Re: Anonymity (was Request to Subscribers - Clarified)

[Nora Merhar <nmerhar -at- CHARLESINDUSTRIES -dot- COM>]

I only belong to two lists, and both show my full name. Some thoughts,
however:

1) This is a professional list (most of the time). That being the
case, most of us aren't going to appreciate or take seriously silly
pseudonyms like "starman" or "doggiluvr" which may fly just fine on
hobby-type lists or rec.tv.xfiles. (I don't know the actual name of
this newsgroup, and PLEASE don't enlighten me!) Most of us want to see
participant's full names, or a reasonable facisimile thereof. It gives
you some credibility.

2) As I'm sure you've heard before, it is best not to post anything to
a newsgroup or e-mail list that you would not write on a postcard or
shout on a crowded street corner. Many times I have written out a
post, reconsidered, and hit the delete button. This stuff is being
stored somewhere for posterity, and I want to look as little like an
idiot as possible. My *father* did a search on our family name
recently and came up with a letter to the editor I had written to
Salon magazine. Thank goodness it was a reasonably intelligent letter!
But the point is that if my father can do this, so could a potential
employer--and that potential employer could form some idea of your
character/habits/work issues from postings to this list. Not
necessarily fair, but true

3) As others have mentioned, Eric will post anonymously anything you
don't want your name on.

Nora Merhar
nmerhar -at- charlesindustries -dot- com
Senior Technical Writer
Charles Industries, Ltd.
Rolling Meadows, IL