Cyprus-Forum.com

[erolz66]

There are those that post on forums such as these who have no problem doing so without hiding their real world identities and then there are those who only post on forums like these because they can do so whilst hiding their real world identities.

Which are you ?

Why would anyone give any credence to that which is posted by someone who only makes such posts because they can do so whilst hiding their real world identity ?

[Maximus]

There are those that post on forums such as these who have no problem doing so without hiding their real world identities and then there are those who only post on forums like these because they can do so whilst hiding their real world identities.

Which are you ?

neither, I post on this forum because I want to.

Why would anyone give any credence to that which is posted by someone who only makes such posts because they can do so whilst hiding their real world identity ?

because a real world identity does not automatically make a comment more credible. As a matter of fact, there are comments all over the internet from real world identities that are absolutely not credible. The opposite is also true, there are comments all over the internet from pseudo identities that are based in logic and fact that are absolutely credible.

who is erolz66? If you changed your forum name to Erol Zuhal, do you think your comments would have more credibility on this forum?

Have you ever listened to a real world identity, you know, one you could see, smell, hear and touch and thought to yourself What a load of b@llsh1t? Yes, if you knew their name would you have given what they had to say any more credence?

[erolz66]

There are those that post on forums such as these who have no problem doing so without hiding their real world identities and then there are those who only post on forums like these because they can do so whilst hiding their real world identities.

Which are you ?

neither, I post on this forum because I want to.

That is fair enough and maybe I was too binary in my description above. However to me there are clearly some posters here (and on forums generally) who only post what they do because they can do so whilst maintaining an anonymity. Posters that would not post what they do if they could not do so anonymously. You almost certainly do not fall into that category given what you have said but that is different from saying such a category does not exist at all.

because a real world identity does not automatically make a comment more credible. As a matter of fact, there are comments all over the internet from real world identities that are absolutely not credible. The opposite is also true, there are comments all over the internet from pseudo identities that are based in logic and fact that are absolutely credible.

Again this is probably my fault in my lack of clarity before. I am not saying that anyone who uses their real world identity or is unconcerned about keeping it secret is automatically more credible. I am suggesting that someone who is in the category 'only posts because they are and can remain anonymous' does have a question mark around the credibility of their posts because of this. For me this is certainly the case here having been on and watched this forum for the 10+ years I have been here.

who is erolz66? If you changed your forum name to Erol Zuhal, do you think your comments would have more credibility on this forum?

I think the fact that I only say stuff here that I would say also in real life and that I have no concerns that what I post here as erolz could be attributed to me Erol Ziya , the actual real world person does give what I say more credibility than posts from someone who would not say those things they say here openly in the real world as they say them here and only do so here because they think such comments could not ever be attributed to their real world identity.

Have you ever listened to a real world identity, you know, one you could see, smell, hear and touch and thought to yourself What a load of b@llsh1t? Yes, if you knew their name would you have given what they had to say any more credence?

Hey I have in the past met in person and real life GR, so you do not need to explain to me how 'real world' people can talk bollocks (sorry GR , just light humour to try and make my point). The point is for all the times and things I disagree with GR about I do know that he is 'real' - that when he posts here he knows that such things can be and are attributable to him as a real person in the real world. Compare that with say posts from the like of 'Garavnoss' and yes there is for me at least more 'credence' (maybe that is not the right word) for me in posts from GR than Garavnoss. Over the 10+ years I have used this forum I have openly stated my real world name when appropriate (just do a search on Erol Ziya if you are interested) and have met up in person with a fair number of other posters here. Then there are those that have been posting here for even longer than I have under various names and do so loudly and vociferously and who to the best of my knowledge have never offered their real world identity or ever met a single other person from the forum in real life. I do wonder about such posters and their seeming need to require anonymity in order to say the things they do here in the way they do.

Anyway the point of starting this thread was to invite discussion on this subject so let me thank you for your comments Maximus and for giving me the opportunity to clarify what it is I am saying / suggesting. Thanks.

[repulsewarrior]

...i see the anonymity as a responsibility. To act in a manner where, if i met my persona in real life i would and could respect them; fact of the matter is, that my life and my family's life is in danger, so long as i write, given what has happened to us and the way things are, it's clear. It really isn't hard to find out who i am beyond my pen-name i suppose, but I won't be making it easy for these murderers to have an excuse to murder me by doing it under my family name. In any case you get murdered by people like these if you are Cypriot, they do your family too, if you are close to the land you love.

...in any case, having many persona, creating an antithesis to a crowd of persona, are all called for in the drama of a lively Forum such as this.

...i write on many Forums, so to speak, the comments section to articles in a few papers, always the same persona; i am quite sure that some of the writers use other identities as well. I write for myself, if i write, i choose to because it will enrich the readership, because it compliments the article, and it allows the reader for themselves to consider that their are other explanations than those presented by the commenting readership, or the author themselves. I write, for the Freedom of Cyprus, this has expanded to the Eastern Med and its Affairs.

...speaking of Garavnoss, i ask myself, where is Schnauzer (hope i spelled it right, it's been a while)?

[GreekIslandGirl]

It's easy to pretend to be brave when you've got 40,000 Turkish troops watching your back, erolz.

I too have met a few posters in real life and talked to others on the phone. But a few threats from some Turks on this forum proved how stupid that can be. And let's face it Erolz you're just trying to subvert those posters who quite rightly want to remain anonymous and yet also want to tell the truth about how truly evil Turkey's behavior to Greeks and GCs has been, and still is. You do this under the guise of some form of incredulity, that you are real and others are not. That you speak the truth and others do not. Your arrogance blinds you, again.

After all, you're just exhibiting the sort of model behaviour that Erdogan *inspires* - imprisoning journalists and people who sign petitions. He wants them all identified and locked up for telling the truth because he doesn't want the truth out there. That's how you seem too.

[Sotos]

Anonymity is one of the important things that the internet provides. It can be misused but I think the pros far outweigh the cons. The biggest con is that somebody can use anonymity to do something illegal. But I think being anonymous and keeping your "real" life private and not making everything public has many pros. For example what is illegal might not necessarily be wrong and this is especially true in many backwards countries. Anonymity gives a way to people to express their views without the fear of being prosecuted. Or maybe what some people want to say is not illegal but it is not socially acceptable. For example somebody might be gay but he is afraid of the social consequences in his "real life" if other people find out... so online with anonymity he gets to say his views freely. Personally I am not even using facebook.. I don't like the idea that somebody can do a search with my name and find out everything about me ... where I studied, where I worked, who are my family members, my photos, my views on every issue.. I think this is a bit creepy and it facilitates things such as identity theft.