Why is it that some people (Jellies in this case) can quickly identify a "new" user as an old user, and others, like me can't?

Some people truly are that bad at taking something they see and a word they know and putting them together. I’m pretty good at matching faces to names, but I suck at non-visual clues.

It all depends on how your brain is wired.

I can’t either and honestly, it just really never crosses my mind that someone that appears “new” is really a used user.
I find it all rather baffling as to why someone does this.
Personally I think those that wish to reincarnate for whatever reason should disclose their new indentities as some here have, but then I guess that defeats their purpose, depending on what that purpose is.
I have never really understood the need to change identities but…that’s just me.

I have absolutely no idea why some people can figure it out so effortlessly because I’m like you. It’s a total mystery.

I have spotted a few who made it very easy for everyone to figure it out. Tomg used another green avatar and Rarebear used a Spanish version of his name along with his astronomy photos.

So, if they drop enough breadcrumbs I’m fine but otherwise clueless.

Also Fiddle wasn’t too hard to figure out since he concocted another impossibly long name featuring a musical instrument :)

That guy cracks me up :)

It beats me too but there are one or two jellies who have a very distinctive style and I’m pretty sure I would recognise them unless they deliberately changed how they wrote.

I created a different profile to ask a personal question. I messed up the grammar and everything to help disguise me. I even messed up the grammar in my responses to quips. About four Jellies nailed me, anyway, by my 4th response!

Like @Buttonstc, I need clues.

In my case, it’s mostly because I’m not inclined to link old avis to new. If someone wishes to totally reinvent themselves, the internet is the perfect place to do that. I won’t ask, you don’t have to tell.

We don’t have a whole lot to go on here. Just a picture and a few words. Once the picture changes I’m lost for a few days with even a long term user.

Odds are, I’m not going to know anyone here any more personally than an avatar and some text anyway so.. I try to keep a short term memory intentionally.

It is as baffling to me how some people do this as how some people reply to a question with “you complained about your ex boyfriend last March”.

I feel the same way you do @Dutchess_III and when this question was asked I was frankly floored to see how many jellies who I thought were long gone have been here all along under a different name. And I am sure there are a lot more here that were other names at one time.

I can tell by writing styles and the stories people tell. It just comes easy to me for some reason. I pay attention to what others write here and I easily remember the details.

@zenvelo It’s a little different when it’s someone under the same name and avatar (and thus, Fluther history) than it is with re-rolls, alts, or sock puppets. There are also a few jellies that post questions that sound really odd until you look at who asked them, then you can’t help but think, “Of course it’s [whoever].”. That sort of pattern recognition is fairly easy even if you can’t match a face to a name.

@Dutchess_III That is part of why I never even considered going incognito; I have a distinct style that I doubt I have the acting skills to keep my identity under wraps for more than a few sentences.

Unless you catch my attention, by displaying clear signs of awesomness, then you’re going to pass me by, regardless of how long you’ve spent here.

Don’t worry, I often cannot either, but it is not that important anyhow, once I am done here, it will have no relevance at all.

@dammitjanetfromvegas is the best at figuring out who is old jellies in new names. Must be a fantastic attention to detail thing.

I can do it at a moderate level. Usually I base my guess on things I know about that jelly, things they used to say about themselves and I happened to hear. It’s a matter of deduction.

I’m pretty good at recognising people have been here before. Whether I can identify who they were is another matter. Some I can, some I cannot. I haven’t hidden any information about myself. I’ve talked about where I live and my family, in the same way I did under my other name, but nobody messaged me to say ‘are you?’ This makes me wonder how recognisable any of us are really. Unless your communication style is quite ‘out there’ or the topics you discuss are very specific, I think most of us would be hard to spot. If you give out information about yourself and speak about where you are and what you do, attentive people may pick up on those snippets. However, I don’t know that any of us are that recognisable from our style of writing.

As to why people come back under different names, there are many reasons. The reasons are as diverse as the people who participate.

When I was here every day, it was much easier. I would often know immediately that someone had been here before, but it might take me a little longer to figure out who they were. (This is without using any fancy mod powers, though if we had a new troublemaker I would check to see if it was really an old troublemaker pretty quickly.) I don’t really know how I knew…I just did. But even back then, at least one person flew under my radar for a long time.

Now, I have no clue, and was pleasantly surprised by several recent revelations.

Mod-spidey sense. I agree @augustlan. I still do that now when we have a troublesome newbie. I wonder if they’re a returning person.

Well…Are you Bellatrix, @Earthbound_Misfit?