A new way to know ya!

[Tartan Tess]

I think it is fun to see pictures of xmarkers at the games etc. when they have their meet ups. faces to go with their name.I am more interested in what type of tartan they are wearing in the photos.
Besides business deals and PM's I don't want to be that open to others. A few weeks ago I had a message sent to "Tartan Tess" in my regular email from cupid.com. I now make sure I log out every time I am done here.

[Mickey]

I'd be one of the first to put my info in something like that, but to a large extent, it is already being done by some. Locations are listed, avatar photos of themselves, real names in signature lines. It's all about comfort level.

By the way, my real given name is Mickey. I was named after Mickey Mantle.

In my craft message board, screen names are not allowed. Real first and last names are required. Has been that way for over 10 years. So when I registered here I didn't really think twice. Plus I had no imagination at the moment to come up with something witty. And hey, that's just one more thing that I would have to try and remember.

So there you have it. I am Mickey, I live in St. Louis, and there are too many pics of me posted in here as it is. Don't need to scare any children tonight with another one

[Grizzly]

For what its worth I voted yes. Although I understand the reasons why many wouldnt want too. My real name is at the bottom in my signature and if someone wants to see my ugly mug I have no objections. Sometimes its nice to put a face to the names.

[Burly Brute]

There is another way to check the listed information of our members. We have a member's list.

Look up near the top of this page and you will find a dark blue navigation bar. See "Community" near the middle? Pull down that menu and you will see the member's list.

In the Members list there are columns for the username, (a current status if any), the member's home page, their join date, date they last logged on and the total no. of Posts.

You can also see their Avatar, profile picture and birthday.

For any more details you would need to click on the person's name to go to their full profile.

But as I work with our member's list on a daily basis I can tell you that the vast majority of our members choose not to list any personal information. As has been stated above many people do not want their personal info on the web. I can't blame women for this and many of our young members are so used to being shielded behind a username and avatar that they feel strange listing a real name or posting a pic showing their face. That is just a fact in the world today.

But I agree with the idea. Every new member since I took over the forum has received a personal welcome PM from me. In that message I ask them to fill out their profile as much as they are comfortable with. Very few do. So creating another list of members would probably do little good to meet the concept presented here.

Sorry.

Totally understand and respect the overall decision. I would like to make it clear to everyone, just incase they werent sure, that I meant for it to be optional for members to add themselves to the giant list (skynet). I don't want everyone to get the wrong impression

[creagdhubh]

The voting results, thus far, seem to be 'neck and neck.' I'm on board, great idea Burly Brute!

Cheers,

[serenitylala]

I'm for it, but I can see why those that said no, would say that.

You're right that, it should be entirely optional.

[gary meakin]

I voted yes but I tend to think that those who are for it already have that info in their profile.

[rlloyd]

I see no problem with a voluntary board/topic for this. Those that don't want to post don't have to...and I would think most that want no part of it would have no problem with others sharing.

[CDNSushi]

It's a cool idea, and if we lived in a world where the identity of others could be respected, I would have no problem with it.

But unfortunately, the state of the world is such that identity theft and phishing run rampant on the Internet, as does SPAM and who-knows-what-else. Many years ago I've made it a general rule to never use my real identity or personal information online for these reasons.

Many years ago I quickly realized that aliases or "handles" were insufficient. I can't just be CDNSushi or WeedKiller58, or Zog19, etc... People, companies, and fora do want (and often REQUIRE) more than just a handle. Unless your name is Prince or , the REST of us are expected to have a full name consisting of a given and a family name.

As such, for all general, online, non-legal purposes, I use a pen name or nom de guerre, (but all other aspects remain the same, such as my birth date) which has become an integral part of me and has remained consistent over the past twelve years (or more). The difference is, that there is no LEGAL entity with my pen name... I.e. if anybody were to try to create or steal a birth certificate, driver's license, credit card, e-mail address using my pen name, they would fail.

When I meet people IN PERSON, I make my legal name known to them, as it's not a secret per se and I don't want to be intentionally deceitful. There are numerous XMTS members who are well aware of my legal name, either from personal meetings or by virtue of having done business with them and requiring legal information for shipping purposes. (Japan Post will automatically return-to-sender any package or letter that is addressed to me but contains a different name). But for the most part, I am happy with my arrangement, and in over a dozen years it has not done me wrong.

So I really remain neutral on your suggestion, because I am always happy to introduce myself as, and will always remain,

Jim Dunlop
:cthulhusmiley:

[artificer]

I haven't voted either way. I guess the idea is a nice one, but I probably wouldn't use it.

In today's "identity theft" age, there are plenty of reasons to NOT share too much information.

Plenty of people know who I am, and I make no secret to hide it, but I also don't tend to throw lots of info out onto the web.


Similarly, I have clients who love for me to post pix of things I'm making for them and love to post pictures of themselves with it when they receive my work.
A very few commissioners ask me to keep pieces I make for them entirely OFF the web- they will literally never be seen on the internet (only in my off-line portfolio)- (this may have to do with identifying features like Family Heraldry, but not always).

It's odd, but I tend to associate online personalities with their avatars, and when people change them I feel like a friend has shown up with a new face.
ith: