Anonymity or disclosure

[tom wilson]

People should feel free to be anonymous, but anyone with any sense will consider their posts in that light, for good or ill. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes not.

Just my tuppen'eth. There are a lot of people on here who only [u]think</u> they are anonymous anyway. People give themselves away and word gets 'round, and even if they don't Rat's no fool.

freeburmarangers.org

[BAJR Host]

I feel that in the end.. some form of "knowing" is essential - given some rather high profile pseudonym posts.

The new system is coming.. it is coming soon... the 'name' is up to you... however.. to be in the Federation .. I will know who you are. If I don't - and it will be checked, then full federation membership will be denied.. using the forum will be as before, with moderation so DD.. (and yes I know who he is) is welcome, as Oz suggests is welcome to be a moderator, to ensure topics are bound by AUP. I would ask all those that have posted so far.. would you mind if I know who you are.?

Muddy? RedBen? Gog?

I have been often asked... who is that.. I don't tell. As has been said, the good thing about BAJR is that we can all talk, from Diggers to Directors of companies. and that can never be lost

However, it was easy to give yourself a name and post.. as 'Kim Boyer' and Darren White or even the fabled John Armour have tried. they are however a minority and the new system alows me to regulate this better.

I am happy to continue to know, but never to tell.

I voted 3

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.
Mohandas Gandhi

[YellowPete]

if the federation is to act as we would wish then we must maintain and accept responsibility for our opinions.

i think if we are to register then we must present ourselves as we are

if we wish for psuedo names then therte must be a specific place for that separate from the federation membership lists.

i am reserved from posting an image as this removes even visual recognition out of hours......

these are issues of very differnt beasts

the main issue with loosing anomimity will be the principle loss of lg and eh as this would compromise them more than most.

some could even be taken as verbatum as opposed to exemplar or metaphorical

what trade off are we willing to accept if we cannot bifuricate the lists as anominous AND fed members



txt is
Mike

[BAJR Host]

Anonimity assured

Responibility required

Yellow Pete.. I have to say it.. you are right

People should be safe to post, but also others should be safe too.



Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.
Mohandas Gandhi

[Austin Ainsworth]

quote:Originally posted by RedEarth

I think the anonymity of participants is very important for several reasons, if for no other than it allows people to say what they actually feel (within sensible limits) without worrying too much about the consequences. The few malicious people that there are seem to be dealt with quite sucessfully.

One of the problems with improving standards and conditions in archaeology is that many are too afraid of being branded trouble makers to say anything. At least this forum allows you to do that anonmyously if you prefer.

I agree with RedEarth, for the record I voted for option 1.

[BAJR Host]

New system allows you to decide who sees your profile

Private (nobody except the Full Administrator)
Friends (nobody except those you confirm as friends)
Groups (only those in groups that you are a member)
Public (anyone)

There will be a full privacy clause.

In the next week, the final touches will be made.

I have kept it simple, but will be adding sections over time. Blogs, Videos, Skill Documentation etc..

To post on the Forum, people will have to register (as here) to view is still open to public... as here.

some nice enhancements include just pasting in a url to an image or video or link and it is live also ability to upload from your computer. (all these will have simple guides)

At the end of it though, it is a tiny minority that are 'actively disruptive' and so the anonimity is important - which is important for many posters, will remain and the level of access will be fully in the hands of the member... as long as they remember to set it!!

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.
Mohandas Gandhi

[Redben]

All my details are on my profile page. I would write them here but that would take yet more time out of my alloted 'write dissertation' hour that i have allowed myself. For the record, i have no problem with the moderator knowing my name but woulddn't like it to be known to all. No good reasoning behind that.

4 inch archaeologist's pointing troll- the next big thing for small find management

[BAJR Host]

what about you Muddy?

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.
Mohandas Gandhi

[1man1desk]

I greatly value my anonymity on BAJR, because it allows me to speak my mind freely. BAJR Host knows who I am, and on my own initiative I have identified myself to one other BAJR-ite, but I would not want my identity to be open.

For me, it is not so much to do with my employer (I don't think that would be a problem), it is more to do with other professional relationships. I am a consultant, I regularly deal with a very wide range of people at all levels within the profession and in many different organisations, sometimes involving careful negotiation over matters that can have significant archaeological consequences. In that kind of work, relationships and personalities are important. If I express a strong opinion on BAJR that someone else takes exception to, and they know who I am, it could complicate the relationship, potentially influencing the outcome of discussions about something else completely - and I might never know why.

For the same reason, I very rarely look at BAJR profiles, because I prefer not to know the real identity of people with whom I debate on BAJR, in case it influences my perception of their points in the BAJR debate or affects my relationship with them if I encounter them in my working life.

If the rules do change, I very much hope that the new open-ness would apply only to new posts. I would hate it if people could identify me as the author of old posts that I have placed on the assumption of anonymity.

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[Curator Kid]

Well said 1man. Same goes for me too. I like being anonymous.
(Well fairly anonymous I guess - a few of you know me. )

"I'm a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists."