tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100579144662493079.post7355787667699500164..comments2021-12-26T14:06:55.625+00:00Comments on Matron: Notes from under a virtual stoneUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100579144662493079.post-44017544268581409422010-07-06T12:05:55.317+01:002010-07-06T12:05:55.317+01:00Excellent post - thank you! One thought on pseudon...Excellent post - thank you! One thought on pseudonymity and "social networking", from personal experience: for work reasons, I wanted to find out more about Facebook, so I created a pseudonymous account. Seeing that their terms and conditions appeared to rule this out, I was up-front about it in my profile. I disclosed that the account was in the name of a virtual person, but confirmed (truthfully) that the personal details given were true of the virtual person's creator.<br /><br />Over time, as Facebook's "privacy" policy was unilaterally changed and their "privacy" settings user interface made less and less usable, I increasingly felt that the terms under which I had signed up were no longer in force - so I no longer felt bound to abide by them. I have since amended my profile to reduce the amount of true personal information it contains.<br /><br />All well and good - but as you will have noticed, "it's social networking, Jim... but not as we know it". The downside of this pseudonymous approach is that the virtual person has few friends, and fewer still who know the link between the virtual and the human entity. It is, bluntly, not useful as a social networking tool. People I would like to add don't know that it's me who is inviting them, and those who offer "Friend"ship clearly don't know who it is they are seeking to befriend.<br /><br />Still - in that sense, it is no worse an experioment than Facebook itself...Pirkka Lahtinennoreply@blogger.com