Epistemic status: Moderately confident that this is mildly valuable
It’s totally fine to use a pseudonym on the Forum.
However, if you chose a pseudonym for a reason other than “I actively want to not be identifiable” (e.g. “I copied over my Reddit username without giving it too much thought”), I recommend using your real name on the Forum.
If you want to change your name, just PM or email me (aaron.gertler@centreforeffectivealtruism.org) with your current username and the one you’d like to use.
Reasons to do this:
Real names make easier for someone to track your writing/ideas across multiple platforms (“where have I seen this name before? Oh, yeah! I had a good Facebook exchange with them last year.”)
There’s a higher chance that people will recognize you at meetups, conferences, etc. This leads to more good conversations!
Aesthetically, I think it’s nice if the Forum feels like an extension of the real world where people discuss ways to improve that world. Real names help with that.
“Joe, Sarah, and Vijay are discussing how to run a good conference” has a different feel than “fluttershy_forever, UtilityMonster, and AnonymousEA64 are discussing how to run a good conference”.
Some of these reasons won’t apply if you have a well-known pseudonym you’ve used for a while, but I still think using a real name is worth considering.
Another brief note on usernames:
Epistemic status: Moderately confident that this is mildly valuable
It’s totally fine to use a pseudonym on the Forum.
However, if you chose a pseudonym for a reason other than “I actively want to not be identifiable” (e.g. “I copied over my Reddit username without giving it too much thought”), I recommend using your real name on the Forum.
If you want to change your name, just PM or email me (aaron.gertler@centreforeffectivealtruism.org) with your current username and the one you’d like to use.
Reasons to do this:
Real names make easier for someone to track your writing/ideas across multiple platforms (“where have I seen this name before? Oh, yeah! I had a good Facebook exchange with them last year.”)
There’s a higher chance that people will recognize you at meetups, conferences, etc. This leads to more good conversations!
Aesthetically, I think it’s nice if the Forum feels like an extension of the real world where people discuss ways to improve that world. Real names help with that.
“Joe, Sarah, and Vijay are discussing how to run a good conference” has a different feel than “fluttershy_forever, UtilityMonster, and AnonymousEA64 are discussing how to run a good conference”.
Some of these reasons won’t apply if you have a well-known pseudonym you’ve used for a while, but I still think using a real name is worth considering.