LooseSuits

Well (as you know) I've recently dropped my "handle" and started using my real name online.

As I see it, because I'm writing fewer "h0w5z 2 h@>< d3 1nt@rn3t5" style tutorials (as I may or may not have been four or five years ago), I don't see the reason for faking it.

Some of this is pure narcissism. I want the credit for the things I write. Me. Me. Me. But the other side of it is people will relate better to me if they can see who I am and know my name, not some dodgy looking (obviously fake because there's a number in it) handle.

I really think it depends on your content. Everything above the board where you're not ripping the crap out of people or likely to offend people: use your real name.

For everything else, there's Visa... Ahem. No.. there's a fake name... But even then I'd suggest using a totally fake name like "John Smith" rather than "HotWings42"

I'm transparent about my name.

Whether or not it's my real name though... dun dun dun.

@seopher: Like you stated. I use an alias in places where I don't have to be recognized and then I use my real name in places where my work or participation online is relevant.
I don't find that using your real name could be a bad thing unless you are dwelling into the wrong side of the cyberspace...

It's not as much doing the bad things on the internet, but using real names makes it really easy for employers to find you online - for better or for worse.

I know of someone who came into a spot of bother over the things he was writing on his firstname-surname.com site.

I just think that when you're employed you then represent that company and therefore your thoughts and opinions reflect back on your employer - and I just think it's best to keep the direct link silenced.

Although it would be nice to be known by name from time to time...

My website being http://www.steffanwilliams.co.uk - I'm going to say I'm all for FirstnameSurname.tld.

In all honesty, I think I went for it due to a lack of imagination more than anything. I couldn't think of what else to name my website--my blog--that's about me and my thoughts on stuff... hmm.. what could I possibly call it...?

Anyway, I'm for it.

I'm with Oli on this one. I'm using my real name and probably will indefinitely. But it has pros and cons as has been pointed out here.

A recent note (death threats online) made me think twice about using my real name. When you argue a point online (against the masses, which is often the position I find myself in) you could potentially get the same attention (from lunatics) as a moviestar, the difference being that you don't have the bodyguards. If I'd be making a habit out of arguing sensitive issues, I'd probably use an alias.

I just posted a rather similar note after reading one of the ongoing relationship sagas. I think FirstnameSurname.tld and similarly outing yourself is foolish for everything except a strictly professional blog. Personal thoughts, rants, comments, photos, etc. are all best put somewhere more private where they cannot hurt you.

For years I never used my real name online. I recently relented a little, wondering if I had been a little paranoid, but I'm not seeing anything that encourages me to go any further down this road. I need only cite what's happening to Kathy Sierra at the moment - see here - to stop any further movement in that direction.

The conflict between privacy and public visibility is hardly new. Writers adopt nom des plumes, hip-hop stars have to keep security around them at all times. If the Internet is part of your livelihood, and you need a "brand of me" out there, it's a problem.

Would Robert Scoble be as famous as he is if he was anonymous? He's gained real-world benefits from "living online". But that carries its own price: he's practically "public property" now. I don't need to go that route, the way I see my medium-term future.

Scoble is a bad example. His position made him famous. If he'd been anonymous, he'd have been even more famous because it would be a case of "OMG Microsoft Insider Blogging Anonymously!!!" Then, inevitably, he would have been hunted down until his identity was revealed.

Anonymity sure did HypotheticalScoble a lot of good.

My point, and this is the second time I've made the same point today, is this: be anonymous, be transparent, it doesn't matter. If someone wants to know shit about you, they're going to find out either way.

And as for the "making it easier" argument. Either I want to know where you live so I can nail your Grandmother to the door or I don't. I'm not going to come and do it just because you made it easy. Granted, crimes of opportunity are rife. But crimes of opportunity against bloggers nobody's heard of? A tad unlikely.

Also, the majority of people using their real names online are professionals in some capacity.

You more likely to commission a website from "34hotchick" or "Jonathan Snook"?

My site = http://jerrychacon.com

...which is weird because "Jerry Chacon" is just a "middle aged alter ego" for Scrivs (designed to let me participate in the "over 40" club. ;-)

But really, I'm too old to try to remember who I am supposed to be at any given time. It's just easier to be the same person I have always been. Of course, I'm not much of a threat to folks so the Kathy Sierra issue probably isn't too much of a problem for me.

BlogLily posted a similar note on her site (about using the real names of her kids).

Perhaps I am naive, but it's real name all the way for me.

My blog only uses my first name...

My personal portfolio website is under my full name.

It's an interesting one because being so personal means people have more of a connection to you, but it can clearly have negative effects.

A nice example (as always) is johnchow.com. The style of writing suits that it's openly delivered by a specific person...

I got firstnamelastname.tld for my partner for his birthday. Why? Well, he needs a professional space where he can record links to the latest econ articles, post his ideas, and talk about what's going on in the world of econ.

When I first suggested it, he was reluctant, but after applying for grad school and reviewing a lot of professor websites, he realized that he would need a place for all of his work and a positive search result for his name.

I think employers Googling people's names is definitely something positive in the electronic world.

Are you more likely to hire somebody who says they've done all this stuff or the person that you can clearly see has been massively involved in several communities doing good work?

Sure this can be like pissing in the wind but you need to control what information/rants go out with your name on. If you need to bitch about people at work, start a new blog under a new name and keep them as separated as possible. In that case I would DEFINITELY suggest using another "real" name so people don't immediately think "Oh that's just Oli using a silly nickname"

Whether you reveal your name and those of the people you write about online comes down to how much privacy you want for yourself and how much privacy you believe the people you write about would want.

For me, that's changed a lot in the year I've been writing BlogLily. Although in the beginning I told pretty much every sentient person I know about my blog (I wasn't sure how else I'd get people to read it), I thought it would be best to just use my first name. And not refer to my children by name. But after a while, I thought that wasn't necessary. I yam who I yam, as popeye and Jerry Chacon would say.

And my children lust after fame, poor things.

I use my real nickname but will probably end up using my real name eventually.

I think that one can easily have a totally anonymous persona online if one wants to do it that way for personal reasons.

Technology now being such an integral part of out lives I think most people are going to give it all up eventually, at least in one or two places on line.

If you are online spilling your guts about personal issues, or talking about friends and coworkers in a derogatory way you should probably give yourself an alias.

I'm a freelance writer and poet. For that reason, I do use my real name online. It can have its disadvantages though.

I use one for my real name (nearly... but the name I'm referred to in real life) but I often wish I didn't as it eliminates the value of the domain.

I used to use an alias (Ahi -> Icarus -> Alex [Not an alias, but I used it for a while. In here for chronological sense.] -> mynimal), but now I just use my real name anywhere. I don't see it as a security risk; besides, if someone decides to hunt me down I'll just kick them in their man berries.

Plus there's the convenience of not having to come up with a super-cool domain name. :P

I use a moniker when dealing with the web, though I have a near lock on that name. peroty = me

Except for a few japanese hits it brings back but I can't read the text so I have no idea what it may mean.

Although it is not hard, at all, to find my real name as I use it liberally. I just find the moniker more interesting.

You may want to find out what it means. I discovered that Ahi means "duck" in one language, and another friend of mine found out that his meant "gay boy." Aliases seem to be pretty unforgiving.

I won't use my real name in my blog, much less as a URL. It's a way to remain anonymous from those who would seek me out, including my immediate family. Not that I'd even think they'd search, but it's possible. There are huge cultural and generation gaps there that I won't go into.

I also think being a woman is a huge part of it--there's more to worry about as far as potential "stalkers" go and I think it's somewhat foolish to offer that on a platter. Kathy Sierra is a whole other level, though--I couldn't even imagine it would go to those lengths. Enough about that. I agree in that if they want to find you, they will, but I won't help that process along, myself. I think it's also a way to protect my anonymity in real life, not just online. Sure, all you have to do is look through my flickr feed and find pictures of me, but there's a difference between linking that image to your personal information.

I had a situation once, where I blogged about needing a roommate. A fan of my blog, in turn, had searched through Craigslist for my ad. She found my cell number on that ad (I don't post my cell no. on craigslist either, anymore) and while I hadn't been near my phone when she decided to call, I found 8 missed calls from the same number. Count 'em, 8. She left a very desperate voicemail message in that she really wanted to be my roommate, "if" I had found a roommate, she wanted to "beg me to reconsider," and then went on talking about herself and how she would be a good roommate. When I called her back, I lied in that I had found a roommate (I hadn't) but in reality, she had frightened me. While I'm flattered that someone would want to be my roommate by learning about me from reading my blog, I would prefer to be on common ground with my prospective roommate as she is with me. Call it paranoia.

I use my real name. I started using it when I couldn't come up with a good alias (I'm still don't know of one I could use if I wanted it), and continued on with it ever since. I like the personal touch it gives things online. While most other people are hiding behind their aliases, I like seeing people just be who they are, and not try to hide it.

Mind you, I'm not in fear of someone trying to hunt me down either. I don't make many controversial posts online, so I don't gain many enemy's (in fact, I can't even think of one). I mainly just stick to helpful things. So, if somebody wants to know who I am, I invite them to find out. There are quite a few people who know my name, my city, province, and country online.

That's my stance.

I am a writer, and write short stories, travel articles, and I write poetry. I sell photography. My work is copyrighted through the U.S. Copyright Office. In that respect, I use my actual given name, and my surname.

On my websites, I use an alias related to my art form or my blog. I also use a nickname, with my surname initial (LorriM).

Using your real name lets you "own your name," that is, take some measure of control over what people see when they Google it (which they will).

My own firstname.lastname.tld site is pretty minimal, but it gives a sense of who I am and some links to my more major bodies of online work. It's like an abstract, or a business card: there's not much information there but it's all useful and relevant in some way.

Wow, ionfish. That's such a simple but really cool idea. I'm aghast at how perfect it is. It's owning your name but doing it in the minimal way which I would personally prefer (since I'm one of those closet types who keep my online alias separate).

I always thought it would be a good idea to buy Lastname.tld, then you could just set up a subdomain for yourself and anyone else in your family who wants to have a site. Looks like ionfish is doing that same thing.

Ben, what a terrific idea. I'm going to go and buy my name.

Also -- slightly off topic -- I love tarski. I use it through wordpress.com and think it is elegant and beautiful. Thank you for making it.

For my blog and most of my web work, I go by Karsh. However, I do own my FirstnameSurname.tld, and that's completely separate from Karsh. When I came up with Karsh at first, I was right out of college and trying to get a job in my career, which is why I had the two separate identities. Thing is though, now, I mostly prefer being called "Karsh" as opposed to my real name (mainly in the context of the web, like at a tech conference or something).

I guess I stole Ben's idea and put this at dunlop-walters.net.

I'm wondering if I should use the subdomain richard.dunlop-walters.net though...

I use my real name, well, part of it. Because like Oli said (first response here), I want some recognition for the things I write and do. And also because I love my name too much for putting it aside and making up a nickname that I will soon forget.

Generally I simply use my initials of 'CK', not only because it's quick to type and read, but also because some famous designer copied my idea. ;-)

As for using my full name, my new site will be hosted at my FirstnameSurname.tld and the header itself uses my own name. I have no problem with doing so in the slightest.

My full name is on my blog and on profiles that ask for that field. As well, I registered both andredeminiac.com (full name) and deminiac.com (last name) last week.

I've got no problem using my real name online. Sure, it's irksome when an MSN contact bored at 2 am decides to go online and find out my phone number (something I've NEVER published online) and prank call me over and over, but that doesn't happen that often. I pay for domains by proxy for all my domains so my other info isn't that easy to get, but unfortunatly it's still online and can easily be found. Damn my rare last name - there's less than 10 "Deminiac"s left that I know about (I'd like to say four; myself, my brother, my Mom and my Dad, but I believe there's still a couple others semi-related around), and I'm clearly the only one that has anything more than email online.