On 15-Sep-08 22:43, somebody wrote:
> "andrel" <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message
> news:48C### [at] hotmailcom...
> 
>> FYI I use
>> a hotmail account in newsgroups for obvious reasons. I am not hiding
>> behind a fictitious address.
> 
> What would the purpose of a legitimate (or legitimate looking) e-mail
> address be if I don't wish to receive any e-mails?

none at all.

> 
>> I will answer e-mails sent to that address
>> and it reflects even my name IRL.
> 
> I don't care, so long as there aren't two "andrel"s to confuse. Avoiding
> confusion to me is the only reason d'etre of a name or a handle.

It may be something more than that. If you know that I am a real person 
with a real background (and not a group or a 15 yo pretending to be 
someone else) it may indicate that what I write is probably sincere and 
that I am not trolling.

>> It is your choice. I think of this group as a group of (mostly) friends.
>> Your choice sort of spoils that idea for me. Many people here use
>> aliases and many use e-mail addresses that are either invalid or
>> mangled. Yet, because they have a recognizable identity I can think of
>> them as a human being. To me you're more a ghost than a human being.
> 
> I'm well aware that had I called myself "Sebastian", "Zippy", or even "mtu",
> I would automatically command more respect. It's quite interesting, really.

I know, I find that interesting too. One of the factors seems to be that 
'somebody' invokes not the image of a specific person, but of one that 
deliberately hides everything personal. We all hide things, but 
'somebody' is advertising to want only to take and does not intend to 
share. You could have called yourself 'antisocial' of 'psychopath' but 
even that would not have the same effect as nobody would take that 
serious. Even 'nobody' would be different as we can take that as a 
reference that you at least know your classics. I can only assume that 
you chose this alias to get a certain effect. Well congratulations, you 
achieved your goal.

>> So
>> again, it is absolutely your own choice on whether you want to be part
>> of this group or not, but I (and perhaps others) might not respond to
>> anything you say. (Obviously, I make an exception for this metadicussion.)
> 
> I prefer to discuss and challenge ideas, rather than get on a personal
> level. To that end, a reduced audience is not a big problem.

Let's hope that makes sense to you.

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