As I said, a requirement for real names is totally meaningless because where people have to use them and the forum does not involve payment, people can and do just make them up. Obviously you would be a little more subtle than “Joe Bloggs” 
And a “pay” forum is not a solution either because anybody can join up, pay the join fee, and read all your past postings. And possibly cause huge hassle for somebody. I have seen this happen… A pay forum just ends up having almost no members. It also rules out people who are happy to donate their time but are unwilling to pay on top of that – and there are quite a lot of those. Compu$erve simply killed itself in the end. But before it did, it filled up with a lot of pompous characters. I recall some forums there where you felt like you had to wear a suit to post there.
It’s definitely not all Brits and Germans here
The above is just sessions – only one of many possible measures. It probably reflects a combination of (a) the use of the English language and (b) the level of GA activity in different parts of Europe. Also remember EuroGA is only slightly over 2 years old and most pilots have not heard of it yet.
I don’t mind whether people use real names or not, but I think it’s important to have the OPTION to ‘hide’ behind a username.
I post on various different forums under different names and I feel that it is important to me. Partly because I enjoy discussions that often get heated and at times I have a fairly strong opinion and will stick with it if I believe it is valid, and given that aviation is both hobby and work for me, it is too small a world to get on the wrong side of some guy that will hold it against you. The not long past Flyer forum issue where someone was brought to the attention of their employer for wading in ‘the wrong side’ of a discussion springs to mind, and that was even WITH a pseudonym.
If I thought that there was absolutely 0 chance of there being someone lurking somewhere that might take offence or hold a grudge one day because of something I once said on the internet, then I would be fine with using my real name, but until then I prefer to keep it to myself, or to reveal/share it to those that I have come to know well enough (or as well as possible online) that I don’t see a problem with it.
FWIW, ‘Peter’ and ‘Michael’ etc might be almost anonymous despite being the real name, but my own name is much more uncommon!
Playing briefly with the database I have access to at work… There are over 1000 John Evanses living in this small corner of Wales alone and even seemingly unusual names can throw up several dozen hits.
By contrast I’m not quite a googlewhack (there is an American transvestite of the same name so I don’t google myself at work) and my son has only one namesake on all of Facebook.
It’s definitely not a level playing field.
How much information is there really in a name such as “Michael” or “Peter” or “Neil”? Even assuming that these are the person’s real
Ask anyone at EGNE if they know Neil and most know who I am, because that’s my name. The information I have given in passing in my posts identifies me absolutely categorically, which is my choice. But it is my real name :)
That would be Piard, CFII and the P210 he sold is N210EU recently in the news in the UK for having carried a very large payload of cocaine.
Correct. Except for the reg. But irrelevant…
Actually I did not know about the latest news.
Sorry about the drift.
And I am also a member of “Air et Aviation” on FB – under my own name.
My forum name is a “French” form of my last name.
Let me guess: Svingen?
Hi Silvaire,
well, I did not get this kind of reaction recently (there was a murder threat at some stage years and years ago…) but rather stuff like “if you like to do xxx then you better watch what you are writing” on behalf of some folk who felt that criticism on certain things were inappropriate while using a certain infrastructure…. if you get my drift.
My reaction was always the same: We have free speech in this country and I will say what I think, particularly in this field where too many simply shut up. After all, I did not say anything than what AOPA and others have been saying for years too. I will probably never get employment with any of the folks I might have put off, but so be it.
The thing to remember when posting in forums is always the same: Never say anything you would not say to a person face to face. And to this I have always kept.
The thing to remember when posting in forums is always the same: Never say anything you would not say to a person face to face. And to this I have always kept.
I think that’s a very good policy, with the additional point being that whatever you say on a forum you are saying to anybody who might read it, and that may well include people who are unstable and malevolent. In daily life, away from forums, most normal people don’t run into people like that!
Ask anyone at EGNE if they know Neil and most know who I am, because that’s my name. The information I have given in passing in my posts identifies me absolutely categorically, which is my choice. But it is my real name :)
Ask around at ESKC for an instrument rated pilot who took a long break from flying and you will quickly find me, too…
