topic Using Real Names in BreakPoint

Using Real Names

Hooovahh — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 18:02:51 GMT

Here's an opinion thing that should probably be a vote but whatever.

I have two questions, first lets say AristosQueue posted something on the forums, and you reply referring to his post. Would you say "I agree with AristosQueue", or would you say "I agree with AQ" or would you say "I agree with Stephen".

And if someone replied to you, what name would you prefer they call you by?

For me I would probably reply saying I agree with AQ, and as for what others call me I don't really care. Hooovahh, Hoover, Hoove, Brian, Hoovah, whatever. I guess I will sometimes correct them is they spell it wrong but most of the time it doesn't matter.

It's just I know some people on NI or LAVA forums, get their jimmies all rustled if you call them by their real name. I'm guess it has something to do with trying to stay anonimous, or maybe it is a control thing, only allowing the internet to know the information they want about them. But in an industry where being known for you work is generally a good thing, do people prefer their real name to be out there?

And why not, lets make it three questions. What's your opinion of Avatars? I've talked to Jack Dunaway several times about this with no real conclusion. Should an avatar just be a picture of you? Or is that too much self promotion? I obviously don't have a picture of me as my avatar but I understand when people do.

So maybe this is a dumb topic but plenty of dumb topics turn out interesting on BreakPoint.

Re: Using Real Names

crossrulz — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 18:37:30 GMT

Hooovahh wrote:

I have two questions, first lets say AristosQueue posted something on the forums, and you reply referring to his post. Would you say "I agree with AristosQueue", or would you say "I agree with AQ" or would you say "I agree with Stephen".

And if someone replied to you, what name would you prefer they call you by?

And why not, lets make it three questions. What's your opinion of Avatars? I've talked to Jack Dunaway several times about this with no real conclusion. Should an avatar just be a picture of you? Or is that too much self promotion? I obviously don't have a picture of me as my avatar but I understand when people do.

1. It depends on my mood. I will bounce between AQ and Stephen.

2. Again, don't care. I will admit I was slightly upset when Jeff stated my name on the forums. But I very quickly got over it. It's not like people are calling me "knight" as if it is my name (I got plenty of people saying "Thankyou Proven Zealot"). That one is annoying.

3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a little self-promotion here. We are all (ok, most of us) professions here. If I spend the time here to establish myself as an expert, my boss thinks that should help get us business. I just like helping people. But keeping the pay check coming is impotant too, more so for those you are self-employed.

Re: Using Real Names

pallen — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 19:22:02 GMT

If a poster has closed their post with a given name, I'll usually use that. If not, I'll use their "forum name".

In my own case, I used my actual initial and last name intentionally when I created my account. So pallen, or Patrick is fine.

As for avatars, the selection was limited when I joined the forum and I just haven't bothered to change it. Although the unicorn probably fits even better now than it did back when I joined the forum.

Re: Using Real Names

johnsold — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 19:29:31 GMT

I tend to use the name which has been used in that thread. Many new users do not know crossrulz is also Tim. I figure it is up to the person who chose a username which does not describe the real name to decide when and to whom to reveal his identity.

In Breakpoint I will often use the real name for someone I know, especially if I want the message to be a little more personal. For example I have met Tim and Stephen and will occasionally use their names. I do not recall ever meeting you and you rarely use Brian on the Forums, so I would not choose to address you that way.

My username was chosen to be the same as the one required by my employer at the time, just for convenience. I almost always sign my posts with my first name. I sometimes get a bit irritated when someone decides to call me John, but I usually let it go, especially with people who do not use English as their first langauge.

Avatars: I do not think avatars should be allowed to have opinions. And as someone who is still using the default avatar, I do not have much standing for that discussion. Actually, I have created an avatar which will represent my company. I have not adopted it yet because I am not quite ready to begin the self promotion.

Lynn

Re: Using Real Names

SnowMule — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 19:55:43 GMT

It's more about readability by others than what I'm concerned with, as far as what you call me.

Some noob asks a question. A dozen well-known (on the forum, and amongst themselves in real-life) members reply.

Finally, someone else says "John's solution is probably the best", and a bunch of other people agree. Who's John, if 'John' isn't John's username?

It's a little different if your post signature has your name/title/etc in it, but not everyone reads those (or even has them turned on, in the case of some mobile skins).

That's where it gets confusing, and that's where the crossover between real names and usernames causes readability problems to other users who aren't part of the good-ol-boys club.

There's people I've ridden with (snowmobiles/motorcycles) that probably don't even know my real name. I'm just "Mule". There's a bunch of race results from last year with "Mule #155" for name/number.

Re: Using Real Names

Intaris — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 19:54:48 GMT

Depends on the board. In the champions forum I tend towards real names (Stephen) because theres a page on each champion with real names anyway. Otherwise I tend to use AQ. Obviously this extends to all other members.

Re: Using Real Names

Hooovahh — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 20:21:31 GMT

Shame, I was sorta hoping that Johnsold was something like "John is old". Briansold or better Brainsold if I had a brain fart.

We are graphical people and I guess as long as your avatar is something recognizable it doesn't matter too much what it is. If I started changing it to be other's avatars that could be a problem. But I know some have made changes. Altenbach made a good compromise changing his.

I don't mind saying what company I work for, but I wouldn't want my avatar to have my employer in it. That could bring up another question for breakpoint for another time.

Re: Using Real Names

Hornless.Rhino — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 00:06:08 GMT

@Hooovahh wrote:

I have two questions, first lets say @AristosQueue (NI) posted something on the forums, and you reply referring to his post. Would you say "I agree with AristosQueue", or would you say "I agree with AQ" or would you say "I agree with Stephen".

And if someone replied to you, what name would you prefer they call you by?

And why not, lets make it three questions. What's your opinion of Avatars?

1) If I was replying to AristosQueue and not using the quote function, I'd use "AristosQueue"

2) If someone was replying to me and not using the quote function I'd prefer they use some version of "Hornless Rhino". Space or no space. HR or the full one it doesn't really bother me. Essentially I use a non-real name here for a reason.

3) As long as the avatars don't distract from the content, are work safe, and don't use unnecessary downloads I'm not really fussed. For the customised ones they make it easier to differentiate between authors when quickly scanning a thread. For ones which anyone can pick from the standard templates (like I did), not so much.

Re: Using Real Names

Henrik_Volkers — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 13:17:43 GMT

@Hooovahh wrote:

[...]

I have two questions, first lets say @AristosQueue (NI) posted something on the forums, and you reply referring to his post. Would you say "I agree with AristosQueue", or would you say "I agree with AQ" or would you say "I agree with Stephen".

And if someone replied to you, what name would you prefer they call you by?
[...]

And why not, lets make it three questions. What's your opinion of Avatars?

1) AQ when I'm shure it's an establisched acronym, general the user name. Well, Lynn sometimes is an exception 😄

2) Since my forename is in the user name and sign, there is rarely a difference .... Exception: Misspellings from $ToLasyToLookupTheManual tend to shorten my answers

3) It helps for quick orientation, unless it's unique (and I rememberr my irritation due to a (bad) wizard double) Finally I spend a hole afternoon to create my avatar 😄

Re: Using Real Names

JÞB — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 15:35:05 GMT

Given Names: Mike makes a good point. Readability for the OP is generally my guiding principle. If the name is in the sig line I will use it. If I have asked via PM I may drop your name unless it could confuse the OP or if I am replying directly to another reply from a heavy hitter. The rare exceptions would be forum legends like "Ben" or CA, These are just plain self-explaintary in the forum context. Personally I feel a name drop or two adds to the sense of community or the forums and improves collaboration. I would never use a first and last name (anything googleable) in a post on a public forum.

Avatars: I chose mine originally at random but after a K-post or so found that the stock 8-Ball was becoming "Fashionable" and My Posts were harder to locate at a glance. I stuck with the theme of an 8-Ball when I upgraded to provide some continuity (8-Ball 2.0) The funny part is I haven't racked a set of billiard balls for years. Regardless, the avatar has had some marketing impact. I have no problem with this discrete type of self promotion.

Many of you may remember an old sig line of mine, just a quote attributed to the author. Youl'd be surprised how often I got called "Jullian" in a response. It never bothered me.

My Preference: Please do use "Jeff" or "Jeff B" if other Jeffs are likely to drop in.

Re: Using Real Names

Jacobson-ni — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 01:59:27 GMT

To answer your original questions

1. I usually just stick to the person's forum name. Most of the time though I will leave out trailing numbers. If you name is Jeff23401, I'm just going to call you Jeff.

2. Plenty of people call me Jacobson in real life, but Matt is good too. Someone called me AE Matt once, it was weird but I thought it was pretty funny.

3. I love unique avatars, it helps me remember people. Jeff B for instance will always be the magic eight ball guy, it really threw me for a loop when you started solving minings toughest challenges.

@Hooovahh wrote:

It's just I know some people on NI or LAVA forums, get their jimmies all rustled if you call them by their real name.

I had to respond because of this. Remember, there is no need to be upset.

Re: Using Real Names

Hooovahh — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 13:51:46 GMT

@Jacobson-ni wrote:

Plenty of people call me Jacobson in real life, but Matt is good too.

Are you sure "Son of Jacob and son", or "Jacob-san" isn't growing on you?

Re: Using Real Names

Jacobson-ni — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:36:12 GMT

@Hooovahh wrote:

Are you sure "Son of Jacob and son", or "Jacob-san" isn't growing on you?

If you really want to, you can call me Jacob-san or Son of Jacob and son (I prefer Jacob-san in this case).

In return I will refer to you as our LabVIEW Overlord or His Overlord or some other derivation.

Re: Using Real Names

tst — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:33:18 GMT

"His Overlordship".

Re: Using Real Names

JB — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 06:05:32 GMT

Because I don't know the real name of most of the users :

I generally use the avatars when answering a question
I find it easier to follow discussions when the avatars are used.

Re: Using Real Names

JÞB — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 06:49:33 GMT

@JB wrote:

Because I don't know the real name of most of the users :

I generally use the avatars when answering a question

I find it easier to follow discussions when the avatars are used.

Well, Mr. Bond..... James Bond, I can at least discern your name from your alias.

If you dig in a bit 70% of Knights use some form of their name as an alias. Yair Tim and Bill being the excptions. A larger percentage of zealots use their name. At nearly 3k posts you must have just ignored the side comments.

And just made my point! Acting like friendly neighbors is seldom distracting to the visitors we help and may encourage them to hang around and help out in the future.

And Tim, sorry it miffed you a bit at the time but, your post rate has more than doubled since I outted you by name! (Tim is so much faster to type than crossrulz)

And of course I am fan of any JB

Re: Using Real Names

crossrulz — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 12:09:48 GMT

Jeff·Þ·Bohrer wrote:
And Tim, sorry it miffed you a bit at the time but, your post rate has more than doubled since I outted you by name! (Tim is so much faster to type than crossrulz)

As you can tell, I got over it quick. I think it was more surprise than anything.

Re: Using Real Names

tst — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 13:57:25 GMT

crossrulz wrote:

It's not like people are calling me "knight" as if it is my name (I got plenty of people saying "Thankyou Proven Zealot").

Or "Permalink"?

Re: Using Real Names

RavensFan — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 14:52:34 GMT

Does anyone ever use the Permalink hyperlink?

If so, how do you actually use it?

-Bill

Re: Using Real Names

Hooovahh — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 15:52:26 GMT

@RavensFan wrote:

Does anyone ever use the Permalink hyperlink?

I get the feeling we aren't just talking about the link to a specific post like the "Message 11 of 11" next to each post. Isn't that called a permalink?