13 replies to this topic

[0504]

I'm new here and wondering why so many people have such obscure profile names? Are they worried about being discovered bad mouthing their advisors by any chance? If so I find that very amusing.

[fuzzylogician]

Welcome to the Internet.

People don't usually use their own name, for privacy reasons. Anybody smart should still assume that they could be traced, if someone wanted to find out who they were badly enough, and they should know - regardless - that they should be careful in how they talk about friends and colleagues online. The Internet is a giant record of everything you do and say these days.

[newms]

I'm new here and wondering why so many people have such obscure profile names? Are they worried about being discovered bad mouthing their advisors by any chance? If so I find that very amusing.

So I'm guessing 0504 is your real name? I'm guessing most people either didn't put a lot of thought into their username or use a regular one that they use other places. There was a thread about this some time back:

[snes]

0504 is your PIN, I'm assuming.

[0504]

I know some people have a certain degree of ambiguity to their internet names but not to the extent I see on this site. I initially started with my usual creative twist on my identity screen-name but noticed the level of uniform extreme ambiguity and followed suit. I'm guessing the patronizing tone comes with the territory of being an angst ridden graduate student prone to cyber snark. 0504 isn't my pin, it's my birthday, but it should be my pin. Thanks for the warm welcome.

[snes]

I know some people have a certain degree of ambiguity to their internet names but not to the extent I see on this site. I initially started with my usual creative twist on my identity screen-name but noticed the level of uniform extreme ambiguity and followed suit. I'm guessing the patronizing tone comes with the territory of being an angst ridden graduate student prone to cyber snark. 0504 isn't my pin, it's my birthday, but it should be my pin. Thanks for the warm welcome.

To be fair, the last sentence of your original post came off as a bit snarky, so the responses were somewhat in tune. A bunch of people on this site use their names and some use their photos (this is not a photo of me, thankfully). A LOT of people use screennames related to their graduate application plight (like "HopingToGetIn2012"). Mine is somewhat related to my course of study, and a lot of others do that too.

One of the reasons people don't use real names here is because this is one of the VERY few places on the internet that people can vent about something like graduate applications and have a whole bunch of other people completely understand and sympathize. So I hope you stay!

[avicus]

I know some people have a certain degree of ambiguity to their internet names but not to the extent I see on this site. I initially started with my usual creative twist on my identity screen-name but noticed the level of uniform extreme ambiguity and followed suit. I'm guessing the patronizing tone comes with the territory of being an angst ridden graduate student prone to cyber snark. 0504 isn't my pin, it's my birthday, but it should be my pin. Thanks for the warm welcome.

As grad students, let's not divide ourselves, lest our 'house' fall.

[avicus]

To be fair, the last sentence of your original post came off as a bit snarky, so the responses were somewhat in tune. A bunch of people on this site use their names and some use their photos (this is not a photo of me, thankfully). A LOT of people use screennames related to their graduate application plight (like "HopingToGetIn2012"). Mine is somewhat related to my course of study, and a lot of others do that too.

One of the reasons people don't use real names here is because this is one of the VERY few places on the internet that people can vent about something like graduate applications and have a whole bunch of other people completely understand and sympathize. So I hope you stay!

Amen to that!

[ktel]

I have pseudo-anonymity. My identity could probably be discovered quite easily by putting together a few facts about my field of study, location and lifestyle.

[Dal PhDer]

A bunch of people on this site use their names and some use their photos (this is not a photo of me, thankfully).

Hahaha! That is the best part of this entire thread!

I agree for the most part about the anonymity that people prefer. A lot of us come on here wanting advice about a difficult situation in our program, and while people could probably put two and two together if they tried, the feeling that you are not going to be exposed is important.

[0504]

I actually wasn't really sure what the "vibe" of this forum was when I first joined. I see that very clearly now it's a place to brainstorm difficult issues and I love that. I wish I had stumbled on this place a long time ago. And my last sentence came from a place of admiration not contempt...but I can see how it was taken as being a little rude. My bad.

[TypeA]

For what it's worth, I think it's entirely realistic to hedge that folks on admissions committees might poke around the forum. Not to analyze potential admits, but to get a feel for what's being said about their program in general. And when I say "realistic," I mean I actually stumbled into a conversation about this forum with some staff--not adcomms, but still--at one of the schools I was admitted to.

[0504]

Oh wow. Just seeing how this reputation thing works..feeling kinda depressed. I guess I should take this as an exercise in having thick skin.

[Cici Beanz]

I voted your post down, but now that I've read through I'm sorry!