Importance of using your RealName

Why using your real name matters

Why should I use my RealName?

Using your Real Name is important to establishing identity in the Conway Wiki community. First, and foremost, it helps with instant credibility. However, using your real name alone doesn't give one credibility, you must then make valuable contributions rather than just talk trash.

Fundamentally, the question is one of community. Would you introduce yourself to your next door neighbor with a fake name? Probably not... and the people on the wiki are your neighbors.

Would you show up to a City Council meeting wearing a ski mask?

Remember, you may want to consider that this is an online community, and not much at all the same as heading out to the Farmer's Market. One solution to this problem is to never do anything (including here) that you wouldn't want associated with yourself. Be warned any of your comments (be they positive or negative) may be remembered by local businesses and restaurants, and anyone around the world with internet access (note: contextually more than 'next door neighbor') can read or find out about them at any time. Putting material on the wiki should be considered an act of publishing, in a sense.

Also note that as of January 1, 2011, California has imposed new civil and criminal penalties for impersonating someone online. It is a criminal act to impersonate another online without their consent "for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding" anyone—not just the person being impersonated. Doing so is punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. You can also be sued for any harm you cause in the course of the impersonation. In short, make sure the identity you establish here is your own.

Geographic Communities and RealName

For community wikis it is much more important to use your real name. The whole point of a community wiki is to strengthen the community that it serves. If members of that community choose a name like "SmarterThanYou" or "Bicyclist" to use while editing it can lead to situations where other editors as well as readers of the wiki are left with a sense of suspicion about the real identity of the masked editor. The anonymous editor then is casting suspicion on many innocent members of their own community and causing their friends and neighbors to suspect each other of being "SmarterThanYou". This is particularly true if "Bicyclist" starts publishing controversial opinions about eliminating all cars in town. Suddenly this casts everyone in town who rides a bike under a cloud of suspicion that they are pushing a radical agenda, but aren't willing to stand behind their opinions with their real identity. It just isn't fair to the other editors who do stand behind their words; it damages the web of trust.

Why not edit under the name of my business?

Editing under the name of your business goes against some of the goals on the wiki and it limits how you can participate. The use of a business name as an account name may give the impression of an official endorsement or attack if you comment on another business. Doing so with your real name lessens the potential for your comment to be viewed in this way.

What if I want to use my RealName but don't want to get picked up by Google?

An alternative is to use a slight modification of your RealName (e.g., RName, RealN, RaelName, etc.) and indicating so on your user page. That way, you establish instant credibility, and can always remove the link to your RealName after you've confirmed your credibility through your awesome edits. This option is good for people looking to evade Google once they leave Conway. (The revision archives are off-limits to search engine robots/spiders that behave properly, which is to say, all the ones significant enough for you to care about.) The point is accountability: establishing a reputation on the wiki. Of course, you might wind up making friends who wind up only knowing you by the name you use, so be aware it may well become your new nickname in some circles.

Please remember to use your RealName and not your Real Name, which is trademarked by Amazon.com.

When is it okay to use a complete Pseudonym?

It is okay to use a pseudonym if you are known widely by that name.

Other users who choose to use a pseudonym to remain anonymous manage to establish their credibility through making a history of providing many valuable contributions to the wiki. (For example, by creating and editing pages on a Conway related subject that the site is currently lacking.) However, using a pseudonym only grants one a certain degree of privacy, because the IP Addresses of all editors are logged and public.

Many people have created fake or dubious PseudoNyms just to troll or trash talk a single restaurant, business, or individual. This type of cowardly behavior is not constructive and is unfair to the recipient of the complaint. Wiki edits should be fair enough that you'd be willing to say them to someone face to face. That's true whether or not you use your RealName, but it's certainly easier to be unfair when you hide behind a pseudonym.

"The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect."

— Esther Dyson, Interview in Time Magazine, October 2005

On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

— Peter Steiner, The New Yorker, 5 July 1993