Historically nom de plumes were created by authors to disguise their true identities for whatsoever reasons. The usage of the term "nom de plume" is a bit of a misnomer in the cyber-age as is the term "fake id".
What does it mean to use a "fake id"? An identification is called into question when one is entering into a contract of some sort, or is representing something or someone, perhaps an organisation or is expressing an opinion in the capacity of someone of merit. When I post on Goanet, I am not entering into contract with anyone (as is say Bosco who is contracted to be part of the admin team), representing an official organisation (as is Floriano who is representing Go-Suraj and speaking on its behalf) or expressing an opinion in the capacity of someone of merit (such as Frederick Noronha, etc). I am merely expressing an opinion, which would be just as anonymous and irrelevant were it to be expressed in my own name of insignificance. The reason I have used a nom de plume, is because unfortunately being a woman I have in the past attracted cyber-psychopaths, who have made very personal threats and I do not wish to jeopardise my family. The reality of the cyber medium is that one is visible to a number of invisible posters and is in dialogue with people whose background, be in mental or otherwise you are unaware of. Given the ease with which one can locate addresses and other information even Social Security numbers, especially in the US, it did not seem prudent to me to use my real name. I have discussed these fears with the "powers that be" as well as revealed my identity to them. I have never hidden my identity from anyone who has proven their own authenticity in private communication. However, I understand that the validity of this forum is important and based in large part by the reknowned names that it attracts. If my nom de plume is a problem with posters, please let it be known privately to Frederick and I will decide if, risk of disclosure is proportionally balanced by my need to post. Elisabeth __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
