Use your real name

[Honan]

In the thread about the recent TRAFFIC conference, both Mike of fab and Adam of DNF admitted meeting people and not remembering their handles here.
Why do we use handles here anyway?
It is just a legacy from old boards isn't it?
In an attempt to encourage the use of real names, I suggest that the charge of $10 for changing name be dropped for those who wish to change their handle to their real name
Trading under real names would appear to me to enhance the reputation of the forum
Hands up if you agree?
Hands down if you use a fake whois

 

[JMJ]

As much as I like my real name and have nothing to hide. I don't care too much about having my name indexed by the thousands in search engines. Too many female stalkers wanting a piece of me. lol

 

[maroulis]

I am using my initial and part of my surname. I don't think it's a privacy issue, if somebody wants to find you they will .....

 

[MrDude]

Another thing which would maybe help the community, We could pay $2-$3 mailing cost and we receive a number via the mail, we enter it in our profiles and we have a name/address verified thing, Aswell as having our names in our profile.

 

[maroulis]

agree this will definately cut down fraud %

 

[A D]

Ok, I am open to all of this and will look closely at some of the well thought out ideas that have been displayed.

Make no mistake we ( Dnforum.com ) are going to take steps to make this a better more successful place for those who want to conduct business here.

The ones that are here for the wrong reasons can fall through the cracks.

-=DCG=-

 

[teamwork]

I see no problem using the real names in the way Adam proposed.

If someone is professional he has no need to worry. If someone uses so and so business practices then he might want more privacy.

So if the forum wants to get even more professional , then this is a right step

 

[Jonathan]

Just because someone doesn't want their name to appear in their search engines doesn't mean they engage in so and so business practices. I'm just not interested in people who know my name reading my entire posting history here on DNF just because they typed my name into Google.

And another thing to make this place more professional.. remove zodiac sign as a profile field, it's just really dumb, this isn't a dating site. Oh, and everybody automatically gets put under Aries because it's first and there is no blank option.

And then.. marital status? Once again, this isn't a dating site, and it's pretty irrelevant and personal information. Is someone not going to do business with someone else because they are divorced, etc? I'd hope not, and don't see how this is a good factor.

 

[mark]

I think the idea I suggested earlier (mandatory name in the profile section) combined with the additional suggestion made by another poster of having a "verified" title underneath their handle IF the person's name has been verified by dnforum (thru some sort of email system perhaps), and continuing to use their existing handle for familiarity purposes, would be the best way to go imho. If the person decides not to go thru the verification, only their handle would be shown and their alledged real name in the profile.

 

[ParkQuick.com]

Real names will make this a more business-like place. I've always wondered why people don't want to do this. I really lke the idea of keeping handles but also disclosing names.

Leonard Holmes

Agreed.

-=DCG=-

 

[RoyGBiV]

May I point out that the people that are doing business here will eventually get to know each others names anyways, just as part of the process of doing business.
It may do you some good to have someone find your posts here since that would help your credibility...
Also it might help to encourage stand up business practises...

Just a thought.

Dan

 

[denny007]

I am not interested those "anti TM typo hysterics" here on DNF be taking my real name into their dirty mugs. It is still bearable if they insult me altering my nickname with "Thief, Skipper, Slimeball etc". If real name would be mandatory, I would probably get a new membership and would be very carefull to express my opinions on anything...

 

[Sarcle]

I also have nothing to hide here when discussing with members and doing business with them. I always use my real name in pms and discussions.

But this forum isn't just with the members here, it's with everyone on the net.

I personally don't like the idea of an old class mate trying to look me up with my name next to An@lSl*ts.com. That's why.

 

[mark]

Another idea then would be to offer a private or public option on your profile which includes your mandatory name. If it is private, a person could only view the info by logging in as a member of dnforum. If it is public, the name will be displayed to anyone.

 

[GiantDomains]

In my opinion, the real name should not be part of the postbit, then, poeple with thousands of posts will be showing up in thousands of google pages. Many don't want that, including me.

 

[Honan]

What about a reimbursement of the 1000$dnf "name change charge" to anyone who wants to change their handle to their preferred first/last name?
No programming required.
Who can complain about that?

GD
Never noticed that before. You mean the user name or handle doesn't show up in Google unless it is in the body of the post?

 

[GiantDomains]

GD
Never noticed that before. You mean the user name or handle doesn't show up in Google unless it is in the body of the post?

I'm saying if it's part of every post (user title area) and you have thousands of posts, you'll have thousands of results in google. If it's in the profile, just one result.

Also, the private idea is good. Only members see the real name field.

 

[fredlucas]

I support the verification of member identities. This greatly reduces the likelihood of fraud, duplicate accounts, etc. The benefits are obvious and I don't feel a need to list them.

DNForum should charge for this service - it creates real value for the community and enhances the business environment. Those of us that conduct significant business on the forum will happily pay the fee, and those that choose not to will receive lower prices for their sales.

Verification should be done by the DNForum staff, and verified members should receive some sort of 'seal'.

However, user privacy should be maintained. The Internet is just too public a medium. At its worst, it can be a fertile hunting ground for identity theft, name hijacking, or worse (see the Yahoo / china case).

So, how should verification be done? Obviously there are plenty of challenges to meet the needs of this international crowd. A few possible options:

- letter with code mailed to physical address
- require a credit card payment, along with a faxed photocopy of identification and credit card
- allow members that are paypal verified to upload their Paypal auction logos
- or use Experian's gold-plated service: http://www.experian.com/credit_solutions/fraud/verification.html
(unfortunately US-centric)

Anyway, a great idea and I'm happy to pay for enhanced security.

 

[maroulis]

the problem with the verification system would be tested under a dispute or potential court case. I don't think Adam or anybody else would be willing to undertake such huge risk...

We've seen examples of good-standing members gone rogue (i.e. Uglynames).

 

[GT Web]

My solution is simple:

1) Give users 2 weeks to change their username for free, allowing whoever wishes to change it to their real name

2) Give users 2 weeks to change their user title for free, allowing whoever wishes to change it to their real name

I don't really want to change my user name, but agree we should integrate our real names more. I would gladly change my user title to my real name, but currently it costs a pretty penny.

 

[Anthony Ng]

I too doubt any verification process that places too much burden on DNForum staff is a good idea, which as mentioned by somebody here, could lead to serious privacy issues and even court cases.

But like what I suggested earlier, a simple match with whois (either as registrant or admin contact) will do the trick for most people, except for those who don't even have 1 single domain or use only corporate info in whois, but then the good thing is: you DON'T NEED to be a verified member.