MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 4,700 Location: Vancouver Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Frankenstein'ed LM Linea Grinder: Anfim Super Caimano Vac Pot: 1922 Silex Drip: Krups Moka Brew Roaster: Hottop
Posted Wed Feb 20, 2008, 9:35pm Subject: A non-mandatory Real Names policy on CoffeeGeek
Hey all.
For a long time now, I've been wishing that more people used their real names on CoffeeGeek's forums. There are several reasons for this, including
- it helps us know who people are, especially those known people in the world of coffee - using real names gives people more pause of thought as to what they post, especially when they post criticisms (or kudos, for that matter) - it lends more credence to the consumer reviews section when someone using their real name is posting the reviews - it helps people get more familiar with other coffee lovers, even those in their own neighbourhoods, allowing them to better connect in the real world.
I know there's many, many concerns about using real names, including privacy issues, stalkers, trolls, the works. This is the reason why I'm not making it mandatory for the website.
What I ask all active members (and new signups) to do though is to consider the following
- change your username to your real name (as I have done recently, going from "coffeekid" to "MarkPrince". You can do the same by simply editing your user profile and changing your username.
- if you don't want to change your username, please consider putting your real name (even just your first name, and city, leaving out your last name if you prefer) in your signature file. This can be edited when you click the "settings" button on almost every forums page when you log in
- at the very least, I request that you use your real name on your profile page. This has the least amount of privacy and security concerns, because profile pages are not indexed by search engines - we purposely block those from searches. I'm hoping those with privacy concerns will at least consider this option.
In the future, with the new version of CoffeeGeek we may have some new policies in place for new forums. We're considering starting up a "gripes and kudos" forum that only people with confirmed real identities can post to - and all other gripes (and kudos) will be off limits in other forums. The reason behind this is pretty simple - while I certainly do not want to discourage someone from posting a valid complaint about a business on these forums, I think it's pretty important to do so using your real identity. It may give pause to those flying off the handle, and will go a long way to stopping shill posts.
There also may be other forums moving to the "real names" policy, including the buy and sell forum, and other new forums.
How we plan on confirming real identities is still a challenge, but we're looking into it so it's the least intrusive, yet still verifiable. I'm also open to suggestions if you have an idea on how we can confirm someone's identity and name, without getting too intrusive.
The CoffeeGeek forums are a fairly mature, reasoned place to have great discussions on coffee and espresso, and to "hang out" with people who have the same interests as you. We're so fortunate that this is an incredibly civil forum, even though some days we get 300 or 400 posts, and I think the forum participants are where this credit lies. Because of this, I hope our general readership will embrace this voluntary "real identity" policy.
Posted Wed Feb 20, 2008, 9:52pm Subject: Re: A non-mandatory Real Names policy on CoffeeGeek
I think this is a very exciting idea. As many of you know I have been doing this since day one. I should also share that I have had zero problems in doing so too. This is a safe thing to do guys and I like Mark hope you'll take the initiative and join in.
One of the benefits that I've seen is that you guys know me as me and I believe I've garnered more friends because of it. Don't get me wrong I rather enjoy the screen names I see, but its also more enjoyable to meet and become friends with the real people behing the text. Something I've always loved and cherished about CG is my many friends here. All of which I truly respect and admire and that I've learned from. That's what its about. We're all friends here, I hope others will come out from behind screen names or blank profiles and join in.
Same for me. I use my real name on virtually every forum, save one for which I need to maintain anonymity on occasion (it's a professional thing...). No problems in 7+ years
Dana Leighton - Espresso hack and CoffeeGeek moderator
I've been JonR10 since the mid 90's and that is still my email address, but if you guys can do it then I can too. I've always had my real name on my profile page, and now more than just my portafilter is "naked"
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