I’ve started trying my best to consistently address people on the EA Forum by username whenever I remember to do so, even when the username clearly reflects their real name (eg Habryka). I’m not sure this is the right move, but overall I think this creates slightly better cultural norms since it pushes us (slightly) towards pseudonymous commenting/”Old Internet” norms, which I think is slightly better for pushing us towards truth-seeking and judging arguments by the quality of the arguments rather than be too conscious of status-y/social monkey effects.
(It’s possible I’m more sensitive to this than most people).
I think some years ago there used to be a belief that people will be less vicious (in the mean/dunking way) and more welcoming if we used Real Name policies, but I think reality has mostly falsified this hypothesis.
I’ve started trying my best to consistently address people on the EA Forum by username whenever I remember to do so, even when the username clearly reflects their real name (eg Habryka). I’m not sure this is the right move, but overall I think this creates slightly better cultural norms since it pushes us (slightly) towards pseudonymous commenting/”Old Internet” norms, which I think is slightly better for pushing us towards truth-seeking and judging arguments by the quality of the arguments rather than be too conscious of status-y/social monkey effects.
(It’s possible I’m more sensitive to this than most people).
I think some years ago there used to be a belief that people will be less vicious (in the mean/dunking way) and more welcoming if we used Real Name policies, but I think reality has mostly falsified this hypothesis.