A question about A2K & posters & possible multiple IDs.

Well, bi-polarbear turned into blueveinedthrobber. That's the only instance I can think of, and it seems to have been ok. I've had suspicions about some newbies that appear to be having conversations with themselves, though with different ids, but I have no real evidence one way or another.

Ah yes, the blue veined-bear!

From time to time I've seen people change their ID here, generally for reasons of anonymity. But in cases like this they've informed us about doing it why .....

But I was thinking more about the more passionately debated issues ... say, politics, religion, etc. Sometimes a new supporter of a particular line will suddenly appear out of thin air & go hammer & tongs to argue a specific line. (Often when the supporter of that line appear to be rather scant! And they appear to really know their way around! ) Yeah, it's certainly made me wonder .... Not that I'm suggesting that the situation is anything like the chaos & nastiness the occurred on Abuzz. That was one of the reasons so many of us gave up on participating on Abuzz.

I've wondered about that myself msolga, and at times I read
several posters who share the same semantics, punctuations, characteristics and expressions that make me think that it
has to be the same poster. In fact, I am pretty sure it is -
but if they think they can fool everyone, I am not the one to
disclose their ID.

I would much rather be bi-polar bear but the powers that be for some reason won't allow it.

I think there are several, msolga, and it pisses me off, but I'm like C.J. I just won't play. Bear's another story. He be good.

I think Letty and bipolarbear are the same person.

I think you're onto something there, Gus! :wink:

If Miss Letty is bipolarbear than gustav is Walter.

To answer your question, msolga, I can not say for sure if there are people with multiple identities, but I know of several members who leave and then return with a different name.

So technically they are not "multiple identities" per se, because they discontinue posting under their original names.

Maybe they said something that caused embarrassment and identity change is simply a defensive mechanism.

I dunno as there's anything wrong per se with an individual changing username or even having and posting from more than one A2K membership - whoever the individual, whatever the screen persona, the manner of a member's interaction is what strikes me as important. Do whatchya want, but pretty much just do it without spamming, harrassing, flaming, disrupting, or posting porn, gratuitous vulgarity or hate speech, is the way I figure it.

Personally, I also think witch hunts are pretty silly, too ... "Ooooooh .... did you know <So&So> is REALLY just <Whoever> posting under a made-up screen name?!?!?!?! " ...

Now c'mon, what other than "Made Up" is a screen name gonna be - even if its your own real name, its nothing more than electrons and pixels. What a posting member does on these boards is a helluvalot more pertinent, I think, than whoever that posting member might be in the meat world, or under which or however many screen names that member posts here. A jerk is a jerk, whatever that jerk calls itself, and around here, at least, jerks generally don't generally get much of a welcome or much of a tenure. There's the REAL, WORKING, IMPORTANT difference here as compared to some other websites.


'Course, thats just my take.

But seriously, though, sometimes it's rather disconcerting or annoying to suspect that you're arguing with just one person whose making out s/he's a crowd of vocal supporters.

I must admit that I have had the exact same thoughts as msolga and calamity. Not that it really matters to me one way or the other. I do find it a bit of a deception if it is the case, but whatever.

As for some people coming on and seeming to know their way around quite well.... since they can access the forum but just no post, they could learn everything they need to do while in the lurking mode.

I'm not bi-polar; I'm just drawn that way. msolga I agree with that.

I don't care how many screen names a person has, but they should let us know. When one person is posting under two or three names, it seems like trickery.

Where does that sort of thing happen, msolga? Political threads? Religious?

Personally, I have never seen such a thing.

Maybe you are just getting paranoid. That is a common with crazy cat ladies.

The big difference was that on Abuzz, imposters could take on the name of a present member. Remember when we added our member #s to our identities, so that we could tell the "real deal" from the phonies?

I don't care for multiple identities for a number of reasons. For one thing, the member is being fraudulent, and I don't care much for liars. For another, especially in contentious threads, members are receiving a skewed impression of the tenor of a given discussion.

I'm against alter egos, too, but it seems like too much trouble for more than a few people to want to do.

It was a pain on Abuzz, but sometime funny, in a sick kind of way. There was one guy who always seemed to be patted on the back by another as soon as he posted anything. Since the views were often extreme, it beggared belief that he could find support so readily...

It's just this nagging thing: It is much easier to turn up in the middle of a torrid debate & say something damning or outrageous, then not have to worry about any long term damage you might have done to your real identity. To me that lacks integrity & is treating your fellow A2Kers with disdain. I admire the folk that are clearly themselves & will stand up & argue their (sometimes unpopular)case openly. It also gives you a much clearer picture of who that member actually is.