4
votes

On some forums they prefer users using their real names, since it's easier to relate to a person than to a "thing". Since we have avatars, would a self-photo be better than a meaningless pic?

Any preference or benefit of this on Stack Exchange? Does it help people better understand your posts?

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5 Answers 5

6
votes

The top rated users on SO are a mix of real [looking] names and "fake" names. This would seem to suggest that it doesn't matter.

4
votes

I use my real picture (well, sorta...) and a fake name. I've done this for over a decade, after realizing that, on The Internet, my first+lastname is shared by too many other real people to be terribly useful as an identifier without the addition of troublesome auxiliary namespacing information (middle initial / location / etc.)

I've never encountered any problems, unless you count the occasional snarky comments from people who apparently never sat and thought about how easy it would be for me to make up a real-looking fake name if i was actually trying to hide something.


See also:

4
  • Try searching for Brad Gilbert. ... At least Stack Overflow doesn't have that many Brad Gilberts. ... Yet. Aug 31, 2009 at 17:08
  • @Brad: A claim like that is an invitation for one of the MSO pranksters to change their screen name. ;) Aug 31, 2009 at 17:12
  • 2
    @gnovice: don't be silly - we're more mature than that on MSO.
    – The Real Jeff Atwood
    Aug 31, 2009 at 17:25
  • And so it begins... Aug 31, 2009 at 17:30
3
votes

I prefer that when people think of me, they think of a beautiful pony and a strange set of initials (screw you people!) instead of my hideous visage.

Sort of like Phantom of the Opera, except I can't sing.

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  • 3
    I only think of a terrible shell of a man that crushes cats with the incredible girth of his buttocks.
    – GEOCHET
    Aug 31, 2009 at 16:49
  • Acronym? So it's pronounced "Thet-zee"?
    – random
    Aug 31, 2009 at 16:50
  • A reclining couch is my preferred weapon of choice. Then I don't have to worry about claws.
    – TheTXI
    Aug 31, 2009 at 16:50
  • @random: No, I just forgot how to spell "TAXI"
    – TheTXI
    Aug 31, 2009 at 16:51
  • You call that horse "beautiful"?! Aug 31, 2009 at 16:58
  • @random: He is not kidding, he is from WV.
    – GEOCHET
    Aug 31, 2009 at 17:08
  • It might be beautiful in comparison to his visage . Aug 31, 2009 at 17:10
  • 2
    I say 'The Tixie' in my head. Like Trixie, without the 'r'. Aug 31, 2009 at 17:27
3
votes

I can't imagine using my real name and oh-so-emo photo changes what people think of my posts. (Okay-- maybe the emo photo influences some people... >smile<)

I play on Server Fault because I enjoy helping people, and I don't have any IT training gigs going on right now to give me the warm and fuzzy "I helped somebody "feeling. Since I've put a fair amount of work into (most of) my posts I want to be sure that they're able to be associated easily with my personal "brand". Being an independent IT consultant and contractor, anything that adds to my body of references and experience is helpful.

2
votes

Yes, my parents named me strategically. Years and years ago they knew that someday, there would be a technology called the Internet that would magically appear and somehow there would be a certain part or "site" that contained cartoons. Much like the comic books of the era, but this comic book had moving pictures and sound. A character by the name of Trogdor, a man, a dragonman, burninating the countryside, burninating the peasants, would be born. What an awesome name for a son!

Flex it Troggy!

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