How much do you value your anonymity on Fluther?

I’ve met enough weirdos on the Internet, I’d not want to be known, here, or anywhere else. I don’t even use facebook anymore.

I value it a lot, which is why I am willing to answer NSFW questions.

I’m one of, I think, few people who really doesn’t value it at all. I don’t need it- I’m easily identified by comments I’ve made by anyone I’m close to offline.

It’s important. I have found, however, that the more I open up anonymously, the more I am willing to say in real life. I think I practice how to say things here, and figure out what I can say that is acceptable enough. In real life, I would not dare even experiment. This is a safe place to experiment.

@bookish1 Don’t worry we won’t be asking about your dissertation anymore ;-) I know where you are coming from with this, my MA is unique enough to be a dead giveaway too, so I reveal as little as possible on here. It’s great to be able to be anonymous from time to time and not feel judged.

Not that important.
I don’t share all the intimate details of my life, but, I am an open book for the most part.
I mostly “use” fluther as a social outlet rather than a sounding board for any personal issues or concerns. I’m just here to learn, babble and have fun! :-)

There is nothing on this site that I would feel the need to conceal from anyone in my real life.

I value it a lot. It allows me to be very open on this site.

Meh, I never assume that anonymity is real – if I don’t want it known about me, I don’t post it.

@wundayatta : That’s interesting; I’ve noticed you mentioning that several times. I guess it’s been the opposite for me. My problem has always been with knowing how to erect boundaries. I’ve ended up embarrassing myself by telling colleagues, bosses or professors far too much about myself. And I suppose I use Fluther as an outlet so I don’t TMI the hell out of people at my job, where very strict personal boundaries are the norm.

@fremen_warrior : Haha, thanks. It’s a good thing to have found a topic to research that is absolutely unique, but it means that people can find you with one google search!

@Coloma: I’ve noticed. Haha ;)

@bookish1 I’ve had to learn to filter my naturally TMI side too.
Us NTP types, it’s the “P” in our personalities.
Perceiving types are notorious for just letting it all hang out on less than a whim. We tend to say whatever floats into our consciousness in the moment.

It’s even worse when you’re an extroverted perceiver. I have made progress over the years but I often can shock others with my bold proclamations.
Great for improv comedy routines but not so much in everyday life. lol

The internet is the place when people reveals their heart but hide their names…
It don’t matter much what you call yourself anyway especially when it is not indicative of your identity.

I don’t care too much at all. But you may have noticed that from earlier posts. However, I am having a huge change of heart about a lot of things. Like telling people I know stuff about me, it always seems to backfire. That might sound negative, but that is what I am going through right now.

Not at all. I practically leave the porch light on and expect drop-ins.

I value the privacy. I figure this is the ‘interweb’ and any troll or bot can find details if I put them out there. As long as I stay anon, I am willing to speak freely. I do not tell my friends about this site. Sorry Fluther gods.
Right or wrong, I do trust the PM system and am wiling to be open and honest on a more one on one basis in that venue.

I have been asking myself this question.
I don’t really have an answer. I value the ability to be candid, to explore different lines of thought. To allow myself to have opinions that might be ill thought out or abrasive, to be learn from everyone here. I have revealed things that might not come up in day to day life. It is an outlet.

On the other hand would I want people I know to have access to all of this? No I suppose not.
More in the line that getting to know people is something that takes time and is a give and take process. As well as there are boundaries I set around different people and settings. Not to say that I don’t have my share of tmi moments. Of course there is rarely middle ground for me, I can be extremely reticent as well.

I’m not that bothered about anonymity and if anyone I know finds my posts here, they wouldn’t discover anything about me that I wouldn’t willingly share with them anyway. The only things I’m cautious about posting are my surname and full date of birth, because those details can easily be used for identity fraud.

I value it greatly. I can say what I want to. I’m not hampered by the idea that what I say will be bandied about.

I have no expectation of privacy and I do not value privacy other than to keep some information private for security reasons.

@YARNLADY a secret agent?? O.o

I would be sad if anyone from ‘real life’ found Fluther because I would cease to be as comfortable talking about certain awkward subjects. I value the anonymity a lot for that.

On the flip side, I also value being anonymous in the sense that you guys don’t know who I am or where I live. Plenty of you I would trust just fine with that information, but it is the internet. I used to have a picture of me on my profile but took it down after I realized I was really uncomfortable with some of the attention I was getting from an older male jelly.

Even before I became the manager here, when my real name went public, my username was well known to my friends and family because I’ve used it in many places online. So I’ve never felt anonymous here, but it never bothered me, either. Anything I’ve written here, I’d say in ‘real life’. I’m just not very private, I guess.

@augustlan : Aw, my count of enchanted objects has diminished by one! I kind of liked only thinking of you as augustlan or Auggie. :-p

Haha, I answer to Auggie. Pretty sure if someone said it on the street, I’d turn around even quicker than if they called out “Lisa”!

@augustlan now things are beginning to make a little more sense. I love your writing voice, very charming.

I like being anonymous to a degree… when I feel close enough to someone (and we chat a few times via PM, for example) I’ll usually sign off with my “in-real-life” name. If I trust you and have figured out you’re not an internet troll then I don’t need to be anonymous. That said, I also watch what I say and intentionally try not to share info about people in my life (i.e. my husband’s ex) that they might not like having “out there” on the internet.

It is important to me. I suspect anyone who knows me in real life could identify me from some info I have provided here but like @fremen_warrior and @bookish1 I am careful about talking about what I study too specifically.

@rosehips Thanks!

I have nothing to hide.

I’m Batman.

As an 18-years-old Asian professional pole-dancing woman, I find that disguising myself as a 65-years-old white dude acts as an excellent shield against elderly male pervs.

@Brian1946 – I knew it!!!

I brought a relative to Fluther earlier this year, and I definitely have noticed I’m a little more careful with what I say now that she’s on here. I steer clear of sex questions now, and generally won’t say anything that might make her worry or be concerned in any way.

Beyond that, probably 10 people on here know my real name (something I normally guard very carefully over the internet). I’ve made a lot of friends here during the 3–3.5 years I’ve been a member.

On the internet I value my anonymity unless I consciously choose to reveal more.

It’s extraordinarily important to me. I don’t want people in my real life to know that I have an account here. I am always mildly surprised when some members urge others to give names, or post their own pictures as avatars – I tend to assume that everyone wants privacy here. But of course that’s not the case; being individuals, we all use these kinds of sites in different ways.

If I knew for sure that someone I worked with or knew in my personal life discovered who I am on Fluther, I would probablly have to start a new profile and abandon posting under jca.

I think, I hope, we are entering a post-facebook world in which people are more privacy-conscious.

Okay, you fingered me, i’m Jimmy Hoffa!

I value my anonymity here, but if someone figured out who i was…that would be ok too. To know me, i am pretty much an open book. Or at least i think i am. I respect any and all of you for wanting to keep your lives private. Your secrets are safe here.

Good question. Very little, apparently. Deni is my name, I’m friends with a hefty handful of fellow (and ex-) Flutherers on Facebook, and I still don’t hold back much. I still feel pretty anonymous. I am more candid here than I am with most of my friends, especially as of late around these parts.