IMO using your real identity anywhere online discourages open conversation and exploration.
I dont want current or future employers sifting through my post history, or anyone else for that matter.
Even if you don't think your opinions are controversial today, that doesn't mean they wont be in the future, and there are several groups that scrape the web to archive content they disagree with.
> Even if you don't think your opinions are controversial today, that doesn't mean they wont be in the future, and there are several groups that scrape the web to archive content they disagree with.
And language changes over time, what used to come across as a joke can become quite offensive in the future. People will look at the post and interpret it in today's context and apply today's meaning to it. They will not attempt a charitable interpretation by checking what the context of a post was 5 years ago. And they will not check if for example 5 years ago we did not have the same level of evidence as today.
Even worse as well I have noticed that often times your statement gets misread. People will read something into your post you sometimes did not even intend. For some it is just because English is a second language. But other times you will see outright malicious attempts to misread a post to make it appear in the worst possible light just to satisfy their daily need for outrage.
> People will read something into your post you sometimes did not even intend.
I think this is an expression of something that seems to be a fundamental aspect of human nature: we tend to see what we expect to see rather than what is really there.
I have noticed that the overton window on some topics has moved so much that you can't even discuss them properly anymore. Attempts to deescalate don't work anymore or even make you a target.
It's a very privacy-hostile site, it's the only site I've ever used where I can't delete my comments. Since I don't have control over my content here I'd never associate it with my real name. I don't remember everything I posted ten years ago. None of it was blatantly terrible, but I have evolved and don't know if I stand behind everything I've ever said. I could only consider an account here to be for throwaway content.
I have likely posted some terrible things online on various sites that could easily get me fired or cause me trouble. Sometimes these are illustrations in debate to demonstrate a repugnant conclusion. Sometimes they have been roleplaying the opposite of my actual position, to better understand it. Sometimes I have just had bad takes.
I think all of these are natural and healthy parts of the human growth, and legitimate uses of online conversation. Not everyone else feels this way, or care about the context of speech they find objectionable.
I do kind of agree with this, and I definitely resonate with not wanting to have to worry about what I said ten years ago.
But to the degree that HN is "privacy hostile" as you put it, with regards to not being able to delete comments, I'd say that it's also "privacy friendly" to an almost equal degree, given there is absolutely no personal information required in order to create an account.
And there is none of the usual invasive social network crap which drives me away from literally every online platform apart from HN.
It's true that we don't delete entire histories wholesale, but we have a big bag of other tricks to help with privacy requests, and we take care of such requests every day. We just try to do it with more precise tools than wholesale deletion. I realize it's not everything, but it's also not nothing.
If anyone has an issue like this, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll see what we can do.
> ... it's the only site I've ever used where I can't delete ...
Between "how deleted are my comments, really?" issues, and the number of sites that get hacked in a given week - I would not trust anybody's supposed "delete" feature for anything important.
(And for critical stuff...you might be able to talk @dang into performing a Sword, +Admin deletion here.)
Using your real identity anywhere online is a terrible idea. I'm not sure exactly when it happened that it became normal but I'm guessing social media is why.
I see two problems:
1. You can never be truly honest. Everyone has a side they don't project when their reputation is on the line. With a pseudo you can project it, and dump the name if things get too hot. Maybe your opinion is en-vogue today but worthy of real life harassment later. Maybe you are a person who belongs to a group of people that are not well liked. Maybe alphabet soup agencies want you. Who knows - all you know is you can't predict the future.
2. It encourages validation seeking behavior. Evidence: social media. Professionally, linkedin is a shithole of validation seeking losers posting below-the-fold faux-philosophy and/or corporate shilling. These people likely wouldn't do this if their identity was not attached to a face, an address, and a company.
Overall, it's a net loss to use your real identity. For the last 25 years I haven't needed to tell anyone online my real identity and I won't for the foreseeable future. I have plenty of friends on IRC and other places that only know me by my handle. This is not a bad thing.
Golden rule: different username per website (and don't connect them afterwards) unless you have an EXCELLENT reason to do so. Real name? Absolutely not.
Wikipedia admins have had people call their jobs to try to get them fired. You don't need good privacy practices until you do.
I don't go with a different name for each website ("forum", really, because it's not just websites). Instead, I go with a different name for each subculture. That way there is still a continuity of identity within a particular social group.
I look back on the views I held 3 years ago, the things I said and/or did back then, and I cringe immensely. I do not want anything I write to be irreversibly linked to my real name, especially on a website that doesn't allow one to delete comments or even their own profile without an email to a moderator [1].
[1]: Not throwing shade at dang here, but I do not want any content I write to be permanent in nature especially when that permanence is at the whims and wishes of another human (I think that phrase was slightly awkward, please tell me if you found it awkward too).
I've been "h2odragon" online since 1991. My real name is completely generic (and shorter). You can find out what it is without a lot of effort, if you want, I'm not paranoid about it.
I'm just more comfortable and feel more special as "h2odragon."
Readit News
I dont want current or future employers sifting through my post history, or anyone else for that matter.
Even if you don't think your opinions are controversial today, that doesn't mean they wont be in the future, and there are several groups that scrape the web to archive content they disagree with.
And language changes over time, what used to come across as a joke can become quite offensive in the future. People will look at the post and interpret it in today's context and apply today's meaning to it. They will not attempt a charitable interpretation by checking what the context of a post was 5 years ago. And they will not check if for example 5 years ago we did not have the same level of evidence as today.
Even worse as well I have noticed that often times your statement gets misread. People will read something into your post you sometimes did not even intend. For some it is just because English is a second language. But other times you will see outright malicious attempts to misread a post to make it appear in the worst possible light just to satisfy their daily need for outrage.
I think this is an expression of something that seems to be a fundamental aspect of human nature: we tend to see what we expect to see rather than what is really there.
Deleted Comment
I think all of these are natural and healthy parts of the human growth, and legitimate uses of online conversation. Not everyone else feels this way, or care about the context of speech they find objectionable.
But to the degree that HN is "privacy hostile" as you put it, with regards to not being able to delete comments, I'd say that it's also "privacy friendly" to an almost equal degree, given there is absolutely no personal information required in order to create an account.
And there is none of the usual invasive social network crap which drives me away from literally every online platform apart from HN.
If anyone has an issue like this, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll see what we can do.
Between "how deleted are my comments, really?" issues, and the number of sites that get hacked in a given week - I would not trust anybody's supposed "delete" feature for anything important.
(And for critical stuff...you might be able to talk @dang into performing a Sword, +Admin deletion here.)
I see two problems:
1. You can never be truly honest. Everyone has a side they don't project when their reputation is on the line. With a pseudo you can project it, and dump the name if things get too hot. Maybe your opinion is en-vogue today but worthy of real life harassment later. Maybe you are a person who belongs to a group of people that are not well liked. Maybe alphabet soup agencies want you. Who knows - all you know is you can't predict the future.
2. It encourages validation seeking behavior. Evidence: social media. Professionally, linkedin is a shithole of validation seeking losers posting below-the-fold faux-philosophy and/or corporate shilling. These people likely wouldn't do this if their identity was not attached to a face, an address, and a company.
Overall, it's a net loss to use your real identity. For the last 25 years I haven't needed to tell anyone online my real identity and I won't for the foreseeable future. I have plenty of friends on IRC and other places that only know me by my handle. This is not a bad thing.
Even outside that culture, creative nicknames were the norm on the multitude of message boards like this one which were common before social media.
I suppose the custom persists because it is useful, and comfortable, and people like it.
Wikipedia admins have had people call their jobs to try to get them fired. You don't need good privacy practices until you do.
[1]: Not throwing shade at dang here, but I do not want any content I write to be permanent in nature especially when that permanence is at the whims and wishes of another human (I think that phrase was slightly awkward, please tell me if you found it awkward too).
I'm just more comfortable and feel more special as "h2odragon."