I like to openly share my ideas, struggles, and thoughts and I have little to hide. I do this because I want others to do the same. But I can't help but wince when I read an old thread and read something I wrote some years back and think oh gawd, I didn't say that! I did!?! I would be more apt to use my real name if I could delete or EDIT my entries and comments, and maybe even old threads should magically drop out of cyberspace after a few years. We rehash everything fresh every few years, if not months, anyways.

Thanks again for the continued response. To be clear, we are not planning on enforcing real names on Archinect. The next version of Archinect will introduce some new features that will require the use of real names for those specific areas, but these will not be connected to the nicknames you choose for participating in the rest of the site (such as the discussion forum).

Does the real name section include personal photos?

I want to show people how handsome I am!

Yes, and I can't wait to see how handsome you are!

that's also what these threads were for.

Just the other day I was talking to a soon to be college grad looking for FT work. (Thankfully she's not an Arch major.) My advise was to delete her entire Facebook page. There you are NOT anonymous and why know how an HR manager would react to photos of college parties and posts about one night stands, etc.

I don't see Archinect as a social networking forum, but since it's directly related to our professional careers I wouldn't put it past a firm to search Archinect to learn more about a potential hire.

In the age of the internet just use your head when posting something. Of course using an alias makes me more open to posting, but in reality none of us are truly anonymous, just most us probably aren't going to be in politics so it shouldn't matter too much.

Anonymity is the reason why I visit Archinect because people SHARE information that is important to the industry.

There is another design forum which most people use real names and post their professional profiles. No one ever said which offices or areas laid off people during the past years. Not helpful at all.

interesting article in guardian.

How the internet created an age of rage

"The worldwide web has made critics of us all. But with commenters able to hide behind a cloak of anonymity, the blog and chatroom have become forums for hatred and bile"

its true that the anonymity that the internet has brought can lead people to do and say vile things that they never would to someone's face, but i don't think of people on archinect who post under assumed names as anonymous in in the same way.  archinect has become a community, and even though one can assume personal anonymity behind their chosen handle, a person's opinions and views eventually develop a reputation over time.  the archinect community generally rejects obnoxious people and most of them either change or don't stick around very long on archinect. 

I am also a daily regular, for over 10 years now, maybe more, getting old...but I digress.  I enjoy the anonymity and would not post anything if I had to rely on my real name.  Those that know me, know who I am and that's what matters.  

On another note, I also keep my FB page mostly anonymous simply because I am aware of what shows up in searches.  I regularly have to do research on clients, businesses, projects,etc.  Stuff DOES NOT every disappear!  Google cache's everything (indeed, one of the fist things that comes up for my name search is a post in a forum over 10 years ago!  That I have not been back to since.  Quite annoying).

So please keep the anonymity and keep the comments honest and thoughtful.  What I would like to see (and I know this is in the works) is the posting number for each member.  That way we can see who is just stirring up bs, who's here for a few inflammatory comments to entertain some young punk for an afternoon and who really cares.

Cheers.  

well, I can't hide from the fact that I've stopped posting as much since I shed my anonymity. Now, any struggle that I'm not willing to share with my whole office and/or potential employers, say a difficult situation with someone in the office or even a search for a new job or a personal or health problem, is not shared here. To be honest, that sucks a little, because it was nice to have this place to vent or get advice about stuff. It let this place be a resource for me that helped me be a better employee, and a better person, and I'm missing that right now. Considering going back.