Real Names , Real & Friendly People , I Think It Would Be for The Better !

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I really don´t want my real name used. Sure, James is ok, but why my full name? It´s not really anybodys business who I am. And I don´t post offensive stuff anyway! (Except occasional post 67 pics).

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I'd be fine with it, and think it would work well in parallel with our 'usernames'. Mine should strictly be 55 Gertie, but never mind, I like it as is.

It does add a certain amount of accountability, which even the most restrained of us can loose sight of on the internetz.

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I think lawyers would argue that as publisher of the forum it is my business who you are...

The point is that I do know who you are and we've also met and had a chat, so you're not trying to hide behind a usename. I'm not saying that everyone will know your full name if you prefer to keep it to yourself, that's fine by me. The objective is to make this a more friendly place and maybe make some people think twice before posting anything too offensive, not to invade everyone's privacy.

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I could live with a real name. :smile:
Pascal.

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I have not been on the net much recently, but I would not use my name anymore at all on the net where it could be found if hunted hard enough for, I think it is slightly different for men.
I once had a real problem being harrassed on the net by someone. And different albeit minor issues related to a planning application. I have learned to make sure I have limited personal details on the net. But then I would never use facebook, I think it is part of the slow degradation of society.
Also when you live in a rural location just your postcode can bring people to your door. Gypsy's use ebay and the net nowadays and their constant thieving is rife in rural areas.

We also no longer register for any car shows where an online list show who is going. It tells everyone you are not home.

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I think that maybe some people are getting the wrong end of the stick, nothing like a bit of privacy to get people talking! Just to clarify the idea:

1) Your full name would not need to be visible anywhere if you didn't want it to be.
2) Only your first name would be known by other members, to make things more friendly.
3) You would not need to change your username.

This is not far off how things are at the moment anyway, the biggest change would be that your real name is known to me (the forum administrator) and to the moderators.

So for you MrsHerbie there would be very little change, considering we've met, chatted and I've also bought stuff from you - the only thing would be that I could address you by your first name instead of MrsHerbie.

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Well if any of you are going to Lavenham be sure to came & say hello PHIL TAYLOR( 50 year old grumpy person) Pearl White Westfalia SO42 🙂

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I think JD has said it exactly how it is with me.Its a hoby an enjoyable intrest away from the real world cr*p daily stuf.Though this real names bit is sounding like dealing with your bank or thepolice and will kill it for sum:thumbdn:
That there was a bad incident hear by 2 people that did now who each was is proof enoughDont fix it if not broke

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im becoming a regular I like this place [as it is]:thumbup:

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It might not be broken, but it's also nowhere near where I'd like it to be.

I'd like it to be a lot more practical and constructive, and maybe just a bit busier - with people posting photos of restoration how-to's, photo's of whats correct for a year or other useful info, old-speed stuff people are working on etc. Without the petty bickering or baiting that sometimes goes on.

The alternative that I have seriously considered is just closing the forum down, I could easily live without it - there's plenty of good stuff being posted on Facebook that would keep me interested without any of the hassle. So I kind of see this as a last ditch attempt at building the forum by doing something a bit radical.

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I 'm not having people know my real name. 😉

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Rob
1. Dont close it down its a damn good forum & yep i like your ideas to make the forum a bit more constructive
2. Please please please dont force me to use S**t Book again :shock:
I personally dont really get all the anonymity of it all , what's the prob with people
disclosing their real names ? Got something to hide ? We are all into the same hobby & possibly most of us meet up in one way or another so sure surely its nice to be able to say
to someone ie Hello Rob instead of oh hello pre 67 dude :wink:

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Fair enough, you have a lot to hide 😳 :d

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Right, I´m changing my name to Mr. X if Rob´s going to get all Big Brother!!:p

No problem with Rob knowing my name, I just like to remain at least slightly hard to track down online. I regularly use different user names on different forums.

As Anna said, all this Bookface stuff - "look everyone, I´m on holiday! Please go round and burgle my house" is not clever IMHO.

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Who's Anna? :wink:

Good illustration of my point there JD, thanks for that... :thumbup:

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I am more than happy for Rob to have the real names of forum users.
However, I can understand why people would not want to have their name made public and so I am in favor of just the username visible to others unless they choose otherwise. (That seems to fit Rob's proposal).

Personally, I want to get in touch with people who can assist with Ascort history and information and so I have to be able to be found by some means. Is one better to put full contact details out in the public eye in the hope that it may lead to additional contacts, or make it a little more difficult so that you have to really want to get in touch to make the effort? (eg making people join forums to be able to send a message).

Rob - I like your view of what the forum should be. That is the bits of the forum that I find most interesting and useful. (Personally I wish people would keep the 1 to 1 chatty stuff to PMs). I have attempted to post things on the Ascort to provide information and hopefully raise a little interest and awareness. It has been a 2 way thing though as there has been a few responses to my posts that have actually opened up new areas of research and knowledge for me. (Would "Life in the Slow Lane" realise that the 1:43 Ascort models that I made were an indirect result of a his response to me regarding how the Ascort was built?)

I have been resisting the temptation to post much on my restoration efforts as I do not see many others doing it and I did not know if my slow anature efforts would be welcomed. (In reality the Ascort is a re-bodied coachbuilt and not a pure VW beetle and maybe of interest to many.) I know that I would like to see and read more about restoration efforts, the problems and how they were overcome. Not just photos of final results.

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Someone I know in real life, before I was ever on here.:wink:
Not sure how that illustrates your point.

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I for one would like to see the progress of your car Ascort i have always liked the specials built on beetle floorpans from one offs to beach Buggys etc etc.



Andy W

Do it! I love a resto thread. I wouldn´t worry if you don´t get a lot of response, as there´s only so often people can say "looking good" or "great progress" or whatever.

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