"Outing" of Contributors
 

I am sure that this has been covered before, but what is the view of the members on contributors being anonymous on this forum?
My view is that is the free flow of rumours is helped by the anonymous nature of PPRUNE and everyone should be allowed to contribute without let or hindrance whether they want to use their real identity or not. Readers just have to 'factor' what they see on these forums accordingly.
I think that any member "outing" another member, should be severely reprimanded by the moderators!

Anonymous appears to be correct for those who wish to post and mention something that may come back to bite them in the ass should they attach a real name.. It is a RUMOR network. That word alone seems to make folks think they are off the hook in what they post.
You must also consider that this site is owned by one or a group of people. They have the ultimate control as to what is posted. They also sell advertisement so something that may scare away the almighty $$$ will disappear in the blink of an eye.
Thats the way it goes and as many on the African Avaition site have found is that if you dont like it, you wont be missed..
Trust me, your RUMORS are scrutinized and as the rules state if the owners dont like it..........your toast.
Members outing another is a no no without that members approval or his/her going public beforehand.
How I have survived is beyond me..........

Protect your personal identity
 

I think that it is the personal responsibility of the contributor, and the moderators shouldn’t get involved unless it directly effects the forum’s legal/commercial position.

If someone doesn’t wish to be ‘outed’ then perhaps they should change their log in name periodically. If someone is careless enough to leave a string of clues, and sometimes photographs, to help us identify them, well….. Others don’t seem to mind and still more contribute under their real name.

I think of you as being one of the contributors who doesn’t seem to mind; I believe I know who you are (got you in the first few posts); however I would be disappointed to find out that I had left enough clues for you to know who I am. This arrangement allows me to play the devil’s advocate and even send up 'trial balloons' to test out my hidden agenda.

Vertalop
 

For my 2 cents this forum would have to be the best of type. It has to be optioned as anon, same as any publicly avbl internet chat room.

IMHO it provides excellent mentoring, tech talk, TIC talk, jousting, oh and RUMOURS.

Like days of auld, jousting sometimes results in one being severely displaced from his high horse, if that is the case one has to graciously brush the dust off before rejoining.

Flying is the development of some out of the ordinary manipulative skills both mental and physical where mentoring forms a massive input to thought processes and ultimate safety.
Smart machines/components will not replace that, in fact they may seem to require more mentoring than flight without them, as this forum exhibits of late.

Flying in isteslf is not inherently dangerous, only as stupidly dangerous as you wish to make it, here you can field veiled questions or comments and get qualified answers without getting hurt. Even ply a hidden agenda or two.

Some people operate here on an f’n short fuse, others with grace and candour, the non-de-plumes demonstrate personalities within themselves, like ‘Arm out the window’ or ESP. “Heavy lift R22”, or ‘shy torque’, (yeah? Blush, blush, I’ll bet) etc etc. Mine is rather dull, every one knows what happens above our heads!

From that point of view the voluntary, who’s who? Makes for interesting and sometimes revealing reading.

We all know rule #1, or if not will soon learn; If it works don’t f—- with it.

I vote 10 out of 10, pprune as is how is.

Well, I know a number of Rotorheads personally but I would never disclose publicly who they are. If people wish to remain anonymous, then I think that is their right. There are some who are open about their identity and other who just don't mind if they are recognised (like me!). Those who know me can easily work out who I am - if you see what I mean?

However, if you think you know who someone is, then it should best be done by PM, not publicly. There are those who don't wish to be identified and those who have a number of logins.

Cheers

Whirls

I've got to say I find some of the callsigns highly imaginative and amusing "Far Canard" being one of the best.
I have been criticised by some who say that if you can't say it publicly then it isn't worth saying.
Those that know who I am are well aware that I'm not afraid of speaking up and rarely step back from what I say - even if occasionally both guns are shot from the hip and I only open my mouth to change feet!
Maybe it's time to come out.
In the mean time,
GAGS
E86

Out - be my choice
 

Perhaps a quick examination of the realities of this fine site and the facts surronding its useage help us answer the original question:

It is a rumourr site.

The Moderators do from time to time step in and make comment, give guidance and on occasion take action. (As a fellow antipodean can atest! Where for art thou Ned?)

If it were not appropriate for us to choose to be anonymous and observe, comment or even rant from anonimity there would not be the function to allow us to do so on this site.

To the question of outing! Whether you are pilot, pretender, pedant or even an accountant (wink wink Whirls) it should be your choice when, and if, you choose to out yourself and to what degree.

To me it speaks volummes, and not necessarily good ones, about someone who threatens to, or actually does, out someone else participating in discussions on this fine site via a non de plume.

TK

As one of the few open contributors, I believe the anonymity is something only the owner can protect. There is really no crime to "outing" because only the name-owner can out him/her self, by giving someone, anyone their identity, they compromise it. Subsequent release is assured, given enough time.

Rather like the Houses of Parliament. All MPs have to be referred to by convention as "..M'learned, gallant, noble, (etc subject to status) member (or friend, depending on the side of the House) for UpperRottenBoro'Shire..."

In the Houses of Pprune, one can image the debate raging ".. and as m'learned (and may I say gallant), the Hon. Member for Whirlygigshire quite rightly pointed out in ...." (etc, etc)

h-r;)

The Honorable Member for Sheffield has it slightly wrong; I should be referred to as the Honorable Member for BishopBonnerShire :}

Cheers

Whirls

Interestingly, I know of a few people who have got into diffs because of Pprune (and their big mouths). I have always lived by the advice I was given a while ago: "Never say anything on here that you wouldn't say to your boss' face". Not bad advice I think :) Certainly most people that work where I do know me as my handle here!

OK,
I'm actually Nick Lappos posting under a different name!! C'mon Nick. Some of us post openly under our own names and some of us have other names for myriad reasons. Maybe you too? I know who a whole bunch of guys are on here, but I would never dream of 'outing' them- that would be the end of PPRuNe and we'd all just go back to the chaos of JH.

Mama, You can only out someone who has told you his username. Thus he outed himself to you. QED

No, I'm Nick Lappos :}

Surely there's a difference between a private outing and a public outing.

Cheers

Whirls

...I'm Nick Lappos, and so's my wife!!

Okay folks, time to come clean. I've been putting you all on for far too long. The truth is that *I* am Ni...Nic...Nick...

God, you know, I just can't bring myself to mouth those words, even in jest!

pp1

That's not how you spell gay, dude......:E

Aha - so he's really Jim Davidson ....... ;)

the coyote:No, but I think it's a synonym...




Maybe not.

When I signed in with Pprune about 3 years ago, not being too computer literate, I ended up with my name appearing and not the nickname I thought I had entered. It proved to be a very good mistake in that folk from around the world whom I hadn't seen or heard from for up to 35 years, contacted me to check if I was still alive. Fortunately I was, so I enjoyed catching up on old times.
As I don't make rude comments, I don't mind who knows who I am.:ok: