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Pseudonyms and cons (reply to Krishtar)

May 17, 2005 01:35 PM
by kpauljohnson


Dear Krishtar,

Honestly I had not thought about your handle being pseudonymous 
because your role here has not been that of a troll. But there are 
at least three occasions on which a pseudonymous poster has wrought 
a lot of damage here: Wry, Brian Muelbach, and David Green.  
Although I got snarked at times by all of them, others were their 
primary targets. Green relentlessly attacked the ULT, writing 20 
articles critical of Robert Crosbie and several anti-Judge pieces.  
Occasionally people would challenge his agenda and ask him what he 
was trying to do on theos-talk (including me) but no one (again 
including me) ever recognized what was really going on behind the 
pseudonym. I won't publicly state the facts but anyone wishing to 
know them is welcome to email me privately. Everybody knew who 
Brian was, but it took a while for "him" to depart. AFAIK no one 
ever figured out Wry, and I'd be much obliged to anyone who did to 
explain the story.

You wrote:
--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "krishtar" <krishtar_a@b...> 
wrote:
> Thanks for the repply.
> I confess you, pal, that I exceeded in my past trade of hostility 
between me and brother Anand and can also add that I fell in the 
trap of the " trolling-feed" for many times, but it is a limitation 
and tendecy of personality I am trying to work on...

Shared by many of us including myself. Online sources say the 
*only* proper response to trolls is to warn others not to 
communicate with them. Had I not already unsubbed in horror, that 
is the advice I'd have given anyone engaging thalprin in discussion.

> No matter the most we trade and exchange posts and emails here 
weŽll never be able to know anyone deeply enough to understand many 
of the reasons that move them, so sometimes we angage in discussions 
which unfortunately and up in aggression and hostility.

Sometimes people use their anonymity or pseudonyms to stir up 
aggression and hostility between others. As a matter of fact that 
is a common thread among the three I've mentioned, but not Anand. I 
don't think he's trying to manipulate discussion deliberately, but 
is rather trolling unconsciously. (Not in his sleep, but not 
realizing that the posts are trolling in nature.)

> Lately you are performing here temporary "ombudsman" on my recent 
posts and I always listen to the other personŽs opinion.

Listening to the other person's opinion-- now *that* is a real 
innovation at theos-talk! Well, perhaps not really but sometimes it 
seems so.

> I also gess that it would make no difference if our trade of posts 
were under real names instead of nicknames, hostility makes harm, 
creates tensions to any person independent of their real names.

If people express hostility under their own names, they can be held 
responsible for that behavior. If done pseudonymously they escape 
responsibility. If they do so under pseudonyms while posting *also* 
under their real names, they might come out "smelling like a rose" 
while making a big stink under the pseudonym.  

Cheers,

Paul







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