A Rant About Names

[kittytech]

Okay, so I hope that there's nobody on my friends list who gets offended by this post. It's just one of those little ranty things about things that drive me nuts! Sometimes it's the little things that I find it necessary to pick about, only because my brain thinks that it's an hour earlier than it is and it needs some kind of stimulation before I leave for work in two hours. And, I'll probably sound like I'm about 75 years old with what I want to say too, but whatever. SMILE!

I'm on a lot of email lists; (probably too many). For whatever reason, I am really bothered by the fact that some people feel the need to use some sort of cutesy name in the from field of their messages. For example, on one list I'm on, for the longest time, one user was Spongebob Square Pants. Please explain to me why exactly this is normal? And, is it a blind thing or does it happen everywhere? To me, even an email is a form of communication that means something, and proper form is just as important with messages as any other form of communication. I want to be taken seriously, (when I actually have something serious to say), and to me, using a name like Sponguebob Square Pants isn't going to make people take me seriously.

So, I'm curious. What's the story behind making up names? If it's because you're trying to protect your identity, if a person wants to know who you are badly enough I'm sure they'll be able to figure it out. To me, it just seems that coming up with a fake name, especially one that so obviously fake, is pointless. And, what's the deal with having one name on the email message, and then signing the body of the message with a completely different name? I just don't understand!!!!

And now, rant over. I'll let you all get back to your regularly scheduled Monday (did I ever mention that I hate Mondays?) morning.

Comments

thoughts on nicknames

[3kitties.livejournal.com]

They bug me, but I think people view email differently in different cases. I treat most lists fairly seriously unless they're generic chat lists, but I don't tend to have a lot of time for those lists. From the sighted community, I see a lot of nicknames as well (e.g. momof5). Most seem to have some kind of story behind them, and I try to keep in mind that some people feel more comfortable lurking with a nickname until they feel comfortable. Since part of what I do semiprofessionally is based on my Net reputation, I don't use nicknames in my email. But most of the people I know online really are not that concerned with the way their nickname or writing style affects their reputation. They just don't see a connection. Email is something they do for fun or support, and that's it.