The LAA forum
 

Has a policy of insisting that posters use their real names.
I started a thread over there in an attempt to have some dialogue over this policy and because as a matter of principal I refuse to use my real name my posts are being deleted by the moderator.
Communism is alive and well it seems.:D

So stand for the LAA Council, or write to them.... It is a members organisation after all.

I use my own name on the BMAA forum, and can't say it's ever worried me. If I want to have an open and anonymous discussion I have it here. Most people who matter in GA are on Pprune somewhere anyhow.

G

It may not worry a lot of poeple, but when you present legitimate reasons as to why you think it might be reasonable your posts are deleted by a mod.
Which is why, I contend, the LAA forum is not well utilised by its' members.
I will be writing to them but I'm writing here as a liberating expression of freedom of speech!:)

It's probably why the LAA forum is rubbish......:ok:

CD (LAA Member only cos I have to be)

I really can't see your point. It's a members organisation, providing a facility for its members. It has council members and employees who need to engage with comment and criticism, perhaps directly. To try and force anonymity to allow you to argue for anonymity is just challenging them for no good reason that I can see.

I'm a member of LAA, BMAA and RAeS (along with a couple of other organisations). Where I've ever felt it necessary to criticise an organisation that I've been a member of, I've done it in my own name and directly.

To hide behind anonymity to criticise people either you elected, or who are effectively your employees, is extremely rude.

Pprune is different - it was always set up as an anonymous forum.

G

Which is the whole point. Whilst they insist on publicly declaring your identity you are denied the opportunity to express your opinion unless you conform.

Cobblers. If you have an opinion, you have every right to express it - you are simply not being allowed to do so behind the veil of anonymity.

I don't know what you do SticknRudderMan, but let's assume for a moment that you have a boss, and he has a boss and so-on. How would you feel about one of your employers posting on the company noticeboard that you aren't doing your job properly - without your having any right to remove it, or any right to know who is saying it?

That, from the point of view of any of the LAA employees, is what you want to do.

G

I agree with your last point. The forum is a bit moribund and self-congratulatory. But there are a number of posters who seem to be able to post under pseudonyms (planemike, Rod1, linspuk, colin330, Flyontrack etc etc), so it does seem a bit odd to make a rule for an individual

However the LAA is noticeably touchy about any criticism from members. They are fortunate in that the bulk of the membership are members who need a Permit and not by choice so they don't have to be that responsive to criticism.

I'm a little out of touch, but I think that LAA has around three times as many members as aeroplanes hasn't it ?

G

I'm with Genghis on this one.

There are a lot of good reasons to stay anonymous on the web, but the privilege is often abused and I can't see any justification for criticising a website for forcing people to post identifiably. It's their prerogative.

Possibly but think of the number of kits in progress, all of which require LAA membership

Isn't it because of the LAA we are allowed to build our own aircraft?

I'm glad you made that comparison.
Now, supposing I AM THE BOSS and I don't want my employees or customers to know what I do with my money or time.

I have absolutley no problem with being a member of the LAA, they provide a valuable service. I feel that they are doing not only themselves but their members a dis-service by discourageing open and frank dialogue on their public forum.
It SHOULD be a valuable resource but it isn't and I suspect that is because of the anonymity rule.
The comparison I made in my post that their (single) mod deleted is that it's tantamount to being obliged to send all of your surface mail in unsealed envelopes thereby allowing anyone who cares to access its contents. Its about privacy and identity protection.
As Robin says, there are some posters who seem to be allowed their privacy whilst the rest are not.

Different web based forums have different rules and are owned by someone, just like most things in society. So, if you wish to be a member you must comply, or leave the room. Simple enough.

Here the rules are slightly different, you can use your real name if you choose, or another if you prefer.

All the best,
Ben Twilley.

Why don't you actually join the LAA? Then it becomes "we" and you can participate fully?

I do agree however that inconsistency is unacceptable. Either everybody has to give their real name, or nobody. When you've joined the LAA, perhaps you could challenge that in-house, as a member. The moderator deleting your posts is presumably not anonymous. To other members.

And equally, as a member, you have the right to challenge anything the staff do by, for example, writing to the CE or Chief Engineer, which will be private correspondence between you and they.

G

Quite a lot of LAA aircraft are group owned and each group member has to be a member of the LAA. In our hangar, I guess the ratio of members to aircraft is about 3:1.

The LAA Forum is a member's forum, I think it is essential that if one wished to be taken seriously that one uses one's real name. As members we are all entitled to vote at the AGM - we do this either in person or by proxy using our real names!

I'm with Ghengis and ShyTorque on this.

It appears that Stickandrudderman joined this forum in 06 and by chose a name very similar to mine - you've obviously got an issue with names!





Bob Gerunkel
LAA 125764

The PPLIR forum requires real names and has always benefitted from it. People think twice about what they post before posting..... Makes for a much more civilised discussion forum. The flyer forum has a much greater number of people who post under a real name. Again it's much more civilised.

PPrune is the wild west and most people use the anonymity to swipe and snipe at others from what they think is a hidden identity. Although after all these years most people do know each other!

I have posted a link on the LAA site back to this thread so we can have an unrestricted debate. Having members only and names is overkill and there are many valid reasons why people may not be able to post under their own name. Unfortunately they are not going to post them on a forum...

Rod1

I am one of those that posts under pseudonym BUT you are allowed to this IF you set up your profile to autosign your postings with your real name. I use a pseudonym to preserve consistency across all of the places I post. Simples.

Rans6.......

aka Andrew Cattell.