So while it does feel weird and awkward, if a fan has chosen to use their real life name as a fan name, it is not an outing situation when another fan uses it as well.
Doesn't it, though? Feel weird and awkward, I mean. When someone uses [what appears to be] their full real life name as their fannish alias, I find myself hesitating each time I'm about to type it, feeling like I'm posting their home address, or linking to a photo of them naked. It doesn't help the awkwardness that I also feel compelled to use the full name. In offline discussion one usually abbreviates personal names to just the first or last name, but online, there's no guarantee that either of the names alone signifies that person (e.g., you could have a person going by 'John Meyer', but also have a person going by 'Meyer', or someone whose real name is Elizabeth something but who goes by 'Jane King' because they're fans of G.I. Jane and MLK Jr.).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-01-18 07:09 pm (UTC)Doesn't it, though? Feel weird and awkward, I mean. When someone uses [what appears to be] their full real life name as their fannish alias, I find myself hesitating each time I'm about to type it, feeling like I'm posting their home address, or linking to a photo of them naked. It doesn't help the awkwardness that I also feel compelled to use the full name. In offline discussion one usually abbreviates personal names to just the first or last name, but online, there's no guarantee that either of the names alone signifies that person (e.g., you could have a person going by 'John Meyer', but also have a person going by 'Meyer', or someone whose real name is Elizabeth something but who goes by 'Jane King' because they're fans of G.I. Jane and MLK Jr.).
(It's possible I think about names far too much.)