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And I disagree with pretty much everyone here. I think you're all paranoid to a degree - - - some much more so than others. I've been giving out my name, address and phone number, as well as meeting people from fora in person (including this one), for almost two decades. Of all the things to be concerned about in this day and age, worrying about giving out any identifying information in an online forum shouldn't even fall within most people's top 100.
Did you miss the part where two of us (both female) mentioned having problems with stalkers from the internet? In my case it involved getting creepy packages at my home when I'd never given out my address. I had to involve the police in that one. Your experience has been positive - but there are some of us who have had less than positive experiences and telling us we are "paranoid" is pretty tone-deaf at best.
I don't worry about it too much. I don't post anything I wouldn't say IRL.
I was a network person for long enough to know if someone really wants your identity, they can find out. It takes effort and time but it can be done. It's almost impossible to be completely invisible all the time.
I have met CD people IRL and they have all been quite OK. Just normal individuals.
Prior to the internet, there was CompuServe where people used real names. In many ways, the conversation was very civil and I got to meet a lot of great people including Roger Ebert. It WA somewhat exclusive as access was $12.00 per hour.
Then came the internet. I dropped the real name as it was subject to attack and was generally, a lot less civil.
However, the tipping point was on a message board site called "Ask.com" where you would answer people's questions and get some credit for it. I answered a very straightforward question on the tax code regarding non-cash charitable contributions. One poster took an offense to my answer and started trashing me under my real name (not screen name). I complained to the webmaster and had it removed. Then the guy somehow figured out where I worked and called my boss telling him that I was dishonest and was passing out bad information.
My boss was pretty sharp. His response was, "send me what you are talking about.". He looked it over and told the guy that I had cut and pasted the passage from the tax code. Then he reminded the guy that he had the guy's e-mail, phone number and the like and he should stop the harassment ... or else.
I don't give out my real name or post any personal information that is readily identifiable.
Call me paranoid but there are too many weird people out there.
For the record, over the years, I have met up with HUNDREDS of people I have met over the internet.
I've been cautious here as I am new and this is one of the larger sites I've ever participated on. But I have belonged to smaller, more cozy forums where after many years we've gotten to know each other quite well and the trust level was high for good reason.
One forum took a cruise together. That was a lot of fun. And I've had visits from cyberfriends on vacations and lunched with some of the members closer to MN..
Once I was a guest of a couple living on a houseboat in Puget Sound. She told me her friends were sure I was there to steal their identities and my family was convinced I was going to spend time with axe murders.
I can make mistakes but I've been in the people professions nearly all my life and think I've developed pretty good antenna for reading people given a long enough period of time. After twenty years online I haven't had any seriously bad experiences so far. (Although I was once kicked off a forum for making fun of Hitler! That surprised me.)
I don't use social media like Facebook specifically because too much personal identity info is put into plain view. I stay fairly anonymous on this forum and don't provide info about occupation, place of work. I don't mind putting down the place where I reside because it is a fairly large city of 75K. On CD it provides a point of reference because a lot of the topics here are location related.
Another thing I do on CD is avoid those heavy discussions around politics or religion. That is where the extremes seem to clash and it gets over the top real quick.
I like interesting topics that provide a place to share good and useful opinions and information in a friendly manner. Many of the people in this corner of CD follow that general approach and I enjoy reading a lot of the threads here and I occasionally have something to comment on.
The OP, Escort Rider is not paranoid about protection of privacy. In this era of identity theft gone wild, nobody wants to go through the terrible ordeal and hassle of trying to deal with something like that.
I don't use social media like Facebook specifically because too much personal identity info is put into plain view. I stay fairly anonymous on this forum and don't provide info about occupation, place of work. I don't mind putting down the place where I reside because it is a fairly large city of 75K. On CD it provides a point of reference because a lot of the topics here are location related.
What bothers me on Facebook is the number of people who post [pictures of their small children on the internet. The people that I am thinking of are the uber-wealthy business owners and heirs and the like.
Maybe I watched "Walk Among the Tombstones". Too closely last night.
On the other hand you can Google me and get nothing. I do that on a regular basis and clean up what little I find.
How do you "clean up" what you find?
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