New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines.

Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by ojbyrne on Saturday January 31, 2009 @02:28AM (#459340)

That principle doesn't work online. In general you can say stuff to people in person that's insulting and abusive, and then just give a wry smile and everybody laughs. You can't do that online. The guideline has it exactly wrong.

The problem is that what you say online about someone is frozen forever, and takes on more significance than either the sender or the receiver actually meant. In person, I call you an asshole, you're impressed that I said it to your face, we both laugh and move on. On the web I call you an asshole, you call me an asshole, it escalates, shows up in google searches for both our names, people who aren't quite up to speed on things (recruiters) take it more seriously than it should be... bad stuff happens.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by pg on Saturday January 31, 2009 @03:35AM (#459383)

Some percentage of the nasty things people say on web forums are said half-jokingly and offend because half-jokingness is hard to convey in text, but I think the majority are genuinely nasty.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by nailer on Saturday January 31, 2009 @03:54AM (#459400)

Have you considered asking new users to enter their first and second names, and creating an available username from that?

This is often credited for Facebook having more 'real' content than MySpace and Friendster.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by tsetse-fly on Saturday January 31, 2009 @04:11AM (#459410)

Enforcing specific types of usernames is rather lame. People would just enter fake names. Facebook depends on your real identity so people who have met you can locate you.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by nailer on Saturday January 31, 2009 @04:28AM (#459419)

Some people may enter fake names, but asking for their first and last names at least sets expectations.

As you've touched on, allowing people to find you on hacker news would also be a benefit.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by pg on Saturday January 31, 2009 @04:34AM (#459421)

Usernames consisting of people's first and last names feels corporate. It would be a bummer not to have any mechanical_fishes.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by davidw on Saturday January 31, 2009 @11:01AM (#459715)

One thing that might help just a bit is to more prominently encourage people to add some contact information in their profiles. It is, unfortunately, fairly rare.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by robotrout on Saturday January 31, 2009 @03:15PM (#459992)

Thanks mate!

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by Xichekolas on Saturday January 31, 2009 @08:07PM (#460327)

I didn't realize until this moment that there was a mechanical_fish and a robotrout... am I missing out on a joke or something?

Next I'll see a reply from cyberguppy.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by nailer on Saturday January 31, 2009 @02:31PM (#459944)

What about FirstnameLastinitial? E.g., I'd be Mikem, rather than nailer.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by showerst on Saturday January 31, 2009 @03:48PM (#460027)

My guess is you're not the only MikeM, which leads to yahoo-esque usernames (I'd likely be TimS223 or something), and by that point you may as well allow real nicknames.

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by jmtulloss on Saturday January 31, 2009 @03:35AM (#459384)

I really appreciate the distinction you drew here. I'm definitely an asshole a lot, but I'm fairly certain that at my core I'm a reasonable and accommodating person. That's something that can come across in person, but on the internet I have to take particular care to make sure I'm not stepping out of line.

Not that I always do, but I should :).

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Re:New users: Welcome. Please read the site guidelines. by TrevorJ on Monday February 02, 2009 @01:38PM (#462656)

It works in as much as we have the chance to reply and amend our comments if they are taken differently than intended. The same problems exist for phone calls and email as well but it doesn't stop people from figuring out ways to communicate wry or witty comments, it just changes the conventions that are used.

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