Social Sites options - user names poll. Real Name or Anonymous?

[BulldawgsDirector]

Real names. Anonymity creates a false sense of bravado. Stand by your words.

 

[WWolff]

Well Ricky so far the straw poll is real names? You know my vote.

 

[HITTER23]

i guess i need to rephrase my answer, im all for accountability, use real names , id just think if its part of OFC, id like to see a correlation of the real name/nick name.

 

[ech92]

Your option ! I could careless who the actual person is . Also whether you want to admit it or not , we get more honesty from some of the anonymous posters .

 

[Pacerdad57]

i kind of like the way it is with user names, and real names as your footer.
don't mind using real names, mines been on every post for quite some time. best of both worlds this way.

 

[Pacerdad57]

i kind of like the way it is with user names, and real names as your footer.
don't mind using real names, mines been on every post for quite some time. best of both worlds this way.
this way i get to include school and travel teams in every post.

 

[Rdsherman5]

I have been Rdsherman5 on every post I have put up on the site. I have no problem being associated with anything that I put up here. If you believe what you are saying and you believe it is something that should be public, then it seems to me you should be willing to have your name attached to it.

Rick Sherman

 

[Louuuuu]

But, Louuuuu is my real name... And you've probably heard of my brothers, Sting and Slash.

 

[okiedad1961]

Your option ! I could careless who the actual person is . Also whether you want to admit it or not , we get more honesty from some of the anonymous posters .

As well as the bashers and attackers that remain anonymous for there reasons.

 

[okiedad1961]

Don't see a lot of folks that are negative towards others posting there real names.

 

[coachjwb]

I need to understand from snoman76 why he wants to use my name! How about you can have my name, if I can have your age?

While I voted for real names, again, I really am OK either way. While there are more votes for real names, my guess is that 99% of the people that vote for real names would still participate if real names weren't required ... but that a much lower % of people who don't want to use real names won't participate if it is required ... not so much because they're embarrassed by what they say, but because they don't want the things they might say to negatively affect their DD or they don't want to be criticized for asking "stupid questions". I think people who use their real name tend to have more credibility, but I think I'd rather have more participants than less. I guess some of it depends on the purpose of the site and how it's going to be different than what's here in the Forum.

 

[coachjwb]

P.S. I think when Ricky takes polls, he's really just trying to hear what people think and some of the discussion before he makes a final decision. In the end, we shouldn't necessarily expect a "democracy".

 

[TheSoftballZone]

I need to understand from snoman76 why he wants to use my name! How about you can have my name, if I can have your age?

While I voted for real names, again, I really am OK either way. While there are more votes for real names, my guess is that 99% of the people that vote for real names would still participate if real names weren't required ... but that a much lower % of people who don't want to use real names won't participate if it is required ... not so much because they're embarrassed by what they say, but because they don't want the things they might say to negatively affect their DD or they don't want to be criticized for asking "stupid questions". I think people who use their real name tend to have more credibility, but I think I'd rather have more participants than less. I guess some of it depends on the purpose of the site and how it's going to be different than what's here in the Forum.

Jeff I do believe we would have less participation if members were required to use their real names. I can definitely see where there would be an advantage for some users to actually use their real name.

Example of this would be tournament directors, college coaches, organization directors, coaches an individuals that are selling items or merchandise. I would believe that by using your real name you would automatically receive credibility. On the other hand if you were to use an anonymous username it would take some time before you may achieve any credibility.

 

[softballmom2000]

i guess i need to rephrase my answer, im all for accountability, use real names , id just think if its part of OFC, id like to see a correlation of the real name/nick name.

I completely agree with this. I recognize the nicknames that everyone uses here so then to trade over to real names would be like, now, who the heck is this. I think you need to have both just to correlate the sites.

 

[b lesh]

Nicknames only if real name in signature.

 

[GeneralsDad]

I would use the site either way, but agree with a few posts that the anonymity, for many reasons will increase participation. My vote is leave it up to the user. It's really not that big of a deal. Regardless of the format, unless Ricky is checking ID's and requiring proof of residence there will always be fake and/or multiple accounts.


Bob Smith
Bob's Water Beds Ultra Platinum

 

[mogsoftball]

Your option ! I could careless who the actual person is . Also whether you want to admit it or not , we get more honesty from some of the anonymous posters .

Yep it's a double edged sword type of question.

Make people use their real names so they will be accountable for their words in person, or leave it anonymous so you can get peoples real feelings.

Some people will fear being ostracized if they post their real thoughts and everyone knows who they are. Others who want their real name to hold them accountable at the fields just justifies those fears.

On a personal level I don't care either way. Plenty of people know who I am, I post pictures of my daughter and put out there what team she is on. There is nothing I would put on here that i would not say the same thing in person because I just don't care if people like it or not, but I know not everyone is that way and want to stay anonymous.

So when it comes down to it the administration has to make a call what do you feel is more important. Making sure when people say something everyone knows who they actually are which could lead to people being black balled in real life, or giving people a place to say what they feel without fear of being confronted which can lead to trolls.

I have not voted in the poll and don?t think I will because like I said it doesn?t matter to me, I really think that needs to be the admin?s call on what they want to provide most for the community.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

I would use the site either way, but agree with a few posts that the anonymity, for many reasons will increase participation. My vote is leave it up to the user. It's really not that big of a deal. Regardless of the format, unless Ricky is checking ID's and requiring proof of residence there will always be fake and/or multiple accounts.


Bob Smith
Bob's Water Beds Ultra Platinum

Couldnt agree more 'Bob',
Softball is a small, Small world and if you say one thing on here that is misconstrued or taken out of context it can have great impact on your daughters team and future - I know that sounds like hyperbole but it's sadly true.
Plus there are added benefits to anonymity; People tend to be more truthful when they don't have to mince words for fear of retrabution (thats is why authors say they can tell more truth in fiction books than nonfiction) plus we would loose a lot of our most entertaining posters.

[video=youtube;iJFGAX77zw4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFGAX77zw4[/video]
Pictured Above: The Softball World as portrayed by singing puppets

 

[crystlemc]

I voted for real names, but the more I think about it, the more I don't think it really matters. I doesn't usually take long for people to figure out the real name of the troublemakers on here. People think they're so slick posting under a fake name, but most of them say at least one thing that will tip off who they are. This has been proven time and time again.

 

[yossarian]

Ricky, are you trying to solve a problem by changing it? I think changing it would actually result in less overall conversation and I can't imagine that matches up with what your vision of the site is.

I would agree with people's reasons for leaving it optional. I think if you require real names, you'll scare a lot of people off from asking open and honest questions because they won't want to expose their ignorance for various reasons. They'll worry that it'll have ramifications for their daughter some day. I think you'd end up with a different kind of forum that would be mainly just coaches. Because coaches will feel they have less to lose because they're more in control, in a parent's mind anyway. You may even have newer/younger coaches who won't ask questions for fear of looking like they don't know what their doing in public. It's fine if that's what you want the site to be. I don't mean that as a knock on coaches – coaches by far are generating the best content on this site.

I think most people on here aren't hiding behind aliases. There are always going to be a few jackasses in the mix whether they use their real names or not. News sites moving to Facebook ID's for commenting have shown that.