Recently I've become more guarded. We've been getting security briefings about credible threats ISIL has made to track down American military families and attack them IRL using their social media info.
Also, MH's family name is unique. If you ever meet someone with our last name, they are related to him, and not distantly. It makes it very easy to find us. It's not like googling "Suzie Jones" and trying to pick which of the 30 is me. I'm the only person on the planet with my name.
Although I am pretty open and don't have anything to hide (and have reached out to other people before), I am not crazy about sharing details like precisely where I live, what my kids' names are, pictures of them, where we've worked, etc. You all seem great but I don't know who else is reading. We've both had/have security clearances and the exercise of judgment has been a big part of our professional lives and for me, it extends to using discretion online. I also just don't think it's necessary for someone to know what my face looks like in order for me to contribute here. Once something is out, you don't get it back.
I admit it is much easier for me to keep other people straight with pictures though.
I deactivated and switched my name after some sketchy stuff happened to me and someone close to me with info that could've only been obtained from this board.
If someone follows all my posts now I'm sure they could figure out who I am, but I haven't posted a picture of me since then and have tried to be a little more anonymous than I previously was.
While I'm pretty laid back and don't think that anyone will get murdered from being open on these boards, there is definitely good reason to want to be anonymous or more anonymous based on a variety of events that have happened to people on here.
And sorry everyone about the jezebel thing. I've started about five threads ever, and one of them happened to get scooped up by something (apparently?) ginormous. Guess I'll keep it down for awhile...
I am not overly concerned with anonymity here, but I do need to switch accounts with a new username at some point. I keep meaning to do it. I don't know what I was thinking way back when, on that other site, when I decided that MY NAME was a good user name.
I am not really worried about stalkers. But I find myself keeping my comments here very G rated and bland because I know it wouldn't be difficult for someone to find me here. It would be fun to participate a little more fully and I would be more comfortable doing that with a name that wasn't...my fucking name. Lol.
Post by shellbear09 on Oct 30, 2014 16:04:25 GMT -5
I have posted pictures so I'm not totally private but I would just rather people irl not see what I post. I don't worry about it being dangerous though.
Post by redheadbaker on Oct 30, 2014 16:15:19 GMT -5
Considering how popular DS' name is, plus the fact that I use his real name on my blog, Iprobably don't need to bother using "DS" on these boards, LOL.
I don't post a lot of personal information about myself since I'm pretty new. I don't post a ton, and I'm trying to just lay low and get to know the board. If that makes sense? I'm slightly concerned about people I know IRL finding me here, but Like I said I don't really post much anyway, so I don't think there is anything out there that anybody I'm at least FB friends with doesn't already know. I've only posted a picture of DD once, but that has to do more with laziness than privacy.
there are people here though who know my name or where i live due to discussing it, selling something, or instagram. i am not open to being fb friends with anyone but ig is fine.
there are people here though who know my name or where i live due to discussing it, selling something, or instagram. i am not open to being fb friends with anyone but ig is fine.
This is how I am. My only FB friend from here is the one I've met irl.
If I had a job, I'd be more freaked out. But pleeeeeeaaaaassssseeeee no one message my DH or family and rat me out about venting about them. MMM'K? If you google my maiden name you'd get a lot on my brother but not much on me. I'm boring & have done nothing.
I don't post face pics of myself and will delete pictures of DS after a while. It's mostly for plausible deniability reasons in case work wants to look at my Internet usage. I also don't want my real life mixing too much with my Internet life. I like being anonymous here. I'll share my name with people I've been talking to for ages and I'll share my address for b/s/t reasons but I'll do it only if someone has a track record of not being crazy or a drama llama.
I am only concerned about IRL people googling me and finding GBCN/reading my posts.
I am not at all concerned about GBCN people knowing about my life.
This is the best way I can explain my thoughts.
I vent about stuff here. I never vent about work (like anything close to specifics) because if I did, and someone found me here…it would be a career ender for me. It freaked me out enough to find out that I actually knew @icedgems husband prior to knowing her here…and we work in the same field.
I just don't want what I say here to get back to people who don't know I post here. But I know the internet isn't really a safe place.
I think mostly for me it's that the internet is forever. I always assume that anything posted to the internet ever, even if only for a short time, is saved somewhere. I am not a fan of facebook, though I do still have an account (I post very little) and am very aware of how technology is advancing with regards to data mining, etc. I would rather that anecdotes from my life not affect what ads I see, though at this point that's a lost cause I think. I would rather not be easily identifiable to friends or coworkers, etc.
Post by chickadee77 on Oct 30, 2014 17:22:44 GMT -5
I like to have an annonymous (ish) place to vent. I think it would be easy enough to figure out who I am IRL by going through my posts. But I don't care to repeatedly put out info like DD's name, where if you knew me IRL, a fairly quick Google search would probably bring you here, and there would be all of my IL venting, TTC info, etc. I guess I kind of figure why make it easier than it already would be if you were creepy and over-invested? Though I don't do FB, so maybe I'm overly paranoid. Lol.
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 30, 2014 17:42:47 GMT -5
I'll admit here that I stumbled upon someone on GBCN (not MMM) who I know IRL. We have a mutual IRL friend - well, had, since I'm no longer friends with that person for a multitude of good reasons. It was surreal when I put everything together after the poster was venting about family (she is also related to mutual friend). No, I didn't stalk her or do anything horrible to her and obviously just left it all alone, but I could see how a crazy person would take that info and run with it.
Having said that, I think I'm pretty open but I don't want to put DD's pic in my sig and I only occasionally post her (relatively common) name.
Me too, except I'm clearly not embarrassed. Ha! Also disappointed in the ending. I actually want to watch all the seasons again at some point, it has been so long! Joey Potter 4 life
I don't really post anything on here that would have me worried about anyone in IRL finding me, so it's really just about having a place to vent. But the whole jezebel and GOMY linking was freaky.
Also, I don't post a ton of pictures, but a lot of people friended me on FB and seemed to know who I am, so I am wondering if I share too much?!
Post by cricketwife on Oct 30, 2014 19:32:26 GMT -5
I don't post things that are identifying b/c I like to be able to talk freely about things like my sex life, or lack thereof, lol, and people not know who I am. I never post pictures, except the ones in my sig. In my mind, pictures of a newborn look nothing like an older baby or child so I feel like they aren't identifying, although maybe I'm being naïve. I do often feel like I'm not really part of the club b/c I'm not on social media with anybody here. I also feel like it's harder to establish a presence or be recognizable to posters by staying so anonymous. Although @this has certainly not let it stop her, so maybe I just don't have much personality, lol.