive.
'I recognize that many people like to retain some anonymity. But, I think it would help if posters would preface their posts by at least giving some disclaimer. For example “I (am/am not) a (physiologist/coach/aerodynamicist/bullshit artist/simple jarhead/etc.) and my (wild ass guess/educated position/expert opinion/etc.) on (topic) is…” ’
But the people who post anonymously are the LAST people who post with humility. Case in point is a certain individual who constantly rails against Shimano, clinchers, and anything not from the political right.
I must have missed something and so forgive me if my reply is off base. I am only a casual browser here but Im pretty sure i havent not seen any “controversial or potentially inflammatory topics” here beyond the campy/shimano cat fight. Seems to me this is a world-wide forum to give people at work an excuse for not working and maybe share some useful information or insight about life and triathlon in the meantime. If “a number of individuals maintain surveillance of activities, whereabouts, opinions and other behavior through intelligence gained on this forum” that truly is a scary thing but due soley to the fact that you decided to tell them and anyone else who cared to log on here about who you are and about your activities, whereabouts, opinions and other behavior. If you feel your safety or wellbeing or anything else is threatened by disclosing personal info to a bunch of random internet browsers then I would think the better solution is for you to maintain anonymity or to be more circumspect in revealing personal or confidential information.
I am only slightly anonymous. I post using my typical handle, first initial last name, and I list the area where I live. My first name is Jeff. I’m opinionated, but I don’t share 3/4 of my thoughts with you all because many people here flame you when you do, rather than engaging you in intellectual discourse. I spend enough time here without joining flame wars.
I like this forum a lot, although in general I try to stick with the tri-related or ‘light’ topics. I feel that it is not my place to insult other people, mock their beliefs or opinions, or otherwise be a total dickhead. I even try not to swear too much.
Your point about anonymity is on the money, as my biggest gripes with this forum(and the Internet in general) are:
People who shove their beliefs or opinions down your throat.
People who flame you when you voice your opinion because they disagree.
People who think that insulting you is a logical rebuttal of your opinion.
People who are generally pricks towards other folks out there.
People who argue that their opinion(see conundrum thread) is a fact by virtue of their having it.
Not all of the people who do this sort of thing are anonymous, but most of them are, and having that shield makes people much bolder than they would be if you were standing toe-to-toe with them.
I’m not the super-fragile type who loses sleep when I get flamed, but it does annoy me when I join in on a contentious thread and someone who doesn’t like my opinion responds with insult, condescension, or some other retort that has nothing to do with my thoughts. Let’s be serious, opinions are opinions, and facts are facts. If you don’t like my opinion, try to convince me that I’m wrong. I respect your right to have your opinion, even if your having it makes me think you’re an idiot. But we’re here because we’re triathletes, not to insult each other. But hey, if that’s what floats your boat, I’ll try to ignore you. Troll.
"I think it would help if posters would preface their posts by at least giving some disclaimer. For example “I (am/am not) a (physiologist/coach/aerodynamicist/bullshit artist/simple jarhead/etc.) and my (wild ass guess/educated position/expert opinion/etc.) on (topic) is…”
I like this approach, but in my case it seems redundant. I always assume the implied disclaimer “I have no knowledge of this subject but will chime in anyway because I’m sitting here trying to keep from doing something useful” applies. If your post contains a well-reasoned thought process, it doesn’t matter whether you are anonymous or not. If your post is gibberish or a flame, I don’t care who you are anyway.
Tom could post here anonymously and his information would be no less useful. Knowing who he is and his background is interesting, and hopefully serves as good advertising, but when I first started reading this board I put no more weight on his opinion than anyone else’s. There are anonymous posters I would trust because of their past and there are identified posters whom I wouldn’t believe if they told me the sun would come up tomorrow.