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Harvey Segal
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2003 6:37 pm
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You could really fall in the cart publishing your
photo.
Take Adrian Ling - people assume he's a really nice
chap but I've found a photo of him here surrounded
by two of the most notorious spammers on the Net
http://www.easybiztools.com/aboutus.php
Harvey |
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Timothy Warnock
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205
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2003 6:45 pm
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Good point Harvey!
Except I didn't realize that Adrian was so small! I wonder if he uses a special sized keyboard for those little hands?
Tim
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Charlie
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:01 pm
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Hello again Gana.
Thanks for your latest post...
| Gana wrote: | | I do wish i had not found out. I am not turning down the advice, information etc.. But i still am not comfortable with the idea that the person would go as far to give out a false address. Sure, he/she may have his/her reasons. But after giving out full name by which people will recognize and his/her profession, i don't see any point in giving a false address. |
If I had doubts like this, I think I'd definitely phone them and put my mind at rest. There's probably an innocent explanation, but surely it's best to try and find the truth. Surely niggling doubts and trust don't mix well. Get the information you need, and put the incident behind you one way or the other, I say.
| Gana wrote: | | Another example would be a person called GoogleGuy who frequents some search engine forums. I have seen his posts and more times than not it is vague. It is supposed to be an employee of google. So we can understand the pseudonym. But in any case, any post from that person has my interest. I guess so it does for many others. The point is, though the person is hiding his/her identity, i have no problem accepting it. |
I think GoogleGuy is probably the perfect example... wish I'd thought of that myself! 
He is indeed anonymous. He sounds authoritive, but, as you point out, he is often vague. With a bit of shrewd phraseology (mixing vagueness with educated guesses) couldn't a competent SEO post like this, even if he didn't work for Google? Yet all manner of big names seem to accept him as genuine - not just you, Gana.
Is a technical subject like SEO an exception in some way? If I blind you with science, will you give me the benefit of the doubt, even if I don't put up a self portrait?
| Gana wrote: | | With modern softwares, you can 'touch up' your photograph too if you need to absolutely use a photograph AND hide your identity. |
What's the difference between "touching up" a photo to disguise your identity and publishing a "fake" photo in the first place, from an ethical stance?
My point of view...
Maybe the image of a fellow human on a website reassures me in some way at a subconscious level, but consciously I don't think I care whether someone has a photo of themselves, or someone else, or what name they sign at the end.
What I care about is a "company" contact page - and most of all, how they respond when I use the information on it. If they seem authoritative and other people recommend them, that will do for me. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is whether I'm happy when I put their "product" to the test.
If I am happy, next time I see their name mentioned, I'll take note and listen. What difference does the actual name or photo make - as long as they are consistent with last time?
What do others think?
All the best,
Charlie.
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gana
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India
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2003 2:46 am
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| Charlie wrote: |
Maybe the image of a fellow human on a website reassures me in some way at a subconscious level, but consciously I don't think I care whether someone has a photo of themselves, or someone else, or what name they sign at the end.
What I care about is a "company" contact page - and most of all, how they respond when I use the information on it. If they seem authoritative and other people recommend them, that will do for me. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is whether I'm happy when I put their "product" to the test.
If I am happy, next time I see their name mentioned, I'll take note and listen. What difference does the actual name or photo make - as long as they are consistent with last time?
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You are right on mark. Like i said before, adding a photograph adds a bit of trust. It is easier way to gain trust. Like you said, it is just plain reassuring that someone real is behind ta website. It does not mean not having a photo will not get the trust.
As you pointed out, photo or no photo, all that matters is how they deal with me as a company. Then i don't care and they would have my trust if they satisfy me. The photo part is just for the initial trust.
To your success,
Gana.
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speedguide
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467
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:18 pm
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Charlie,
I didn't read every post so sorry... but I'll share some thoughts on the subject. Any remarks are made across the board and NOT directed at any individual.
I don't have any problem with the pseudonym. People have their reasons. Some can be safety, paranoia, marketing, whatever.... you could have the worst name known to the world and therefore wanted to be known by something else.
As for the picture... you're probably like me and have a "face for radio"... the poster child for birth control, or even the one that came in third in a hatchet fight. No picture.. no problem, I would not post a picture of someone else and claim it to be you.
I do believe that if you want to "create" this persona, you need to carry it through. Are you charlie on one board, phil on another and Liz on another or the all 3 on one? If I learned that you were in fact a different persona in different forums. I basically would never trust any opinion you put forth... good advice or not... how would I know.
Movie stars use "other names" and well as musicians. In reality a corporation is pseudonym.
If it is a life or death situation as your reason, I would say you should be faceless, do your affiliate marketing and visit forums BUT NEVER POST.
Too many people in life want to have it both ways. Everything in life cost something. I learned along time ago... 10th grade physics - for every action the is an equal and opposite reaction.
That's part of the "choice" one makes in hiding their identity.
I may not want to bare my soul in public to everyone, but privately I think a certain amount of trust can occur. I'm not saying that someone needs to "give the full details" when someone contacts them privately.
However, after a while you get a sense of ---- you show me your cards and IF, possibly, maybe, sometime, once you've exposed yourself and given me complete ability to all of what you are and may do... I'll give you a very quick peek at mine.
Before that occurs... a certain amount of credibility gets lost.
If someone is going to post I believe that they should at the very least be willing to sign their name to the bottom of their message. Even a thief leaves a finger print or some sort!
As I've written this post it just occured to me... Your identity has to be know to some strangers.... where do they send and who are the affiliate checks made out too?
I had someone that I can only say that I knew once about 20 years ago. We hung out for about 8 or 9 months... I thought we had developed some kind of friendship. On New Year's Day I'll never forget what he did. He brought me a check for $212 and change. You know what for? Secretly, he had been keeping a ledger of all the times we did something and I paid a little extra or bought some peanuts at the ball game. Even wanted to start the year off even again and we would "square up" next New Years Day. I gave him his check back and never spent any time with him again.
Somewhere trust must happen, life is to short to be cynical for the rest of a person's life.
_________________
Gary
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Lea
Joined:
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50
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 12:13 am
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I guess I'm the odd one out with this answer, but I'm going to say it anyway.
The name I use on my site and in my ezine AND on all my novels is a pseudonym.
I created the name six years ago as a way to stop my boss from finding out about my 'sideline' incomes. He'd go crazy if he knew.
Because my site is now so huge, people began requesting photos of me and my two assistant editors. We all declined. We like our privacy and I can't afford to lose my 'day-job' if my boss every saw it.
So a friendly reader of our ezine created three beautiful cariacatures of us. They are close enough to the 'real' us (although none of us has those big 'assets' under our shirts). Since they were posted, along with extensive bios of us, people comment regularly, laugh about them, ask questions etc. We keep the bios updated to include anything we write under those pseudonyms.
Publishers are aware of us and our privacy issues, and contracts and paychecks arrive in our real names.
But the cariacatures are a great talking point.
Lea |
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Charlie
Joined:
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 1:44 pm
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Hello again.
There's life in the old thread yet! I think that "linking to old threads" idea is a good one after all...
| speedguide wrote: | | As for the picture... you're probably like me and have a "face for radio"... the poster child for birth control, or even the one that came in third in a hatchet fight. |
No, I might not have a radio voice, but the face is OK. (All my scars are under my clothes - or deeper. Oh and one under my hair - what's left of it.) 
Actually, I was on TV here in the UK not all that long ago. I recorded it, as I was interested in the program, and after replaying a couple of times, I am sure I spotted myself. (I know I was in the vicinity somewhere.)
Some friends were much more recognisable than me (being closer to the camera), but I was more a distant blur. That's fine by me.
| Lea wrote: | | So a friendly reader of our ezine created three beautiful cariacatures of us. They are close enough to the 'real' us... |
The "cariacatures" idea was suggested to me early in this thread, too. At the time, I dismissed it, but now I am coming round to the idea. Thanks for the memory jog.
All the best,
Charlie.
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khushee
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48
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 1:34 am
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Wanted to add this to the thread...
My name "Khushee" is a pseudonym. I use this on all forums. My offline personality is the same as my online personality - in fact if some people who knew me read my posts they would know it was me.
My main reason for using a pseudonym was because of the day job I have - didn't want my employer or any of our clients to do a search on my name and find anything about me. I work in the banking/payments industry and they are extremely conservative.
And as an aside "Khushee" means "happy/happiness" in my native tongue.
Khushee |
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speedguide
Joined:
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467
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 2:09 am
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khushee,
That's very understandable... Now if we can help you get to the point you can quit the job we'll find out who you really are.
You say the banking/payments industry I use to know a loan shark 
Just kidding....
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Gary
- ONE is to small of a number to be a success!
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Timothy Warnock
Joined:
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205
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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2003 10:21 am
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Ok, I am walking the walk now. I just published my photo in our salesletter for SmarTracking to see if this helps improve CR%.
I admit that this is new territory for me - I have never published my photo before online, and quite honestly, don't have a clue wheteher this will help or hurt. We will be testing...
I completely rewrote the salesletter, so at this time we are not specifically testing the image - this will come later. My only doubt is that I am not the classic "business look", in offline matters I could care less about this, because when I have the opportunity to speak face to face with people they quickly understand my capacities and accept the casual appearance.
So instead of trying to force an image that isn't me (tie, suit, etc.) I chose one that is simply how I am, day in and day out. The simple question is... will it help? Who knows... but it is worth trying in our opinion.
The problem is I become the guinea pig! And I will have to deal with a potential negative outcome... gulp! My partners preferred to stay in the background for personal reasons, and since I am responsible for all of our marketing and email correspondence, I was the natural choice - even though my appearance is the least "business like" of our group.
Our intentions are simply to test CR% and see if the photo helps to inspire trust, I do not believe in putting up an image of someone else, and I have no reason to put up a cariacature. If the image doesn't help or hurts, I will be taking it down.
I will report back our findings in time (even if it is negative  ).
Never used my appearance as a scientific experiment before... yikes!
All the best,
Tim
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mdr02125
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:05 am
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This is an interesting post which I have just found.
I will state up front, that I think the use of a pseudonym is OK in many cases. Personally, I think what makes the difference is being consistent, ie chosing an identity, a name and sticking with it. Now, I suppose if someone wrote college textbooks on advanced math, and also wrote detective stories, they could have two pseudonyms.
I work in insurance and through no fault of my own have had death threats at my day job (offline employer). There have also been threats of violence, directed at those I work closely with and bomb threats, at the business as a whole. This is in the US, not the Middle East. I am not in management but certain letters must go out over my full name.
I now have unlisted my home phone number. With the growth of the internet though my phone number is in many reverse searches, It is difficult and unreliable at best to get the phone company to remove my home address from the reverse search directory, and it can take several years. (If you pay for a new number they put in the reverse directory and then you are able to request removal). If someone really wanted to they could find me. This is not why I am interested in the subject, but in my experience this sort of thing happens to more people than many people realize.
Other scenarios come to mind why people would want to use a pseudonym:
My friend's friend who's abusive ex-husband threatened to kidnap their child rather than wait for the court to decide custody.
A last name solongandcomplicatednoonecanspellorrememberitcanbearealhassle
a day job - the USA (at least) has become very litigous. Many employers now try to restrict what if any side jobs employees do, (and sometimes they want to know what they are)--this even for low paid clerks who do not interact with the public. Since employment is usually "at will" (no contract) one can also be fired on the spot if they don't like the color of your hair. something that extreme does not usually happen BUT there have been cases where people were fired because the company found their hobbies, charitable events, or political activities objectionable. (and Idon't mean selling pornography or *** related services). In one case I recall the person was scrupulous to never make a phone call or email from their work or during working hours.....but she got her picture in a newspaper and bye bye day job!  In some cases, for example, simply making a 2 minute phone call to your church (or Veteran's group or Knitting Circle) to confirm the meeting time tonight is unacceptable.
When applying for jobs (in the USA at least) many employers do an internet search on the person's name to look for anything objectionable. it is whether it's a bad activity, as much as the perception-- if they see you're doing a side business of any type they may feel you won't work hard or won't stay so they look at other job candidates instead.
One might wish to have the chance to sell the business down the road. Yes, Allan G. has benefitted greatly from publicizing his name--and snake-holding photo. HOwever, if at sometime he decided he wished to sell it--or his heirs want to continue the business, it is much harder when the founder is so closely woven in. If a pseudonym is used, and no photo on the about me pages... one could do this more easily. (assuming perhaps the business name was more widely promoted.)
If one works (day job) in a business that has a high risk of being sued--if you are an accountant, lawyer, real estate agent, etc., or you simply own a rental property ... then if someone wants to make a frivolous lawsuit against you -- since these cases go forward on a contingent fee basis-- the first thing the attorney will do is try to determine if you have assets or income streams to make it worth their while. searching your name at google and yahoo is an easy quick first step.... even if your website is not making money they might think it is and drag you through years of court papers. unfortunately the world is not a fair place, and these cases often become about getting the biggest settlement possible rather than a fair, equitable settlement.
If one is an actor, musician (even a starving one) etc. and wants to market somethng unrelated on the internet it may be perceived as shady by many. (even something like having an affiliate site on gardening though may not bet perceived as "shady" the way many perceive internet marketing or MLM it could still hurt one's reputation). I know one musician who has not been able to get the money together to release a CD ... and a venture like this will probably produce the money to do that.
Those are just a few reasons that come to mind quickly. Each person's situation is unique. Obviously if my life were at stake or my child's safety I would want more protection, more hidden. I once had the occasion to use a different first name at a forum, years ago. In time I met some of my friends from there in real life. By that time--actually early on--they knew it was a pseudonym. One or two fo them used my real name and one or two called me the pseudonym, which was a little weird at the coffeeshop, but everyone was OK with it knowing the reasons why. Chances are if I were to use a pseudonym again I wouldn't change my first name, or maybe only vary it (you know Kenneth Evoy )
ALso someone mentioned Google Guy, and there have been many examples of this over the years in offline advertising -- it's branding and no one knows, "he" may actually be a committee or someone may post for him when he's sick or on vacation.
I am interested, however, if anyone has lhoughts on how one would protect oneself, copyrights, etc.--whether it's a website or a paper book under a pseudonym.
Mark
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Debs
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2004 10:39 am
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One of the most common pseudonyms I know is Mark Twain his real name was Samuel Clements.
In today's world one of the easiest ways to protect your assets is by creating a corporation. It's also one of the most popular ways to obtain tax advantages.
Debs
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2004 1:02 am
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| Stephen King / Richard Bachman |
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