Flawed NEW MEMBER system.

We have a set of forum rules, why not a code of conduct that all new members must
read before doing anything else?

P.S will mods change user names to you real name on request?

 

Actually Gert I dont think anyone should be ashamed at using a nickname or Avatar especially on the internet, I have carried this nickname from my primary school days. The older generation does not understand the concept of using a internet handle, but that hardly makes it shameful or disrespectful.

Also using your full name and contact details on a public forum leaves you open for internet fraud and all kinds of other criminal elements what if someone hacked this forums and got everyone's details? First rule of using the internet dont provide anyone with any type of personal details they can use to commit fraudulent acts in your name.

I am currently involved in a case were someones personal details were stolen and used in criminal activities, unfortunately I cant say much more as it is an on going case. Just to give you an idea just by having your name and surname I can find out were you stay, what car you drive were you work ect. So if I was a potential criminal wanting to rob you or worse it would not take much finding out all the details I need.

Hence people use nicknames and avatars, firstly as a security method and secondly as a online persona that way you keep the person who you are online and the person you are in private separate. Some people also want to be free of the prejudices that rule so much of our real lives, hence they use nicknames.

Sorry for the off topic.

 

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the comments after mine.

I am of the opinion that persons should keep their user names as they are, I think that is fun and is fine. What I do want to suggest is that everyone should sign off with their proper name, and that true name details can be found under your profile. Then everything is above board and if someone wants to they can see where you come from etc (please note I have updated mine and also updated my album... for those of you wanting to see my discus).

I think that when people enroll, a message comes up in which a code of conduct and certainly a set of rules that the mods can apply. However, when people enroll on a forum, they are in a rush and just click all the boxes and hit the send button without reading them properly. These rules are on the forum page, but folks rarely go back to them, unless perhaps they are threatened with being banned.

I want to go back to what I said about the German forum that I enrolled for. After I enrolled, I received a friendly email, nicely formatted with some pics firstly welcoming me, by my name, saying in a friendly but firm way, how the forum worked: be friendly to others and always try to be positive, try not to stir misunderstandings, always start off your message by addressing someone or everyone and then ending by greeting and writing your name, then what they called "Netiquette", how to contact the mods and who they were, and finally how to solve problems if you had any in operating the forum. The message was also signed off with all the names of the mods, so I now know exactly who they are if I see them on the forum. If this was what a new member received after he enrolled it would really make an impression, I think, and not just drop you in at the deep end and then not knowing how to deal with matters and behave within the norms that the forum wants.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi all

I think that if people are asked to sign off with their proper names it may scare away some people who would prefer to remain annonymous, or at least annonymous until they are more familiar with the forum and the other forum members. Personally I do not have a problem with anybody who would prefer to keep using their forum nicknames. I do agree that at the very least every single PM should start with addressing the recipient and be signed off with either your forum nick or your real name. A PM is a "Personal Message" to one specific person, so I do feel that you should address that person when communicating with him/her in this manner.

I know that I am also guitly of not addressing people in general posts. This often happens when quoting or posting a quick reply, but that is no excuse. I think we should all just become more aware of decent "Netiquette" instead of enforcing some more forum rules.

I join most forums under my first name and that is my choice. Others may feel that they do not want to. I also understand some people may feel intimidated if for example they join a forum to ask what may be a stupid question, and for that reason they prefer to use a forum nick. We want to actually encourage more people to join and create an environment where people do not feel intimidated.

I do remember when I joined a certain local forum for the first time I asked a few really stupid questions and a huge argument broke out between 2 other forum members based on the advice I was given. Next thing I was bombarded with PM's from different members telling me not to listen to this person or that person's advice...

Anyway, as a newbie that was rather intimidating and I didn't post anything for a while after that.

Regards
Lauré

 

Hi guys

Dirk I can see where you are coming from with regards to "usernames" etc. Personally I obviously prefer my real name. Certainly makes it easier when you have meet ups etc. "Hi I'm Rory.". On some forums though I do use an alias. (generally ones I registered at when I was a lot younger).
The whole anonymity things reminds me of this comic, which basically sums up the problem with most forums (excuse the french in the comic):


I agree with you that perhaps we should include a more substantial welcome email/PM and introduce the moderators, the rules, perhaps a guide to netiquette and for those who haven't used a forum before a basic guide to starting new thread in the new members section.

Vis, you will need to PM me for username changes.

Rory

 

Hi all,

I personally don't have a problem with people knowing my name. Not my full name, as Larch you are 100% correct, there is a thing called ID fraud, which is happening rather rampantly at the moment. I also agree that if you want to remain behind a "net-name" that is your perogative... and by no means am I judging you by this.

I havle slowly learned a lot of people's names simply by the interaction with them on PM and personal interaction. And I can honestly tell you that knowing a person's real name brings a personal touch to the interactions between them.

Yes, Vis, Rory is able to change your name, should you desire this, however the problem in doing this is that it will make you appear as a new member to a lot of people. I would recommend you keep your name, as everyone knows "Vis".

And a final thought for the professor. The German forum you refer to with regards to how they approached you and made you feel welcome, and then gave you a brief overview of the forum is a really good idea. I doubt very much that this was someone actually doing this, but more than likely an automated response to you activating your account.
I am sure Rory would be able to activate something like this on the forum, and it will give the mods something to think about. I know that most of the time the mods try and welcome members in their introductory page, but as we are all very busy people, sometimes this slips through the cracks.

Regards
Ashley

 

O I want to stay Vis, was just wondering if it would be an option should you choose
to do so.

Regards
Gerhard

 

I have no problem sharing my name, however i will not have it as my username....Its boring!
I would prefer people to rather call me Troy rather than my real name for certain reasons:
1st, Troy is my second name and often called that in the real world. Kendall is also a girls name:elefant:lol
so to reduce the confusion of my sex, Troy will do best. Another reason....as said before, i find it boring....!

Peter: "Hi i'm peter"

John:"Wicked username!"

Peter:"Thanks john you too!"

Might have been a bad example but i think you get the point?

 

@ Troy, you go girl

Sorry but it was funny.

Still everybody would agree that you can still be mannered whatever name one choose.

 

My first name is Casey, as those I have communicated with via PM and have met in person will know. Unfortunately, since the name Casey became popular in America, they decided to make it unisex and now it's mostly used as a girls name, and recognised as such. (Thank you Shawn Phillips for singing about your brother, hopefully that clarified things for some people.)

I've seen even those who use their real names on forums act just the same or worse than the people who use aliases, so I do not believe that that is a determining factor in behaviour online; it is simply that it is not true personal interaction and also just the way some people are.

I don't mind anyone signing off their posts with their first names, maybe even put them into signatures (which was the intended use for them anyway).

Also, this thread is a bit off topic but still highly valid, perhaps a name change is in order?

 

Hi Guys,

And I wanted to add something to what Lauré mentioned. He said that persons might feel intimidated if they had to give their proper name. It may not be absolutely essential, but one of the things that would help me is if I could click on the name and then the personal details of who ever has asked a question or made a comment can be seen. If I saw that it was a 15 year-old schoolboy that is new to the hobby, I think I would reply in a different manner to if I saw that it was someone who had kept fish for 15 years. Can you see what I am getting at? Fishkeeping is complex and newbees still have problems in grasping the biological filtration concept whilst old hats want some more substantial advice. So, I actually think that it would be good if folks were asked to do this, so that the tone of the answer can then be made more appropriate for the person asking the question. Do you agree? Can you see that this could then result in a milder tone for the newbees so that they would not feel so intimidated?

I also do not think that I would like to post all my personal details such as email address and phone number, but if you would say that you stay say in Somerset West, then that is not a security problem, and as a result this should be acceptable.

I also do not think that it is absolutely necessary that the names mentioned are your true names, but those that your friends call you would be best because those are what you feel comfortable with. Perhaps you can also just give your first name and that is OK, but I would like some more personal touch and not just this fantasy name / artificial front which we have mentioned.

I think that many very good suggestions have been made on this thread and I think we can put them to good use in future.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hey guys/gals

How about we use the signature like Prof. Bellstedt has mentioned... see mine. Would that help people formulate a better answer... I think so.

Regards
Linxie

 

Hi all

The custom title can also be used to indicate your experience and perhaps even your age.

Regards
Lauré

 

Hi Butcherman,

You pose some valid points, along with everyone else. And as has been said in the past, this is definately a mountain out of a molehill.

What needs to be stated here is that people are not asking for you to post your cell number, address, full name... etc. If anything, the moderators usually remove these type of posts to protect the member. There are search engines out there that are specifically looking for these types of details. We as a team have ALWAYS advised the following:

Never give out your email on a public thread. If you have to, use name@domain(dot)co(dot)za format
Under no circumstances give your address or telephone number out in the public. I have personally removed people's numbers from threads, and requested that detail rather be forwarded to the necessary people via PM.

I do not expect anyone to post their names on the forum. If you are comfortable putting your preferred name, then by all means, go for it.

I might be misreading your post, but it would seem you were implying that if we were showing proper respect for one another, the sms language and cultural difference would be overlooked? But don't you think that by typing a question for Professor Dirk in sms style would be deemed as disrespectful.

To be honest with you, the sms style writing doesn't bug me too much... because I grew up in an sms society. But I do agree than an sms style written thread is difficult to read, and 9/10 times I don't even bother reading any further.

The fact that we have international people viewing the forum also proves that we need to have a common language between everyone. We understand that english is not the first language of everyone. But because we know the background of the person, (because they shared it with us) we tend to overlook it.

Let me use this example, and I am by no means picking on anyone here. Marco, a regular member to our forum types using no paragraphs. Is he showing disrespect. No. But it does get difficult to read sometimes. Marco has some very valuable information available to us, and in order to make it easier to read, I asked Marco about his paragraphing. We found out that he is using an application on his phone to write, (because he doesn't have access via a pc), and even though he is posting in paragraph format on his phone, our server is picking it up as one paragraph. Now that I understand the background, I understand. You will also notice that Marco, even though posting on a phone, is not using any sms style of writing, and goes through the pains of typing well rounded english.

Another example. Guido is another member of the forum. He also has a lot of valuable information. When he joined, he clearly told us that english was not his first language... when I understood this... and read his posts in that light, I got some valuable information from him.

Forum's will always have an element of anonymity. We accept that.

But even if you keep your anonymity, show some respect. That is the only thing that needs to be influenced on this forum.

Rgds
A

 

Hi Butcherman,

It is this sort of reply that drives me to despair and will eventually cause me to unsubscribe from this forum. Perhaps someone else can perhaps explain to you why I am reacting in this way, but I get the feeling that the same issues are being brought up again and again due to misunderstandings and we are not moving forward.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I see no problem with the replies and opinions that Butcherman has bought forward Dirk, are they not valid opinions by a fellow member of this forum? And he has explained why he does not agree with having your personal details which is optional. It might be a bit direct but it is refreshing when someone gets strait to the point and not beat around the bush.

It would also be equally great if you explained to us why his post drives you to despair then we can figure out why things like these annoy you. But I believe it is rather unproductive storming off threatening with unsubscribing from the forum and not explaining why it annoys you. You cant fix any problems if you are not willing to discus them openly and productively with all the members.

Just my 2c

 

Okay this is where I also get of the bus...

I quote myself from a previous post:
"..., that everyone should use their real names or at the very least, have their real names in their profile. "

This is not an order, nobody need to jump to attention or throw their toys out the cot. What I'm trying to say is that one must try to be truth-full and please update your profile to have your name visible to at least the admin/moderators (so we can see if you are a boy/girl or male/female), and perhaps the town in which you reside, to make it easier for fellow close members and to understand your water parameters.

"I appeal to everyone to update your profile to show your location and full name."
This is also a friendly request, as it could be annoying to fellow members.
"Please try to improve your grammar and spelling, refrain from sms text and show respect to fellow members, as you yourself, will expect."

Why must I feel offended when I only do a request...

Gert.

 

And this is were it all start as a fight again.

The simple truth is that everyone is entitled to an opinion.

For ex. Zoom thinks that CFL's work best vertical and he gave his reasons.
I think CFL's work just as good if not better horizontal and I gave my reasons.

But never in my opinion did I make out that Zooms idea is idiotic. His idea works for him and I stated mine so now it is for everyone else to make up there own mind about what he want.

You can make a valid point of your own without attacking someone else point of view.

P.S Zoom I know your grass is not growing under that vertical CFL's